How organic is your organic food?

Organic food is a latest trend that has been synonymous to healthy lifestyle among elite class and health-conscious people. Now, all the supermarkets have an exclusive shelf for organic food products and a mere comparison of organic products v/s non organic products, shows a huge price difference, as much as 50%. But the question arise, is it worth spending an extra amount on organic food and why they are expensive at first place??

Organic food result from organic farming practices that do not use chemicals, fertilizers and pesticide or artificial irrigation methods (they are generally rain-fed and use natural fertilizer) for their crop production. Simply said, use of artificial means of crop production make organic products non-organic. Major reasons why people are opting for organic products includes maintaining the biodiversity, protecting the environment and to get chemical free, nutritious food.

Transition from organic to inorganic and then again to organic

In the pre-independence era, India was extensively practicing organic agricultural practice for thousands of years. After the independence, India faced food security issues mainly due to high population and several natural calamities. As a result, high amount of food was imported to feed the population, thus making country poorer. The government had to drastically increase the food production and operation Green Revolution was started in 1960s. Large amount of land was brought under cultivation, hybrid seeds, pesticide and chemical fertilizers were used. Large chemical factories such as the Rashtriya Chemical Fertilizers were established. In 1990s, India had surplus food grains and once again became and exporter of food grains.

As time went by, extensive dependence on chemical farming started showing its darker side. The land started losing its fertility and demanded larger quantities of fertilizers to be used. Pests also became immune requiring the farmers to use stronger and costlier pesticides. As a result, the food that we eat today has high toxic levels of chemicals and pesticide residues.

Thus, the consumer is looking for alternate to the chemical farming and ready to pay the premium amount. Farmers are also shifting toward organic farming to meet the domestic and international market requirement and to earn that extra money. But, producing organic food is not that easy. It requires extensive labor, more land under cultivation (as yield is low), procurement of organic seeds, going through conversion period of 2-3 years to allow soil to regain its fertility, meet stringent national and international standards to obtain certificate to be labelled as organic. With all these inputs, the output organic produce has low yield, low shelf life and high storage and distribution cost.

 

Organic state of India – Sikkim

Not only in India, Sikkim is the first and only state in the world to be 100% organic state. In 2016, Sikkim officially declared itself 100% organic state and recently it has also been recognized for promoting organic farming by FAO. In 2003, Sikkim stopped imports of chemical fertilizers in the State and since then the cultivatable land there is practically organic and farmers of Sikkim are traditional users of organic manure. Not only it has improved the income status of the people, Sikkimese people tend to live 10 years more owing to healthy organic biodiverse food. It has also shown 50% increase in tourist footfall.

 5 facts about organic food and I’m sure, you won’t love them!

1. They are not pesticide free.

Yes, you read that right. Almost 100% people who buy organic food, have a thought process that they are pesticide free. However, this is far from truth. The organic food is not 100% pesticide free. There are permissible limits of pesticide residue, insecticide residues and other contaminants and toxins for organic food. There is no doubt that they have less amount of pesticides residue as compared to conventional food; they still be can’t labelled as 100 % pesticide free.

2. They are not more nutritious.

Again, people have notion that organic means nutritious. As per the Stanford University, there is little evidence of healthier benefits from organic foods over those grown conventionally. The research shows no difference in protein or fat content between organic and conventional milk. No consistent difference was seen in vitamin content of organic produce. Only significant high level of phosphorus (required for formation of bones and teeth) was observed. Another exhaustive research indicated that in 43% cases, organic food was having higher nutrients, in 45% cases equal and in 11% cases lower nutrients compared to conventionally grown foods. Thus, organic produce does not get any extra points for nutrition and taste.

 3. They impact climate change

Yes, organic foods are climate negative. Organic food has a much bigger climate impact than conventionally farmed food. This is even more so because of the greater areas of land required to produce organic food, resulting in more deforestation. Thus, on the cost of being less nutritious, they release larger amount of greenhouse gases.

4. Organic certificate may not always be genuine

Obtaining organic certificate means following the stringent national and international standards for organic farming, which is a tedious task. As an ill practice, many farmers use one certificate to sell their other non-organic foods or at worse, they buy certificates. Many other farmers may also try to sell their non-organic food products through other farmers certificate on some monetary understandings. Thus, organic label may not assure 100% organic status.

5. They are expensive

With all the intense labor, low yield, high storage, distribution and marketing cost involved in production of organic food, and adding the profit margin, the cost is expected to increase. Moreover, as a means to establish the superiority of organic foods over conventional foods, the cost is often raised. Knowing that have pesticide residues, low or equal nutrition, impact climate, it may not sound wise to spend your hard-earned money on organic foods.

So, am I trying to establish that you should not opt for organic food? Well, the answer is NO! But, I would suggest to be rational toward organic foods. A better approach is to find nutritious foods whose farming contributes less greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.

1. Choose organic produce from local farms

Try to find some local farm near your house where organic food is grown. You may visit the farm once a month to keep an eye on the practice and make a rapport with the farmer. This way, you can ensure that no fertilizers or pesticides are being used and the food is organic. Slowly, you can grow your organic community.

2. Buy on the go!

Always keep an eye on the local specialty of a place, where you go for vacation. You may find some small sellers across your way selling organic foods. You can buy the purest honey, vegetables, cheese, tea and other produce which is otherwise difficult if not impossible to find in cities. Trust me, you won’t find better organic foods than those sold by these small sellers and the best thing, they do not charge a bomb.

3. The best one, grow your own organic vegetables

During the lockdown, many people have been innovative by growing large amount of organic vegetables in a very small space (be it balcony, terrace or backyard!) at their home. Growing organic vegetables is not a tedious process, and ensure 100% organic produce. It is ecological and environment friendly and use of compost or manure can ensure pesticide free food. Vertical farming at home, is a latest trend these days and allows you to grow varied vegetables in less space.

Vertical farming at home

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