When I navigated from a corporate job to working with food, I found myself gravitating towards better quality ingredients. Freshly picked, organic produce added so much taste and quality to every meal, that I found myself slowly sticking to only organic food.
Unfortunately, the word organic, with the insanely expensive certifications that go with it has earned itself a bad reputation – as a fad that is over-hyped and over-priced. Personally, I would agree – especially if we are forced to depend on branding and certification, which seems just as suspect as the next packet of food on the shelf! Why and how, then, do I advocate going organic?
Health
Our hectic urban lives have completely disconnected us from the source of our food, and through this process, standard commercial food has a whole lot of evil hidden just below the surface. Pesticides, herbicides and other poisons in food production eventually find their way to our bodies. The numbers indicate this – the similarities between the rise in pesticide/herbicide sales and the rise in non communicable health issues seems too evenly matched to be ignored.
Additionally, manipulation of native varieties through the seed have resulted in crop variants that are low in nutrition, difficult to digest, and eventually leaves us prone to overeating and illness because the body craves proper nutrition.
Sourcing good quality, indigenous, organic food is definitely a way forward. Personally I have experienced higher energy levels, better immunity, and my body has automatically moderated my food intake because it is satisfied with the quality of nutrition.
Flavour
Organic food is flavour packed. Your fruits and vegetables may look smaller and less picture perfect, but they are simply delicious. One tends to cook more often, and eat at home a lot more, simply because the taste is so good!
Price
This is a strange reason, because the price of organic ingredients is definitely higher than the price of other food. However, when you start noticing better health, moderate portion sizes, and a reluctance to eat out, you end up saving a LOT MORE MONEY than you would otherwise. Believe it or not, organic food is good for your pocket! You just need to give your body the attention and time to adapt to better choices! Not to mention, the savings on medical expenses as well!
Environment
As much as the reasons to go organic are purely personal, the impact on the environment is a reason that is too big to ignore. Allowing our food to be grown without causing harm to the planet, is a responsibility we all must be aware of. Getting local, organic food is definitely a way to be more responsible with our consumption.
SO HOW DO I GO ORGANIC?
It isn’t so much about the brand or the certification, as much as trying to know where your food is coming from, and trying to connect to your food better.
So how do you reach out to better choices, without falling for the brands and fads that seem suspect? The harder way to do that is to reach out to local farmers, find out where your food is coming from, and shop carefully from trusted sources. The easier way to do that, is to rely on a community driven platform, such as www.goodbynature.in where vendors are carefully selected, products are tested, feedback is transparent and you end up supporting local, honest businesses without falling for branding or advertising gimmicks!
