Opting for Organic Food
By Dr Arvind Kumar
Organic foods are those that are produced without the use of chemicals, including pesticides and fertilizers commonly used in cultivation and drugs, such as antibiotics and hormones given to commercial livestock. Organic food production is a heavily regulated industry. Presently, the European Union, the United States, Canada, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification in order to market food as ‘organic’ within their borders. Foods claiming to be organic must be free of artificial food additives, and are often processed with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions, such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetically modified ingredients. Pesticides are allowed so long as they are not synthetic.The organic food market is growing rapidly, far ahead of the rest of the food industry, in both developed and developing nations. World organic food sales jumped from US $23 billion in 2002 to $52 billion in 2008. The world organic market has been growing by 20% a year since the early 1990s, with future growth estimates ranging from 10%–50% annually depending on the country. Several surveys and studies have revealed that organic farming is less damaging for the following reasons:
ØOrganic farms do not consume or release synthetic pesticides into the environment—some of which have the potential to harm soil, water and local terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.
ØOrganic farms are better than conventional farms at sustaining diverse ecosystems, i.e., populations of plants and insects, as well as animals.
Ø When calculated either per unit area or per unit of yield, organic farms use less energy and produce less waste, e.g., waste such as packaging materials for chemicals.
