A lot of heat generates in the process of producing cooking oils in industries by using big instruments. And in that process, all nutrients would be lost. Different chemicals are used in different stages of producing the oils, and the remains of those chemicals would get accumulated in refined oils. Refined oils made from hybrid cotton seeds and polluting the cooking oils with the oil remains from petroleum refineries are causing major health issues to people.
Mahatma Gandhiji, the Father of our Nation, dreamt of rural empowerment. To make that dream true, he focused on safeguarding our healthy food traditions. He believed that human health would be safe by using healthy country foods like wooden cold press oils and Palm jaggery, and he drove our society towards that. Eventually, due to globalization, these food traditions went into oblivion, resulting in new types of diseases like never before. In this context, Dr. Khader Vali, a health and food scientist, suggests that we can fight diseases and gain complete health only by using our natural country foods like millets, cold-pressed oils, and palm jaggery. By taking Gandhiji’s spirit ahead, we should focus again on cold press oils for better health. Farmers cultivating the oil seeds can incorporate wooden pressing systems in their villages near their homes, with a small investment, and produce healthy cooking oils and thus receive good financial benefits.
Though it involves a lot of expenditure and efforts to set up and maintain a wood pressing system run by bulls or oxen, some people in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamilnadu, and Karnataka are striving to promote this. They established their wood pressing systems run with bulls in their villages and extending their support to others in such activities. This is the inspiration from Gandhiji’s teachings about health independence that we should absorb. KVIC (Khadi and Village Industries Commission), a Central Government organization, says it is ready to train people to establish wooden oil press systems and palm jaggery production centers. They are even prepared to provide loans at subsidy rates so farmers can go back to healthy oil production.
The subsidy on Khadi and Village Industries Commission loans are in below percentages depending on the category.
- General candidates – 25%
- Urban (Municipal corporation/Municipality/Panchayat) candidates – 15%
- S.C, S.T., Female, Minority, Ex-Army, Physically Handicapped (Rural) – 35%, (Urban) – 25%
With inspiration from Gandhiji and under the guidance of Dr. Khader Vali, the Pragati Group established wooden oil processing systems and now produces natural cooking oils in a healthy manner.
Some of the benefits of Wood Press Oils are:
- They retain proteins and vitamins as they are not manufactured in high heat.
- It helps to repair cell damage radically as it is loaded with rich antioxidants.
- You can use it for oil-pulling practices that help with oral hygiene and strengthens the jaw.
- Oil is unprocessed; therefore, chemicals such as hydrogen peroxide and sodium bicarbonate are not found in the oil.
- The oil has low cholesterol levels and aids in weight loss.
- It’s also considered good for your skin.
