Organic
foods are regular foods but produced under
specific circumstances, this means that
certain production standards can be
maintained. They are generally produced
without using the conventional means that is
the pesticides and artificial fertilizers.
Other food additives are also prohibited in
the production of organic foods. These are
such as growth hormones which have been used
increasingly in recent times to produce
these genetically modified foods.
Organic
foods contain mostly organic ingredients
only. If non organic substances are used it
is made sure that there percentage of usage
is under 5 percent in the organic foods
itself. Even the non organically produced
substances are subject to stringent control
and verification to see the extent of
chemical usage in them. These foods
generally have fewer food additives and
processed without using modern processing
methods and materials. These being food
irradiation, genetically modified
ingredients and chemical ripening products.
In certain countries they are even required
to be produced through certain energy saving
methods, and the usage of green technologies
in there production is encouraged. Packaging
is made to be done in the most environment
friendly manner using only bio degradable
material. Consumers earlier who were
interested in this form of food would try
and find foods which were not treated
chemically and had minimal processing. So
they would local for local farms and home
growers. Over the years various different
definitions of organic food have come up.
Farmers earlier grew vegetables, fruits and
live stock in there own private farms using
methods proposed by organic farming
inadvertently, and the consumers found these
produces to be way healthier and nutritious
than the regular produce they could procure
from there local grocer or super market.
Eventually the demand for organic produces
grew; as a result commercial viability of
organic farming was discovered. Nowadays
many supermarkets and other outlets have
started keeping and retailing wholly organic
products. Though the cost of organic
products is much higher than regular
produce, the demand as such for them has not
seen decline. In effect the costs for there
production is much higher owing to the fact
that they require much more effort and
better drainage and sanitization. There is
though a problem with this method as for
most consumers’ appearances are not very
different from normal produce and they have
to rely on simple labeling which is
generally heavily scrutinized and comes
under government regulation.
Studies
have tended to shown that organic produce
compared to conventional produce is also way
less damaging to the environment. This is
because organic farms do not use pesticides
and such and thus do not emit harmful
products into the soil, air, or water. There
are also much better at sustaining an
ecosystem. And finally it has also been
proven that they use much less energy in
comparison to traditional farms.
Hence it shows that organic farming should
be the way to go for not only the
environment conscious but humanity in
general.
