Organic Food

In current scenario, the markets are flooded with organic food products and this has become the reason for penning down this blog; as so much of ‘Organic food’ is heard all across and which has created curiosity to understand and demystify the concept regarding in and out of Organic foods.

The popularity of organic food has mushroomed immensely and hence it cannot be ignored. It won’t be an exaggeration to state that this is the latest food trend in market and along with has gripped huge economy in its clutches. This brief and concise blog would help the readers understand the concept behind the Organic Foods.

Certain content of this topic is from my book based on Fundamentals of Food Production - Principles of Food Production Operations. 

Simply, Organic foods can be described as those foods which are grown without using any synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, germicides and also without the use of genetically modified organisms.

People these days are very much conscious about their health and they have started analyzing and consuming food items which they believe are beneficial to their health positively and hence here comes the reason for the popularity of organic foods. Marketing has highlighted and underlined the aspect which consumers have been searching in market and so it has bloomed vigorously.

Organic Food is the latest trend which has swept away the entire concept of food being consumed and it has mushroomed all across the world. Many countries have different standards for the production of organic food and hence their definition also differs accordingly.

In general, the concept of organic food can be defined as that food which has grown or been farmed keeping in mind the reuse of resources and fostering ecological balance, without the usage of any pesticides, antibiotics, hormones or anything synthetic, genetically engineered or  modified organisms, reprocessed sewage or irradiated components.

The general vague concept among layman is that the food which is grown with “no pesticides”, “no fertilizers” and is “natural” is considered as organic food. This is actually the misconstrued definition of organic food.

The organic foods actually originated during 20th century and existed thereafter, when a huge lot of chemical fertilizers were incorporated in the farming process to increase the productivity, in spite of being harmful. In order to defend the adversity of harmfulness, the organic farming movement arose to fight back the industrialization of agriculture around 1940.

Following character of the Organic Food will help the reader to comprehend about Organic Food in a brief manner:

·        Pertaining to Crop farm

Ø Prior to harvesting, the farm land should not be treated with any pesticides, fertilizers and prohibited materials since 3 years.

Ø Planning should be implemented to conserve and enhance biodiversity, to build soil health, to increase soil fertility without harming environment.

Ø The genetically engineered organisms, reprocessed sewage and irradiation should not be used in any way.

Ø The seeds used should also be not treated with any fungicides.

Ø The incorporation of raw manure and compost should also not harm environmental health and also protect human being.

Ø The burning of field should also be avoided to dispose of the crop residues, but can be carried if required to fight disease in farm.

Ø Extreme care should be taken to improve the physical, chemical and biological condition of the soil and soil erosion should also be minimized as much as possible.

·        Pertaining to Livestock Operations

Ø The animals should be fed with 100% organic feed.

Ø The dairy cow should be treated organically for at least 1 year before milking it.

Ø The animals should be taken outside whenever the weather allows so.

Ø All ruminants (cud-chewing hoofed animal) must be grazed on pasture land for at least 120 days per year.

Ø Related health care practices must be implemented like vaccination and so.

·        Pertaining to Processing Operations

Ø It may use mechanical or biological processing methods.

Ø No blending of or contamination of organic products during processing or storage.

Ø Should not use dye, pesticides, solvents or preservatives etc.

Ø Contamination should be taken care during packaging.

Ø Should not use packaging material infested with fungicides, preservatives or fumigants.

Ø Must be labeled as –

100 % organic (for 100% organic ingredients, including processing aids),

“Organic (for at least 95% organic ingredients), and

“Made with organic ingredients” (for at least 70% organic ingredients).

Ø There are meaningless organic labels also which are used to mislead the customer regarding their preferences of organic foods and they are labeled as:

·        “Free-range” or “Free-roaming”, or “Natural”or “All natural”

·        “Organic seafood” or “Antibiotic free”.

Ø It is mandatory to have the name of the certification agency on the product’s information panel for reference.

Thus, the Organic food has been of an immense boon to human mankind and is associated with huge beneficial values to human health, biodiversity, animal well-being, environment and sustainable issues.

Images used is from google: Image 1 and Image 2.

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