The Hindu Business Line : US goes organic

Recent medical research has traced the origin of a number of illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer's to the type of food consumed. Plant foods comprising fruits, vegetables and grains have been identified as the primary repositories from which the elements of such malignant afflictions get transferred. The toxic content ingested by the vegetation from chemical fertilisers, pesticides and a variety of other inputs finds its way ultimately into the bodies of the consumers, human beings or cattle.

Statistics in the US reveal an alarming percentage — nearly 30 per cent of all deaths annually — from the diseases mentioned above. Americans are consequently becoming increasingly conscious of the latent dangers in the foodstuffs they buy and carefully scan the labels to check on the ingredients.

What Is Organic?

A new awareness of the beneficial influence of fresh fruits, vegetables and processed foods from cultivation through natural means is growing rapidly all over the US. As a result, special farms have begun to appear in several States where "organic" has come to mean "Back to Nature". Organic practices involve a total departure from the use of artificial aids for boosting production and eradicating insects and vermin. Such a process, if consistently pursued, is believed to enable the retention of nearly 95 per cent of the natural ingredients in every type of food product.

Consumers, however, were, even till recently, not sufficiently enlightened on what could really be organic in the food they seek, because no national standards, apparently, were in existence to guide them; only a patchwork of diverse state or private rules seemed to enforce, with questionable efficacy, any control on the farming methods.

New Standards

A new federal law has now made it obligatory for organic farms and food-processing units to qualify for a certificate that "they have followed a detailed blueprint on how the crops are grown, animals are raised, and waste is treated". The law, in a nutshell, prohibits the utilisation' of irradiation, sewage sludge, or genetic modifications, apart from banning artificial manure and non-organic material for pest removal.

When the standards are met, it is felt, organic produce would come close to a wholesome 100 per cent content of natural substances and the certification would qualify the party to the use of a USDA label (United States Department of Agriculture) on its products.

Growing Preference

In fact, the preferred choice for anything with the USDA certification label, allows room for the producer to push pricing 20-25 per cent higher than the normal commercial variety of the same items. It has been found that consumers do not grudge the extra rates as they are aware of the enormous care involved in the farming process, which is more labour-intensive.

Consumers now look out for the "USDA/Organic" labelled items. Many chain stores have already allotted a substantial portion of their shelves to organic products. Business, so far, is said to have crossed a yearly value of more than $7 billion, and is well set to soar higher.

Surely, there is a lesson for India.

(The author is a US-based freelance writer.)

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