Imagine this — 12 Food Forests in the middle of Mumbai city. As unlikely as it might sound, George Remedios had made it possible. Planting diverse edible plants in limited spaces is an art that George Remedios has perfected over the years.

“Food Forests have multiple layers and take years to create,” he says.

A tree-lover since 9, George started his NGO ‘The Turning Tide’ in memory of his father. Along with his mother, he used his savings and quit his advertising agency job to plant forests in the city. The first forest that he planted was around an old age home in Mumbai.

Over the years, George has also perfected the art of growing jungles with edible fruits like mangoes, chikus, papayas, guavas, pomegranates and bananas.

Growing a food forest costs anywhere between Rs 15,000 to Rs 30,000, says George, who also relies on crowdfunding for his initiatives. He says the food forests he plants today benefit the institutions that house the trees.

In the past eight years, the NGO has planted over 26,000 trees tying up with old age homes and orphanages to care for the trees.

Turning Tide is also giving a push to rooftop gardens in the city, where under his guidance people grow lemons, fig trees, lime saplings, kale, basil, various types of peppers, beetroots and radishes.

“It would be helpful if we could produce a small fraction of the food we consume,” says George.

The NGO is now planning to expand to cities like Pune, Tarangambadi, Para, and Tiruchirapalli.

Watch this short video to learn more about George’s initiatives:

(Edited by Pranita Bhat)