The Hoopla About Organic Food.

image by Martin Cathrae

Once upon a time, being organic was being special. What do organic means? Simply put, it's a way of growing stuff that takes their feelings and that of nature into consideration. No synthetic fertilizers? Check! No commercial pesticides? Check! Those tomatoes lived a happy and fruitful life until plucked off, chopped, and thrown into a bowl of avocado? Check!

And then, naturally, the big companies took notice of the emerging market and heard the tinkle of gold coins filling their bottomless coffers. In less than ten years, being organic lost its meaning. We now have organic everything, even in unhealthy products. At present, the main difference between "organic" and "commercially-grown" foodstuff is the margin of profit. Guess who's laughing all the way to the bank?

A head of "organic" cabbage has the same nutrient as a head of "commercially-grown"  head of cabbage. Sure, some pesticides where used in growing the latter, but I always wonder how pests in a huge "organic" farm is kept under control. We can't exactly command an army of beneficial insects to march where we want them. That's the main reason why organic produce originally came from small, family-managed farms. We can't be a paid professional in organic farming, we gotta love what we do. It takes patience, loads of it, to coax all those helpful little creatures

A lot of water and a little washing will remove those chemical residues from "commercially-grown" produce. But if we're not concerned about money and really want to support organic farming, not just jump into the organic bandwagon, then let's go the extra mile and search for local farms that do it the traditional way.