Urban Farmer | Author | Karmaveer Chakra Awardee | Social Entrepreneur | Sustainability Coach & Mentor | Educator |Â Corporate Speaker
I am KALPANA MANIVANNAN. I live in Chennai, India, with my wonderful husband and two amazing kids. A former high school biology teacher turned organic farmer, I am trying to live as sustainably as possible. While balancing my farm lifestyle and city life, I focus on all things natural, homemade and sustainable. I am also a Sustainability Coach, a Blogger & an aspiring Homesteader on a journey towards zero waste living.
Welcome to my site! Explore the links from the menu bar, to know more about my experiences and what I do.
Recently, I have authored a book called “Farmer Sutra”. It is a memoir of my farming journey on – “How a city-dweller realised her farm dream!”
As a Sustainability Coach / Mentor, I have helped hundreds of people increase their self-reliance, learn new DIY skills, improve their family’s food security and move towards a more sustainable lifestyle. My WORKSHOPS are very popular and are making people take actionable steps towards self-sufficiency.Â
As a Speaker, I address gatherings and corporate spaces sharing my journey and vision on sustainable living. I curate workshops for corporate groups and schools both online and offline. I conduct sessions for organizations looking to integrate sustainable practices into their business models as part of their ESG compliance. Â
I want to create awareness that as consumers, we have the power to change the world by just changing the way we consume, by just being careful and conscious of what we buy and where we choose to spend our hard-earned money.
Writing has given me a platform to voice my views on sustainability and organic way of life. It gave me a medium to write about my successes and challenges in organic farming and helped reach the message across to more people and create a change in their mindset.
As a Social Entrepreneur, IÂ create courses and products aiming at providing solutions for a sustainable and chemical-free lifestyle.
You can subscribe to my FREE Email NEWSLETTERÂ to receive lots of useful curated information regarding Gardening, DIYs, Sustainable living tips and Recipes for from-scratch-cooking! Go ahead, it’s absolutely FREE!
If you are looking for gardening resources, you can visit my FARM BLOG where I document my farming journey and share lots of gardening related posts. There are lots of free resources related to cooking, sustainability and my random musings as a parent too. Â
To get updates on all of these and more, do follow my INSTAGRAMÂ handle, FACEBOOKÂ page and YOUTUBEÂ Channel.Â
A little about me and my farm:
My small half acre farm on the outskirts of Chennai is where I grow my organic vegetables and have plans of developing it into a self-sustaining space. My farmhouse is solar powered and I have around 20 fully grown coconut trees and 50 plus fruit trees and flowering tree saplings. The passion to grow food was born out of the desire to provide my family with clean, nutritious, toxin-free food. The disturbing ugly side of the food industry and how we seem to have no choice but to buy whatever is sold to us is what fueled my passion even more.
As an organic farmer, I am trying to change the perspective about urban farming; I want to change the narrative about self-sustainable living in urban scenario through my journey.
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Corporate Speaker
As an advocate of sustainable living, I want to spread the message of living a chemical-free and waste-free lifestyle. To that effect, I conduct paid workshops to empower people to switch to natural alternatives and live a chemical-free life.
Video Snippets from actual speaker sessions
Farming Classes for Schools
I am conducting farming classes in schools for children, because I think that’s where we need to start to sow the seeds of healthy environment and conscious living. I am trying to spread awareness about the benefits of organic farming and also try to change the perception towards farming in the younger generation. The disturbing side of the modern food industry is escalating at an alarming rate and it is becoming very essential to teach children farming as a life skill.
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My Awards and Recognition
Receiving the KARMAVEER CHAKRA GOLD MEDAL AT REX CONCLIVE, DELHI
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