The Beginning

• In 1939, Lord Northbourne, coined the term organic farming in his book Look to the Land.

• His conception was "the farm as an organism"

• Describes an ecologically-balanced approach to farming—in contrast to chemical farming

The concept

• Processed organic food usually contains only organic (95% approx.) ingredients.

• Must be free of artificial food additives.• Processed with fewer artificial methods,

materials and conditions, such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetically modified ingredients.

Activities against

• Chemical ripening involves the use of chemicals to either slow or quicken the ripening process of fruits and vegetables.

• Food irradiation is the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation to destroy microorganisms.

• Genetically modified organism (GMO) is an organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques

Default system

• Early consumers interested in organic food would look for non-chemically treated, fresh or minimally processed food.

• Buy directly from growers: "Know your farmer, know your food" was the motto.

Back to basics

• As demand for organic foods continued to increase, high volume sales through mass outlets such as supermarkets.

• Many large corporate farms currently have an organic division.

• As of April 2008, organic food accounts for 1–2% of food sales worldwide.

The impact

Organic farming is less damaging for :

• Do not consume or release synthetic pesticides into the environment—some of which have the potential to harm soil, water and local terrestrial and aquatic wildlife.

• Sustains diverse ecosystems, i.e., populations of plants and insects, as well as animals.

• Produce less waste, e.g. packaging materials for chemicals.

Yield factor

• Organic farms on average produce 80%, ie 20% less of the yield produced by conventional agriculture.

Note : the materials needed for organic farming are more accessible to farmers in some developing countries.

Energy efficiency

• More energy efficient because they do not use chemically synthesized fertilizers.

Harmful residue

• Pesticides have become associated with acute health problems such as abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, skin and eye problems, respiratory problems, memory disorders, dermatologic conditions, cancer, depression, neurologic deficits and birth defects.

Nutritional facts

• Higher levels of nutritionally desirable compounds (e.g. vitamins / antioxidants)

• Lower levels of nutritionally undesirable compounds such as heavy metals, pesticide residues, etc.

Cost factor

• Organic products typically cost 10 to 40% more than similar conventionally produced products.

• Processed in smaller scale, and may need to be milled or processed separately.

Global Growth

• The world organic market has been growing by 20% a year since early 1990.

• Future growth estimates more than 10% annually.

Few Thoughts

• All our human values go out of our hands if the only goal is to produce always more and faster and cheaper – unethically.

• Non-organic food only appears to be cheaper, but it costs us our health, our farmland, our eco-systems and taxes to pay for the disasters that chemical farming create.

Modern trend

In today’s world where people are being more and more careful about what they eat, they are also concerned about where this food comes from.

A touch with Nature …… You Are What You Eat

THANK YOU

anAnish Banerjee

initiative