Keeping It Fresh An Interview with Kavita Shukla

In 2002, the United States Patent and Trademark Office awarded patent number 6,372,220 to 17-year-old Kavita Shukla. Her invention? “Fenugreek Impregnated Material for the Preservation of Perishable Substances.” Today, it is known as FRESHPAPER. “FRESHPAPER is a really simple technology,” says Shukla. “It’s a little sheet of paper infused with a combination of spices. It can be used on perishable foods to keep them fresh longer.” Consumers can use it in their refrigerators. Farmers can use it as produce makes the journey from farm to fork, “from when it is harvested to when it appears on a plate,” explains Shukla. And perhaps closest to Shukla’s heart, it also can be used by food banks in the developing world where people don’t