ORGANIC FOOD
Don’t get fooled, identify your organic food with these easy ways
In the last decade, the number of people opting for organic food has risen considerably. The average consumer has now begun to see the health benefits of organic food that is almost free of harmful chemicals and is loaded with more nutrition, taste, and also promotes agriculture sustainability.
But as it happens with most popular products in the markets, they get duplicated albeit just quantity wise and not quality wise. It’s not necessary that if the company is putting an ‘organic’ label on its product, it is telling you the truth. So, the question is why fall for the fake when you can check for yourself. Here are so some easy ways to identify the organic food:
Size: No matter what people say, it matters! Organic vegetables, fruits and grains are usually not huge in size. Why? Well, because the organic, nitrogen-rich fertilizer does to plants what calories do to people – make them grow big. But this special fertilizer is quite expensive and this means that organic farmers can’t afford to over-fertilize their crops as most of their counterparts in the conventional farming can. And if the produce is over-fertilized to make it big, then the ratio of calories per antioxidant in the grain will go up and that would essentially mean that consuming organic food will lead to weight gain. So, the mantra here is small is beautiful.
No identity crisis: Pick any two apples or mangoes kept in the organic section and if they look just the same, there are healthy chances that they are not organic. The colour, shape, structure of any two organic items will never be uniform. In fact, organic foods have dull appearances and odd shapes. If it looks perfect with all its rounds, edges, hues in place, it’s not organic. As they say, beauty is skin deep!
Worms know best: Well, if you see worms in your organic food, don’t be startled and complain about the poor quality. Believe us, it’s a good sign. Insects are a great judge of organic food and their presence means the food is organic. The leaves of the organic greens usually have tiny holes because the insects tried to eat them without getting killed by the chemical pesticides. Insects and worms don’t contaminate food but pesticides certainly do. All you have to do is simply dry out the grain in the sun or properly wash your greens to get rid of any germs before you cook the food.
Trust the taste: Because the organic food has been allowed to grow naturally, it tastes different. The fruits are juicier, the flavour of vegetables is sharper requiring very little spices while cooking and grains are so easily digestible that you can feel it.
Smell what’s cooking: Quite similar to the taste, the aroma of organic food is quite augmented. This strong aroma is a result of the food’s rich oil content. In non-organic food, the oils are extracted and sold separately. However, some fraud companies that sell non-organic or semi-organic items in the garb of organic, are using perfumes to create a similar odour and are confusing the consumers. However, once you cook the food, all your doubts will get cleared as pure organic food gets cooked very quickly.
Certification: Check the PLU (price look-up) code sticker on the food item. Any 4-digit number means the food has been grown with pesticides while 5-digit codes that start with 8 means genetically modified and 5-digit codes starting with 9 means organically grown. However, don’t be too bothered about each digit as it does not imply anything special. It’s just an identification number. The only sad part is that this common practice in western countries is yet to become a norm in India.
Ask for referrals: Sometimes, organic-food loving friends and acquaintances can lead you to the right places. They can guide you to the nearest supermarket or the farmer’s market that sells authentic organic food.
Ascertaining the authenticity of the organically grown food is a matter of serious concern and these easy hacks will help you choose better otherwise you will end up paying more for the fake products. Look before you buy and derive the maximum benefits of going organic!