Does everyone know what is meant by “organic products” and what is the difference between them and conventional ones? Let’s find out!
Organic food: find the differences
The first difference that catches the eye is the price. The question immediately arises – why does the same product, at first glance, cost more if it is labeled “organic”? How is flour for 5 dollars different from flour for 20 dollars? Some people will shrug their shoulders and just choose the cheaper one. But we’ll find out what the difference is.
Organic farming
First of all, organic products are those that are not grown using GMOs, synthetic pesticides and growth regulators, which are the most dangerous to health.
For example, flour labeled “organic” will be produced from grain grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers that accelerate growth and in a place where there are no plants with harmful emissions in the vicinity.
It should be noted that “organic food” is not a modern invention. All the components of the product mature naturally, thanks to the sun, water and care in environmentally friendly conditions. And only organic biofertilizers and biopreparations are used to fertilize the soil and protect plants from diseases and pests. The same organic farming was practiced by our ancestors, but because of the pursuit of the number of crops had to resort to various tricks, which are not always well reflected in the quality of the product. The essence of organic farming, unlike mass farming, is the complete refusal to use chemicals and other additives that can harm health, as well as the soil. As a result, farmers get an ecologically clean crop.
Healthier and tastier
Black bread
And what does it mean to have a product grown under organic conditions? And by the fact that this product, first of all, is healthier, because it does not contain pesticides, nitrates and other harmful things that our body does not need. Of course, the result of the impact here is very delayed – all this affects our body gradually, until somewhere by the age of 50 years do not start problems with blood pressure, blood vessels and so on. True, we write it all off to age, but our health is influenced by many factors. And what we eat is not the last of these factors! If not the first.
The taste of organic products is much brighter and tastier, which is not surprising, because they grow in natural conditions.
Conservation of natural resources
Organic farming allows you to preserve the soil used.
After all, chemical treatment sooner or later exhausts the land and it becomes simply unsuitable for crops. As a result, hectares of land stand empty and the ecosystem is disturbed. Since organic farming prohibits the use of herbicides and other chemicals to kill weeds and pests, much more resources are required to care for the soil. This also accounts for the higher price of organic produce.
Organic production
Certifying organizations not only monitor the quality of farming, the entire production cycle is monitored. In organic products you will not find flavor and appearance enhancers, as well as additional additives that seem to facilitate the process of preparation, but in fact then affect our health.
Ecolabels for organic products
Ecolabels
In the advantages of organic products we have understood, now we will learn how to distinguish a really high-quality product from the unsubstantiated label “organic”, behind which unscrupulous manufacturers can hide ordinary mass-produced products.
There are certificates of organic products recognized worldwide. The presence of such signs on the package guarantees that the product is really grown according to all the rules, without the use of pesticides, GMOs, harmful chemical fertilizers.
One of such signs is “Euro-leaf” (Euro-leaf) – a sign of the European system of certification of organic products. This mark is mandatory for all organic products sold in the European Union.
Some countries have their own national certification systems. One such country is Germany. The “Bio-Siegel” mark (Bio-Siegel) imposes more requirements to the quality of products than the organic marks of the European Union certificates, that is why German residents buy eco-products with the “Bio-Siegel” mark more willingly.
Sweden (“KRAV”), Switzerland (“The BIO Suisse Bud”, “The BIO-Bud”), France (“AB”), England (“Soil Association”) and America (“USDA organic”) also have their own certification systems.
If you see one of the certification marks on the packaging, you can be sure of the quality of the product and that the label “organic” is not an advertising ploy!