By Anushri Saxena:
How often do you buy those lush bright vegetables that are impressively marked distinct with a sticker? What sets them apart from the other lesser priced products? Besides appearing fuller, organic food items are actually believed to be healthier and richer than the traditional food items.
The concept of organic food will take us back to their agricultural fields, where they are produced. Studies suggest that during irrigation, or watering of crops, the water is sometimes contaminated and that is what the plants seep. In turn, this largely affects the yield; what we consume. This is traditional farming.
In Japan, the shrimps had begun to be harmed in the water by their own excreta. So, a new bacteria was genetically devised which fed on the waste in the pool of shrimps, thus providing them a clean environment to breed and survive. This is just an example of organic farming. It attends to the way a product is produced in the most natural way.
Organic farming involves numerous techniques which specially attend to minuscule practices such as covering the soil with natural material instead of plastic, to save the water from evaporating. This is referred to as mulching.
You can find various food items which have gone organic – spices and condiments, vegetables, pulses, cookies, ready-to-eat snacks and many more. Not so surprisingly, organic food is very highly priced as compared to traditional food products, due to the special conditions in which they are harvested. And it is only justified for an organic farmer to earn more than his counterpart for his greater efforts. You can also buy the food in bulk so as reduce the overall cost.
Predictably, the total sale of organic food is much lower than that of conventionally produced food. As per the report on IndianRetailer.com, the business of organic food was only 0.001% of the total food business in India. Despite the awareness amongst people, they still think twice before buying these eco-friendly aliments. Once again, high price and lower purchasing power are the targets for blame.
The demand for organic food may not be that high in India at the moment, but campaigns are in full swing in forms of advertisements and news products coming up, trying hard to attract consumers. Yakult, a pro-biotic drink worth only ten rupees, has gained considerable momentum in its sales since its first launch in India in 2005.
Various super markets – Food Bazaar, Reliance Fresh, Sabka Bazaar have separate stalls for the organic products. Safal, a part of Mother Dairy, has started dealing in organic pulses – Chane Ki Daal for Rs. 45 and Kaabuli Chana for Rs. 73, are just a few of the wide variety they offer. Ice-cream producers like Kwality Wall’s, Mother Dairy and Amul have introduced Pro-biotic ice-creams.
Food stuffs produced in such ways not only protect and sustain our environment and also provide more nutrition to our diet. Go Organic! Slowly, but try stepping in its direction.
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