Khadi Organics

Contact us: KhadiOrganics@gmail.com

Khadi Organics was born as a seed within Sadhana Prasad’s mind after reading an article on the cotton farmers of India and how the high cost of genetically modified BT Cotton seeds, chemical fertilizers, and pesticides drove them to commit suicide from the shame of being unable to provide for their families. A year later, Sadhana, Joshua, and Paul travelled to India to visit with the villages most affected by this tragedy and quickly learnt that traditional organic methods of farming would remove the need for expensive agricultural products, lower costs, and improve livelihoods. Nourished by this knowledge the seed of Khadi Organics grew into an organization committed to helping educate rural farmers of the need for organic methods, and assist them in making a successful transition to a self-empowered way of life.

Sadhana Prasad was born in India and immigrated to Canada in 1967 with her father, who came to teach in the Engineering Dept of U of Waterloo. She met her husband at the U of Waterloo, got married, and then went on to do her medical degree at McMaster University and specialty training at U of Toronto, all in Ontario. She developed her interest in Geriatrics while working at the Baycrest Center for Geriatric Care in Toronto and has practiced this art of Internal Medicine / Geriatrics back in her hometown of Waterloo since 1987, while nurturing her 3 children. She has continued to give much to her community, showing leadership and innovation. In keeping with this tradition, with strong support from her family, she was moved to establish KhadiOrganics, a not-for-profit organization, to assist the small farmers in India. She makes time to spend with her family, climb mountains, hike, ski, and garden; ever sensitive to the environmental issues.

Paul completed his Applied Chemistry B.Sc. Honours degree at the University of Waterloo in 1976, and an MBA Finance major at the University of Toronto in 1982. He worked for over 10 years in the Toronto area for both CIL and American Cyanamid as Technical Sales Representative, Corporate Purchasing Manager, Sales Manager and Assistant General Manager. In 1988 Paul moved to Waterloo, Ontario where he embarked on a 20 year real estate career with Lauer Realty and Re/Max. Paul is now retired and continues to live in Waterloo with his wife of 30+ years, Sadhana Prasad. Paul and Sadhana have three beautiful children, Tasha, Joshua, and Rebecca. Paul loves to windsurf in North Carolina and spend time at their cottage in Wasaga Beach. They have traveled throughout the world, most recently to New Zealand, Thailand, Peru and India.

Joshua Schmidt is an entrepreneur who in starting several businesses, has traveled worldwide to gain insight into assisting developing countries. Joshua holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Royal Roads University where he grew a passion for sustainable practices and helped to develop the Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurs (ACE) branch of the Eric C. Douglas Center for Entrepreneurship, guiding future students to “make a difference while making a dollar” with great success.

Joshua brings a focus on education and community development to help local businesses and populaces thrive, and is always searching for new opportunities to develop sustainable communities.

Created by