Govt.-backed millet cafe inaugurated

Minister promotes healthy eating habits through millet cafes to combat diseases, emphasizing the importance of dietary choices.

There is growing awareness about healthy eating habits as evident from the decreasing quantity of rice being consumed in the State, Minister for Agriculture P. Prasad has said.

He added that, according to studies, more than 56% of diseases were caused by food habits, and people in the State should become more aware of the issue.

The Minister was speaking at the inauguration of a millet cafe near Padamugal at Kakkanad as part of a government effort to promote the inclusion of millets in daily diets to help address diseases such as diabetes.

Each district in the State has been allotted a millet cafe with government support, and the Ernakulam unit inaugurated on Saturday (May 10, 2025) is part of the chain of eateries. The cafe is being run by a farmers’ group engaged in value addition.

Mr. Prasad said that the range of millet products needed to be expanded to increase their acceptability in public eateries. “The recent visit by a State delegation to the National Millet Research Institute in Hyderabad served as a demonstration and an eye-opener to the variety of products that can be developed from millet,” he added.

Thrikkakara municipal chairperson Radhamani Pillai, who presided over the inaugural function, said that the millet café would help promote healthy eating habits among the public. District panchayat president Manoj Muthedan and Greater Cochin Development Authority Chairman K. Chandran Pillai were among those present.

The Minister said that efforts were being made to expand the cultivation of millet in areas like Attappady in Palakkad. He added that besides the millet cafes opened with government support, local bodies, cooperatives, and organisations like Kudumbashree groups were being encouraged to launch millet-based food outlets.