project document
DESCRIPTION
The project explores the possibility of creating an informed consumer regarding both the issues of foodways and sustainable consumption together through the biography of a rare tender mango, ‘appe midi’.TRANSCRIPT
Table of Contents
Introduction..............................................................................2
Synopsis.....................................................................................4
Literature Review...................................................................5
Methodology/Process:...........................................................7
The Product............................................................................16
Scope of this design.............................................................26
Conclusion...............................................................................27
Bibliography...........................................................................28
References..............................................................................28
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Introduction
Communities express their identities through the
kind of food that is prepared. Indeed, food is one
of the most important cultural markers of identity
in our contemporary societies, and it has
provided a medium for the understanding of
social relations, family and kinship, class and
consumption, gender ideology and cultural
symbolism.1
Appe midi, as it is known in Kannada, literally
means the raw ,aromatic tender mango. It is a
special type of pickling mango that is collected
extensively from the wild, processed as a pickle,
used as a commodity of commerce and is integral
to the food habits of a large number of people in
the Western Ghats region of Karnataka. It is
naturally distributed in the central and southern
parts of the Western Ghats. However its use is
restricted to Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada,
Shimoga and Chikkamagalur districts. No meal is
complete without the extraordinary aroma of the
appe midi pickle in this part of the country. The
community known for preparing the appe midi
pickles is the Havyaka community, found in this
region. There are two main markers which sets
the community apart from the rest of Karnataka;
the language spoken and the food.
1 Sidney W. Mintz and Christine M. Du Bois, ‘The anthropology of food and eating’
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Fig 1. Malnad region of karnataka
Hence, food becomes very important to the
community for defining an identity, and even for
distinguishing themselves as unique. However,
with the demand increasing, the once abundant
appe midi mango trees in this region have
become endangered due to neglect and
destruction. Though the natural variation is very
high, only small part of them would be highly
useful as appe varieties. (Not all individuals
would be equally good with respect to aroma,
shape, shelf-life, yield etc). Through repeated
sampling, farmers confirm a few individuals as
best types. There are mother trees (scions are
derived from these mother trees to be used for
grafting). Unfortunately such mother trees (found
in natural areas) are being neglected / over
harvested / unscientifically cut leading to the loss
of valuable material.
The need to raise awareness about this
endangered species has never been more
pressing. Decades ago, pickle making was not
such a hugely commercial exercise. Instead,
there were other cultural connotations, with the
art being handed down from one generation to
the other, and from one family to another.
Although, destruction has been prevalent in the
entire region, a lot of villagers are not even
aware about the endangerment of this variety of
mango. However, the pickle industry has been
affected at large. The consumers of the pickle
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
constitute largely of people who procure it from
the market. There is a need to sensitize the
consumers regarding the foodways of this region
and the conservation of this rare species.
Synopsis
The title of the project is ‘Appe midi’:
Pickling the cultural and biological diversity
of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The project explores the possibility of
creating an informed consumer regarding
both the issues of foodways and sustainable
consumption together through the
biography of a rare tender mango, ‘appe
midi’.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The project is also an attempt create
awareness among the primary producers
(wiz. The farmers) regarding the issue of
conservation through communication
design.
The final output is a new kind of pickle
packaging designed for the consumers and
a series of print advertisements designed
for the farmers.
Literature Review
Culture can be identified by the transparent
nature of those everyday elements in it that form
the very backbone of our existence. One example
of this ‘taken for granted’ culture of everyday life
is food, while consumed on a daily basis, often is
considered a mere sustenance. Food is important,
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
obviously. Writing about something so important
should need no justification.
There are, of course, diverse and good reasons to
write about food, from aesthetic pleasures to
consumer advocacy. Food writing is not just
writing descriptions about food. It is, in fact a
whole lot more than that. Today it comprises
insightful commentaries and memoirs that tell of
personal experiences and anecdotes intertwined
deeply with food, vivid narratives, investigative
pieces etc.
Many books in which food is the central subject
have had an extra ordinary impact on the way we
think about food, and our lives that explore how
our world is changed by the way we grow
distribute, buy and cook food. It is a mainstay of
popular media.
From high-tech kitchen gadgets to magazines to
the Food Network, over the last few decades, we
have witnessed a rise in food-focused
consumption, media, and culture, such that there
has been what we could label a ―food explosion.
It seems as if food, and the discourses
surrounding it, are all over the place from
discussions on food-related forums on the
internet to news stories about urban gardening or
buying organic products at the local farmer‘s
market. There is a heightened awareness of
food’s significance within contemporary society
and culture and, as such, there is a further need
to explore it.
In addition to being an emerging area of study,
there are several major reasons why we can view
food from the perspective of communication
and/or use food as a means for further
understanding communication theories and
practices.[1] Everyone eats and every culture has
its roots in hunting and gathering, growing and
cooking with food. Food and foodways are at the
very heart of human culture. This obsession over
food has had some positive results, such as the
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
call to eat local, sustainable and humanely raised
food.
Spurlock, in ―Performing and Sustaining (Agri)
Culture and Place: The Cultivation of
Environmental Subjectivity on the Piedmont
Farm Tour also proposes that: Because of their
ability to signify, mediate, contest, and represent
nature and culture, ‘foodways are deeply
rhetorical and per formative’. He also maintains -
Through its absences and presences in everyday
life, food and foodways highlight the moral,
aesthetic, and ethical concerns of a given cultural
milieu. That is, if we view food as a common facet
of our daily lives, then certainly food is also one
of the means by which we create cultures.
In his book, Food is Culture, Massimo Montanari
asserts this point by claiming― Food is culture
when it is produced…when it is prepared…when
it is eaten. That is to say, throughout every step
of our encounters with food, we shape it in one
way or another whether it is through selections of
certain foods versus others, cooking processes,
and/or the ways in which we consume it. Food is
one of the most readily available symbols that we
have at our disposal, which can be viewed from
both the aspects of communication and culture.
In other words, we often use food to
communicate with others as a means of
demonstrating our
personal identity, group affiliation and
disassociation, and other social categories, such
as socioeconomic class.
One of the most common ways that we utilize
food is in the construction of our personal
identities. In other words, we regularly define
“who we are” according to both the foods we eat
and those that we refrain from consuming. We
constantly use food to express not only who we
are but who we wish to be asserting our
membership in certain groups, distancing
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
ourselves from others. Communities express their
identities through the kind of food that is
prepared. Indeed, food is one of the most
important cultural markers of identity in our
contemporary societies, and it has provided a
medium for the understanding of social relations,
family and kinship, class and consumption,
gender ideology and cultural symbolism.[2] But
the aspect of conservation is usually absent from
all the food-talk that exists in the present
scenario.
Methodology/Process:
The main focus of this study was to examine how
the making and consumption of certain food
items can be viewed as identity markers of a
community. Can culture be preserved? What are
the reasons for destruction or endangerment of
the rare mango species? Why is it important for
people to know where their food comes from?
I will be taking my own community as a prototype
to show how food is an expression of our culture
identity, to argue that regional food culture is
intrinsic to how people from a particular
community connect to their past, live in the
present and imagine a future.
Background:
No meal is complete without the extraordinary
aroma of the appe mango pickle in the Malnad
region of Karnataka. Because of this attachment,
people have developed a special mental faculty to
recognize, typify, cultivate and conserve dozens
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
of varieties of appe mango in the district. These
varieties are recognized by their aroma and taste
in addition to their colour, shape, size, pulp
content, shelf life, consistency and season of
harvest. One can obtain an appe with an array of
aromas ranging from that of Jeera (Cumin seeds)
to that of camphor. This mango variety has a
history of centuries. Sode king Sadashiva Raya
makes a mention of the appe midi in his 17th
century work. The Gazetteer of 1884 also makes
a note of this variety. Folk tradition is replete
with anecdotes and literature revolving around it.
Ananthabhatta’s appe is perhaps the oldest
variety of appe mango identified and popularized
a century ago in this district. The history dates
back to the early 1900s, when a cultivator from
Balur village by the name Anantha Bhat on the
banks of the river Aghanashini, identified and
popularized a variety which became very famous
quickly. Even today it is one of the leading
varieties, much sought after by the farmers and
the pickling industry. Unfortunately this clone
does not flower in many locations, making it
difficult to popularize. Other varieties include
Malanji appe, Haladota appe, and Karpura appe.
Figure 2. Board displaying varieties of Appe midi at a community nursery in Salkani, Karnataka
The community predominantly known for
preparing the Appe midi pickles is the Havyaka
community, found in the Malnad region of
Karnataka. While the current population of our
community is believed to stand at around 100,000
individuals, there is a clear dearth of
comprehensive anthropological study about the
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
origin and the subsequent migration of Havyakas.
There are two main markers which sets the
community apart from the rest of Karnataka is
the language spoken and the food. Hence, food
becomes very important to the community for
defining an identity, and even for distinguishing
themselves as unique.
The process:
I have picked on this particular item of food, i.e.,
the pickle, because it is integral to the food
habits of a large number of people from my
community/region. It is popular, consumed as a
regular part of the diet and therefore, taking a
holistic view of food from the process of
production to its final arrival on the table.
Also, preservation is a term that connects three
important aspects of the issue – The people
(community), the pickle and the endangered raw
mango, Appe midi. Since preservation is a part of
the pickle-making process, it becomes an
organizing metaphor. By talking about
preservation of the pickle, indirectly talking
about preserving the endangered raw mango and
preserving a way of life, and therefore, a people,
by trying to get them to preserve a certain aspect
of what makes them, them and not somebody
else.
Thus, there is a logical coherence for taking these
three elements into account. As mentioned
earlier, we are what we eat and hence, if we
conserve what we eat, we conserve what we are.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The flowchart shown above gives out a clear
picture of the process that has been followed.
Foodways, here, is allowing me to bring the two
concepts of consumption and conservation
together because I am relating to people’s
notions of identity and therefore it has more
appeal. It is not just about the pickle, but relating
the story of the pickle to a larger, regional and
social history of the place. And therefore, the
concept of foodways allows extending the
discussion on the pickle to a larger question of
food and identity.
This becomes the whole purpose of sustainable
growth or consumption; that we do not consume
everything or deplete the resources and one eats
sensibly so as to allow successive generations to
be able to eat the same thing. It is not about
asking people to stop consuming the fruit so that
it can be saved from endangerment, but
encouraging them to eat with a certain
sensibility. Because, if the community stops
making the pickle, the mango tree might survive
but the people will be deprived of the pickle that
is so intrinsic to their food plate. Therefore, the
thrust here is to save/preserve all three aspects–
the pickle, the endangered fruit and the culture.
Buying things locally is the whole trend now. So,
the idea is on nurturing local ecologies – The
whole appe midi controversy, is around the way
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
in which, whether one can sustain the growth of
this fruit without damaging the environment and
to see to it that something so critical to our food
plate and culture is sustained.
Field work:
Except for few newspaper articles, there was not
a lot of information regarding the issue on the
internet, and hence a major part of my project
required me to gather information on the field.
The following methods were employed to perform
the research:
Participant observation: Since I
stayed with the community during my
course of research at the field, I was
able to observe and record my
observations with respect to the
procurement, distribution, etc of the
Appe midi.
Audio/video taped interviews of the
locals, farmers, industrialists and the
Environmentalists involved.
Review of newspaper articles written
about the existing issue, awareness
programs, historical archives(if any)
and the Internet
Field data archived through photo
documentation and by maintaining a
journal
Review statistics involving the
production and consumption of the
mangoes/pickles
The field sites included:
Villages surrounding the river valleys of
Aghanashini, Kali of Uttara Kannada
district, Shimoga districts of Karnataka
where the “appe midi” mangoes are found.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Household pickle makers and small scale
industries in the surroundings areas.
Appemidi Growers’ Organisation
Environmentalists working towards the
conservation of the rare species and
members of the GEF-UNEP Project
“Conservation and Sustainable Use of
Cultivated and Wild Tropical Fruit
Diversity: Promoting Sustainable
Livelihood, Food Security and Ecosystem
Services” where in Local institutions such
as College of Forestry in Sirsi, Life Trust
NGO and EcoWatch are working together
to document traditional knowledge and
build capacities of farmers and local
communities to assess, evaluate and
implement good practices that will increase
the value of tropical fruit tree genetic
resources.
Findings and Discussions:
According to Mr.Shivanand Kalave, a writer and
environmentalist who has been one the pioneers
working towards creating the awareness about
conservation of appemidi species, the Uttara
Kannada district has two main markers of
identity – Meenu (fish) and maavu (mango). He
said that, it is astonishing how powerful a mere
mango can be for a region that there are villages
and also people named after it- Mavinakoppa,
Mavinakurve, Mavinajaddi and Mavinahole are
some examples. Similarly a lot of appe midi
varieties are named after certain families and
villages like Karnakundala, Harnalli Jeerige,
Gundappe, Chouti appe, Kanchappe,
Karpoora appe, Hosagadde appe and Nandagar
appe.
With the assistance of farmers, Kalave had held a
mela(fair) of the appemidi variety back in year
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
2006 to identify different varieties of appe midi.
The mela helped in identifying 180 varieties of
appemidi. This was a good initiative to identify
the pickling variety because there are a lot of
wild mango varieties found in the region but not
all of them are suitable for making pickles, and
such varieties are invaluable and people are often
ignorant about the same. Similar melas have
been conducted in the region ever since. Mr.
Kalave also mentioned that it is very difficult to
identify the varieties because a plant grown
under a mother tree naturally may not have the
same variety. Informal knowledge of grafting of
these appemidis should be encouraged rather
than the package of practice because only the
traditional method can preserve these varieties,
he opined. (Personal interview, 27 December
2012)
Figure 3. Varieties of wild mango displayed at a recent farmers’ meet in Sirsi
A range of culinary dishes are prepared and
relished every summer with appe midi. Pickling
mango species are highly restricted to river
banks and other swampy areas. It has evolved as
a specialist to these unique habitats. It requires
very high soil moisture conditions for its
flowering and fruit set.
All the wild mango trees of these regions don't
yield appe midi. Local experts differentiate an
appe midi from an ordinary tender wild mango.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Appe midi is quite long - generally 2.5 to 3 inches
- has considerable amount of latex, looks pale
green in colour and will last for years as pickle,
sans any artificial preservative. (Latex is the
transparent thick liquid that oozes out from the
stalk of the tender mango when you cut it off.)
Though most of appe midis are quite long, two to
four inches to an exceptional eight inches, there
are some which are round and hardly 1.5 inches
long. Some are dark green in colour.
One of the specialties of the appe midi pickle is
that there is no use of any artificial preservatives,
not even oil when made at home; the mango latex
itself gives the pickle a shelf life of around four
years. This latex is stored and used as a flavoring
agent in an off-season.
Procurement of these mangoes in villages is
different from that of pickle factories.
Figure 4. Steps showing traditional method of preparing the pickle
In the villages where pickle-making is still a
household practice, during the harvest season, a
specified date (usually the first day of the year in
the Hindu calendar, i.e., the ‘Ugadi’ festival) is
announced for the harvest. By word of mouth,
hundreds of 'regular customers' reach the tree on
the day of harvest. This is a sort of ritual in itself
and very rarely is mangoes bought on any other
day. Depending on the demand, a ration is fixed.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The buyers are not allowed to pluck the mangoes,
but there is a separate group of people who are
specialized for the job. Mangoes, sufficient for
making pickles which could last for about two
years are bought at once because these trees
usually bear fruit once in two years. Although
there are sufficient number of “appe midi” trees
available in most villages, people tend to wait for
“Ananta Bhattana appe”, as it is said to be best
suitable for making pickles.
By harvesting the mangoes at a particular time
every year, the community helps conserve the
biodiversity by guaranteeing the supply. i.e., it is
picked at a particular time, so that once it is
preserved, the time gets extended (the pickle has
a shelf life of about 2-3 years). Therefore, it is not
just the issue of identity, but ‘time’ is crucial too.
And since the demand for the pickle has
increased now, people go for untimely harvest,
which in turn has led to quality deterioration.
Thus, the community has a major role in being
able to conserve the species because of the
cultural connotations linked to it. This could be
compared with the issue of the gene pool of
almost 90 per cent of local rice varieties in the
country in 1995 that had been wiped out since
the Green Revolution in 1965 in West Bengal,
which was saved by Mr. Debal Deb who has been
working for more than 15 years saving the most
uncommon of the common rice. This was made
possible with the help of tribal farmers who still
traditionally grew the local and wild varieties of
rice.
When asked that if these mangoes were sold in
the market commercially instead of distributing
them to the neighboring villages, Ganapati Naik,
farmer and owner of an age old appe midi tree of
the Ananta Bhatta variety said, if taken to the
market a single buyer would take a thousand
mangoes but it would deprive several villagers to
be able to make pickles and he would rather feed
ten families instead of selling the mangoes to a
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
single person for a higher price at the market.
Only after distributing mangoes to all the families
in their village, is the word spread to the
neighboring villages. Mangoes are distributed for
free in their own village and a ration is fixed for
people coming from other villages.
He also stressed on the fact that it is more of a
tradition to distribute mangoes than it being a
commercial exercise. The mango tree has seen
three generations of their family and they
continue to look after the tree; not for the value
of money but because they are producing
something which is of pride to their family and
village. (Personal interview, 16 January 2013)
According to Dr. Vasudev, Forestry Expert and
local partners of Bioversity international, there
are very few mother trees left and this is one of
the main reasons for the endangerment of the
appe midi variety. Grafting cannot take place if
the mother trees are not available. Most of the
farmers are unaware about identifying appe
midis from other invaluable wild mango varieties.
If the existing mother trees are well taken care
of, grafting can be done, which in turn will
ensure the conservation of the rare mango
species. (Personal interview, 18 January 2013)
Bioversity International, with partners, has a
Tropical Fruit Tree Conservation (TFT) project,
supporting a local group to conserve appe midi
variety and other tropical fruits. According to
Dattatraya Hegde, farmer and member of the TFT
project, today commercial plantation-based
agriculture of the Western Ghats has been
changing and farmers are looking at new cash
crops such as vanilla and agar-wood because of
diminishing returns from traditional crops. One of
the major challenges of fruit tree crops, such as
mango, is the increasing vulnerability to climate
change; especially the flowering and fruit set
stages, which could be very badly affected by off-
season rains. Further, the year-to-year
fluctuations in the market prices for fruits have
made prediction of returns almost impossible.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Farmers are not completely aware of the market
chain; that is the biggest hurdle in marketing
lesser-known local varieties and hence
maintaining the higher on-farm diversity. Also,
knowledge is being lost among the farmers about
locally important varieties. Though arecanut
(betelnut) is his main cash crop, Mr. Dattatreya
started to plant fruit crops a decade and a half
ago. Today he receives some 20% of his family
income by selling appe midi mangoes as well as
grafted cuttings of these diverse varieties. He
also stressed that there is always a need to
diversify fruit crops, to include local varieties of
commercial importance. Since changes in
flowering and fruit-set are becoming more and
more pronounced in the recent 5-6 years, having
multiple varieties is better since they act like
insurance in the changing environment and
contribute to the sustainable food production.
Developing local demand and catering to it is the
key to market the local varieties. (Personal
interview, 14 January 2013)
Decades ago, pickle making was not such a
hugely commercial exercise. Instead, there were
other cultural connotations, with the art being
handed down from one generation to the other,
and from one family to another. Although,
destruction has been prevalent in the entire
region, most house-hold pickle makers have not
been affected by it yet. In fact, a lot of villagers
are not even aware about the endangerment of
this variety of mango.
There are about a dozen big pickle industries in
this region that use anything from 20 to 150
tonnes of tender mangoes every year. M N
Pickles of Shiralakoppa taluk, which uses regular
tender mangoes and not appe midis - is the
highest that uses 150 tonnes and has an
impressive 'direct marketing' network. While all
other pickle companies mainly depend on shops
for marketing, M N Pickles does it through the
agents who do direct marketing by running
'mobile shops'- These are special vans that carry
pickle to different towns and sell it directly. M N
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Industry's Mr. Ramchandra Shetty produces a
limited quantity of appe midi pickle commercially
and exports it to several countries. He said he is
unable to cater to even a quarter of the demand
due to lack of availability of the fruit. Pickles used
to be made sufficient for a year’s supply and this
has reduced to 4-5 months now.
The factory procures the appe midis from the
local markets and there is an uncertainty in the
supply. Although there is a lot of demand for it,
due to the lack of consistent availability,
manufacturers depend on other pickles such as
lemon pickles, cut-mango pickles etc. However,
Appe midi pickles are sold at a much higher price
than the other pickle varieties because of their
uniqueness.
During the course of my research, I identified the
various reasons responsible for the
endangerment of the rare mango species and the
steps that have already been taken up by various
organizations to overcome this issue. Although
these initiatives have been quite successful, they
were mainly focused on ‘how’ to conserve-
different grafting methods being taught etc.
These were not focused on ‘why’ one needs to
conserve. Initially the communication was to be
targeted to the consumers of the pickle alone.
But there is a need to include the primary
producers (the farmers) as well because
eventually, they are the ones who can actually
work towards saving the rare species of mango.
And this message is best served if taken from the
producers to the consumers. Hence, expanding
the domain of communication to the primary
producer as well because conservation does not
happen just by creating awareness, one has to
intervene.
The Product
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
1. Pickle packaging design
While we may not know what television shows or
advertisements consumers are watching, which
or where consumers are strolling in hyperspace,
we do know that within the retail environment
consumers come in contact with the packaged
product and most of the buying decisions are
made at the shelf itself. Food packaging
concentrates on principles associated with
engineering, graphic design and advertising.
Apart from being just an important sales tool and
displaying important and compulsory product
information major function of packaging is the
communication of the product.
There is a reason why the communication aspect
is so important. In case of a modern supermarket,
packages replace people. There is nobody to
introduce you to the various products, nobody to
help you choose what’s right for you, nobody to
explain the benefits of a specific product to guide
you in your purchase. The packaging has to do all
that. Communication in packaging design is
about the capability of a pack to replace a living
salesperson.
The proposed design intends to serve this
purpose and beyond.
This is an item of consumption that needs to be
consumed as well as sustained. Sensitization to
consumption can only be achieved when there is
a retrospective demand which will ensure
conservation. Therefore by matching the
demands of the two issues, the idea was to create
a new kind of pickle packaging design that
involves both.
Present day Appemidi pickle packaging:
Traditionally, the practice is to prepare pickles at
home and store in ceramic or earthenware jars.
Gradually over the years, pickles are
manufactured and commercially marketed as
branded products. In small towns, still, a large
quantity of pickle is sold loose, with no brand
name on it or any information regarding the
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
producer. The shopkeeper displays various types
of pickles in large glass jars, and weighs out
desired quantity of pickle to his customers.
However, pickles packed in glass bottles, LDPE
pouches and PET jars and under different brand
names have become popular. Most pickles are
packaged generically in a way that there is only
information about the manufacturer and the
brand. Most manufacturers follow the same
standard way of packaging, be it any pickle.
Figure 5. Generic way of packaging that is employed by most manufacturers at present
Even though this pickle is of a rare variety and
exclusive to this part of the country, the way it is
packaged fails to communicate about its regional
identity.
Strategy:
The consumers of this pickle are divided into
three categories.
1. The locals
2. The diasporic kannadigas
3. The non-kannadigas
The locals are the people of the same community
who would buy the pickle directly off the shelf
from the local grocery store. These are regular
buyers who buy the pickle in larger quantities
since it is a part of their daily diet. The diaspora
here refers to people of the same community
living in the other parts of the country or abroad;
people who would buy the pickle at specific
boutique stores or emporiums. The non-
kannadigas would include people who do not
belong to this part of the country.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Understanding the tastes of these three
categories, the packaging of the pickle had to be
designed respectively.
Since a major part of the target consumers
belong to Karnataka, I have employed a bilingual
packaging design where the ‘text’ is in both
English and Kannada. The compulsory product
information has been written in English and the
tagline is bilingual. (Kannada and English) The
tagline here sends out a message to conserve the
rare tender mango. I started with writing
advertising slogans for the product in both
English and Kannada. After discussing with Prof.
Devy, out of the ten slogans that I had written in
each of the languages, five were finalized.
The following are some of the ideas
conceptualized for the pickle packaging design.
Idea 1:
Most of the pickle industries in the region use
pearl-pet jars to package pickles. In this concept,
I have tried to redesign the existing style of
packaging by incorporating certain new elements
such as a label on the cap of the bottle and a
hang-tag.
Since it is tender mango pickle, I have used
mango flowers to illustrate the background. I
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
have used a shade of green that is similar to that
of the pickle mango. Green, in food packaging is
also used to show the quality of a product, how
good it is for us or for our environment.
Along with the label, there will be a hang-tag
booklet attached to the bottle which would
provide little-known facts about Appe midi,
describing the uniqueness of the fruit. These tags
can be printed in different sizes and shapes and
on different card thicknesses depending on the
size of the bottle and can be easily attached with
different types of cotton, string or plastic
fasteners.
Idea 2: In this design I have used simple and
minimalistic graphics using elegant and simple
typefaces upon large white space or canvas to
give the design a distinctive appeal. The large
white canvas is balanced with the maroon color
of the pickle
appearing through the glass at the base and top
of the glass jar.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The USP of this design is that the top portion of
the label which serves as a seal can a peeled off,
and it has text written inside. This would contain
the tagline/ message that the product has to
convey. Often, with simple packaging, the
consumer fails to read the information provided
at the back of the bottle. If there is a lot of text
given on the label, it often goes unnoticed by the
consumer. This design would ensure that the
information is read as one peels off the seal,
while generating curiosity.
The image shows hand-drawn illustrations of the
above mentioned idea in a step-wise sequence.
Why didn’t it work?
Although it was not a complex design, the
graphics had to be printed on both sides of the
label. I found out from the printers that the
procedure was a little elaborate and they would
agree to do it if it were a bulk order. Since I had
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
to get only a single label printed, execution of the
idea failed.
However, I used the Autodesk 3ds Max to make
3D models of the same concept to give a realistic
look to it as shown.
Final idea:
The second category of consumers, i.e. the
diaspora would buy the packaging along with the
pickle. One of the important factors of the
proposed design was to bring in the regional
identity of the product in the packaging. This
would target both the diaspora and the non-
kannadigas. Hence, keeping the cultural aspect
of the product intact, the idea was to use a visual
language that the target audience can relate and
understand.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The graphics have been hand drawn and further
edited using Adobe Illustrator. The illustrations
used contain various elements which are intrinsic
to the Malnad region of Karnataka such as
arecanut trees, yakshagana, clouds, rains, hills,
rivulets, flowering and fruiting of mango trees,
brick roof houses etc. The package is meant to
be reminiscent of the region for the diasporic
consumer; evoke nostalgia and memories related
to the region. When one looks at the graphics, he
can immediately connect to it. Also, for the non-
kannadiga, this illustration is effective since it
helps create a regional identity of the place and
the consumer would buy it as a collectible.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The graphics was initially printed on a label stuck
on a glass jar as shown below.
During my previous presentation, I was asked to
utilize sustainable and organic material available
in the region for packaging, so that it goes with
the whole idea of sustainable consumption. Pickle
packaging or any kind of preserve packaging has
a different kind of identity, because today, even
though these products are industrially produced,
they still retain the sense of home; a cottage
industry flavor to it.
Considering all of the above factors, I redesigned
the packaging keeping the same graphics. Since,
the idea on sustainable consumption, it needed to
have an ‘organic’ feel to it. I used material such
as banana bark and recycled paper to make boxes
which would contain the jar of pickle.
Figure 6. The final prototype
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
As shown in the above image, the package design
consists of three components- the outer box, the
pickle jar and the booklet.
The box is made up of recycled paper and dried
banana bark. The jar used is in the shape of a
‘bharani’ (ceramic jars used to store pickle
traditionally). Pickle has a home quality attached
to it and therefore, its packaging needs to be sort
of different from other packaged food items. The
jar used, gives a home feel to the packaging.
Since this design is targeted towards the non-
kannadiga consumers as well, the booklet
provides a story about appe midi including
information about its history and how important
it is to the community.
Figure 7. Layout of the booklet
4. Print ads/Posters:
Since the target audience constituted villagers,
print media, radio or television were the three
modes through which the intended message
could have been conveyed effectively.
The message could have been well put across
through an ad campaign which could include a
short ad film along with the print ads. However, if
I had to make use of the harvesting of the tender
mangoes in the video, it would not have been
possible because the harvest usually occurs
during the last week of March or first week of
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
April and I could not have travelled during the
time as per project timeline.
If an advertisement is printed on paper, be it
newspapers, magazines booklets, flyers or
anything else that would be considered a portable
printed medium, then it comes under the banner
of print advertising. However, I have created a
series of three ads in poster format which can
take shape into other forms of print ads as well. I
have used the regional language, kannada in all
the ads suitable for the target audience. These
posters could be put up at various locations in the
villages where people gather.
The posters are an added value to the existing
communication strategies that have been adopted
by conservationists or other groups working
towards creating awareness regarding the issue
of conservation. These posters focus on ‘why’ the
community needs to conserve the species rather
than ‘how’.
The idea was to alert people from seeing the
flavors of their childhood disappear, to help them
save for their future generations a piece of the
culture and history of which they are a part.
Poster 1: This poster shows a withering mango
tree which forms family tree, with the older
generations at the root and the tree withers as
one moves towards the newer generations at the
top.
The 'appe midi' is like a family heirloom, being
passed on from generations. However, with it
getting endangered, it may not be available to the
future generations. This is shown through the
mango tree, where the older members of the
family are the greener, healthier part of the tree
at the bottom and the younger ones are at the top
where the tree is withering away.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Here, the withering mango tree is considered as
a metaphor to talk about the fast dying appe midi
species; to show that something that has always
been there may not be available for the future
generations.
Poster 2: In this poster, using typography, the
names of villages that are named after 'mango'
(Like Mavinakoppa, Mavinakurve, Mavinajaddi
etc; 'maavu' meaning mango) form the shape of a
mango.
There are a number of villages in the region
which are associated with the word 'mango'
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
showing that the fruit has always been of high
importance to the people of the region. And since
the mango is fast-dying, these villages will soon
lose their identity; in the sense that, the names of
these villages will no longer hold any value.
Poster 3: This poster shows a mother and a son,
where a mother and her child are looking at a
picture of jar of 'appe midi' pickle hung on the
wall. The picture has a garland over it, just like
how garlands are hung over pictures of deceased
people in the family.
Here, I'm trying to spread the message in a
rather humorous way by saying that a time might
arrive in the future, where our future generations
will only get to see the pictures of this fruit and
not be able to get a taste of it. This has been
exaggerated with the garland hung over the
picture of the mango.
Poster 4: This poster constitutes of a mango tree
in the centre surrounded by people, as though
they are protecting the tree; who in turn are
surrounded by mango trees and the circle goes
on till it fades away.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The slogan in kannada literally means, ‘What we
save, saves us’.
This message is visually represented in the poster
showing people or the community saving the
mango tree and the mango tree saving their
culture.
Scope of this design
Today’s consumer does not just buy from a store;
a lot of knowledge is gathered from the web as
well. Of course, there are consumers who would
never go to a website but there is a niche
audience who actually do. Although, packaging
serves to communicate the message to the
consumer who buys directly from the shelf, to
reach a wider audience, a website can be of an
added value. This website could contain stories
regarding other such food products.
As mentioned earlier, to reach a larger array of
audience, along with the print ads, a short ad film
could be created to create awareness among the
farmers.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
Conclusion
The project aimed to create a food supply chain
that is culturally, environmentally and socially
sustainable, involving both the producer and the
consumer, conveying the same message in
different contexts. It is important for
farmers/producers and consumers to work
together in order to defend our agricultural
heritage.
Over the last few decades, there is a heightened
awareness of food’s significance within
contemporary society and culture and as such,
there is a further need to explore it. It is not
about just the pickle, but relating the story of the
pickle to the larger regional and social history of
the place; thus allowing the discussion of the
pickle to a larger question of food and identity.
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
The project thus intended to approach it through
the conceptual category of food ways on one
hand and sustainable consumption on the other
hand through the biography of a rare tender
mango, appe midi.
With this project, I tried to smuggle out a
symbolic tradition, one they is not about just
keeping alive among the community, but among
people throughout the world. This continuation of
our food heritage helps us maintain a sense of
identity. This pickle is a symbol of a historic,
storied culture and its fight to stay intact. By
keeping it alive, we preserve a culture.
Bibliography
[1] Sidney W. Mintz and Christine M. Du
Bois, ‘The anthropology of food and eating’
[2] Charles Camp, ‘Foodways in everyday
life’
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka
References
Anitha Pailoor (2007,May). ‘Save the
appemidi’ InfoChange News &Features.
Retrieved August 16, 2012 from
http://infochangeindia.org/other/features/sa
ve-the-appemidi.html
Sandhya Hegde Almane ( 2012, August 20).
‘Of Mango-scented Malnad air…’ Deccan
Herald. Retrieved August 20,2012 from
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/1565
04/banner-300x250.swf
Atula (2011, March). ‘Rare Pickle Mango
Variety on Path of Resurrection’. Retrieved
August 18, 2012 from
http://indiasendangered.com/rare-pickle-
mango-variety-on-path-of-resurrection/
Design issues, Vol 26, No. 2, spring 2010,
Anthorp. ‘Design’s role in sustainable
consumption’
(2013, Mar 2). ‘About Packaging
Sense’ .Retrieved April 10, 2013 from
http://packagingsense.com/?page_id=2
‘Appe midi’: Pickling the cultural and biological diversity of | Padmini Hegde | 201114009 of the Western Ghats in Karnataka