You could call it the Food
Revolution of the 21st Century in India. Over the last couple of decades,
organic food has become the flashpoint of food debates all over the world, and
India is no different.
As awareness builds about modern agricultural techniques and the use of chemicals to cultivate, preserve and export food products, consumers have begun to seek healthier, less hazardous alternatives.
To cater to the demand, a growing number of farmers are seeking organic certification for their crops. From organic cheese to coffee, and grains to spices, there's a staggering variety on offer.
Despite the groundswell of good press that organic food is gathering, there are several questions to be answered. What exactly does organically certified food mean, and how does the process of certification work? Why do organic foods have higher markups, and does the additional cost actually translate into health benefits for you?
Understanding Organic
Once used to refer to a natural, balanced and eco-friendly system of farming, the definition of 'organic' has become a lot more specific in recent years.
With the rules governing certification of organic food becoming more stringent, the term is used solely to refer to foods produced without using chemical pesticides, fertilisers or genetically modified raw materials and processed without using chemical additives or other synthetic substances.
The definition also extends to meat, poultry and dairy products produced without using antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. While this is the generic, universally accepted understanding of organic food, the exact definition varies from country to country.
In India, the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), a central government initiative of the ministry of commerce and industries, lays down the norms governing the production of organic food. According to these norms, organically certified farmers bear a larger responsibility towards the environment and hence need to implement eco-friendly methods such as minimising soil erosion, practicing crop rotation to maintain the fertility of the soil.
The guidelines have a sweeping scope and cover even the smallest details. For instance, for a honey manufacturing enterprise to be certified, everything from bee box to farmer's land on which the bee box is kept, to farms within a 5 km radius of the bee box, all have to meet organic standards.
Cost Of Certification
While the NPOP lays down the guidelines, central bodies such as National Accreditation Board and Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority accredit the certifying bodies that carry out inspections and grant organic status to individual farmers and enterprises. Apart from a number of private certifying bodies, state government bodies such as Organic Uttarakhand also issue certification.
Although the idea of organic farming harks back to older methods of agriculture that involved fewer machines and more natural pesticides and fertilisers, in practice, it involves significant investment of manpower and financial resources.
For a farm to be certified organic, every step in the production process must meet organic standards. The farmer or enterprise is required to keep detailed records of every step to ensure that no material that does not conform to organic standards is used.
As awareness builds about modern agricultural techniques and the use of chemicals to cultivate, preserve and export food products, consumers have begun to seek healthier, less hazardous alternatives.
To cater to the demand, a growing number of farmers are seeking organic certification for their crops. From organic cheese to coffee, and grains to spices, there's a staggering variety on offer.
Despite the groundswell of good press that organic food is gathering, there are several questions to be answered. What exactly does organically certified food mean, and how does the process of certification work? Why do organic foods have higher markups, and does the additional cost actually translate into health benefits for you?
Understanding Organic
Once used to refer to a natural, balanced and eco-friendly system of farming, the definition of 'organic' has become a lot more specific in recent years.
With the rules governing certification of organic food becoming more stringent, the term is used solely to refer to foods produced without using chemical pesticides, fertilisers or genetically modified raw materials and processed without using chemical additives or other synthetic substances.
The definition also extends to meat, poultry and dairy products produced without using antibiotics or artificial growth hormones. While this is the generic, universally accepted understanding of organic food, the exact definition varies from country to country.
In India, the National Programme for Organic Production (NPOP), a central government initiative of the ministry of commerce and industries, lays down the norms governing the production of organic food. According to these norms, organically certified farmers bear a larger responsibility towards the environment and hence need to implement eco-friendly methods such as minimising soil erosion, practicing crop rotation to maintain the fertility of the soil.
The guidelines have a sweeping scope and cover even the smallest details. For instance, for a honey manufacturing enterprise to be certified, everything from bee box to farmer's land on which the bee box is kept, to farms within a 5 km radius of the bee box, all have to meet organic standards.
Cost Of Certification
While the NPOP lays down the guidelines, central bodies such as National Accreditation Board and Agricultural & Processed Food Products Export Development Authority accredit the certifying bodies that carry out inspections and grant organic status to individual farmers and enterprises. Apart from a number of private certifying bodies, state government bodies such as Organic Uttarakhand also issue certification.
Although the idea of organic farming harks back to older methods of agriculture that involved fewer machines and more natural pesticides and fertilisers, in practice, it involves significant investment of manpower and financial resources.
For a farm to be certified organic, every step in the production process must meet organic standards. The farmer or enterprise is required to keep detailed records of every step to ensure that no material that does not conform to organic standards is used.
For instance, if a farmer uses a natural fertiliser on his farm, he has to keep a record of its name for future inspection. This record keeping is referred to as traceability, and it is one of the pillars of the organic food movement.
It stands to reason that the farmer or producer incurs a significant additional cost to meet these high standards. "Even though organic farmers use their own prepared inputs such as compost and natural pesticides, the requirement for labour goes up significantly," says Dr Amol Nirban, business development manager for ENDOCERT, a multinational organic certification agency that started operations in India ten years ago.
In addition, the actual process of certification involves a hefty initial investment as well as an annual fee for renewal. Once a farmer starts using organic techniques, it takes three years for his farm to be certified - this is known as the conversion period. All this translates into higher markups on the retail shelf.
"When you spend 25-30% more on inputs, it naturally translates into an additional cost for the customer," explains Vijaya Pastala, proprietor of Under the Mango Tree honey. While UTMT is an organic certified company, only one of Pastala's range of honeys is certified. "That's because certification is so expensive," says Pastala.
Is It Better?
The world of science is still divided on the health benefits. Few well designed studies have examined the impact of organic food on the body. Some of the health benefits of organic food seem to be obvious.
For instance, it is well known that most fruits are sprayed with pesticides, and in some cases, even treated with chemicals after they are harvested so that they are able to survive the journey to far flung markets. Replacing these with organically certified fruits means eliminating those potentially hazardous chemicals from your diet.
Similarly, choosing to eat free range chicken that hasn't been treated with antibiotics or plumped up with growth hormones seems like a reassuring natural choice. But does this guarantee a better nutrient profile? That is the subject of debate.
In 2010, researchers with the London school of Hygiene and Tropical Health found that most studies focusing on organic foods have only explored the short-term benefits of such foods. They also found that in the scientific papers published in the last 50 years, there was no evidence to suggest that organic foods have superior nutritive profile to non-organic products.
Ultimately though, organic farming represents a sustainable way of living and managing our limited resources equitably. It addresses concerns that go beyond the immediate - and for that reason, it is a lifestyle choice for the future.
Content courtesy: Good Food Magazine India
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/et-sunday-magazine/what-does-organic-tag-on-a-food-product-mean-and-what-benefits-does-it-hold-for-you/articleshow/12813098.cms?curpg=1
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