Buying organic can help save the planet

NEW DELHI: You may feel overwhelmed by the outpouring of slogans and labels on eco-friendly living without really understanding the need to go organic. Here's a way to connect the dots between choosing to buy organic and saving the planet: simply put, inorganic ways of growing produce and manufacturing put a tremendous strain on the earth's resources, often damaging and depleting them completely.

In order to ensure our planet — comprising the soil, water, environment and living beings — is protected and nurtured, it is no longer a choice but imperative one buys organic. The most effective way to benefit the planet is to choose to eat organic, this sets off a chain that adds up to nurturing Earth. Here are some ways in which you can try and buy organic:

* Organic food is grown without chemicals

Organic or regenerative farming does not use fertilisers or pesticides. This directly helps to preserve the sanctity of the 'bhoomi' or 'soil', the core of mother Earth. In a nutshell, regenerative agriculture practices improve biodiversity, restore soil nutrients and aim to reduce carbon footprints.

So yes, buy more organic food but ensure that it has the necessary certification. Check labels for the stamp of India Organic, EU Organic or USDA Organic before adding a product to your shopping cart.

* Organic food choices help keep the pressure off health care

All nutritious foods need not be organic but all organic foods are most likely to be nutritious! This is simply because no chemicals or preservatives are used to grow organic produce or expand the shelf-life of the foods. When you eat fresh and healthy, you are less prone to fall victim to illnesses and need health care. As we are aware more than ever today, health care puts a tremendous strain on the earth's resources. Yet more reason to buy organic!

* Organic food choices promote the 'farm-to-table' philosophy

The idea of farm-to-fork nurtures the most important of earth's resources: human beings. In this case, the small local farmer and the consumer. In fact, the concept takes the farmer, the land, the company and the consumer as stakeholders, raising consciousness about the Planet and paving the way for preservation.

* 'New-Age' packaging reduces chemical seepage into the ground

Opting to buy products in 'new age' packing translates to shunning plastic and choosing glass bottles, recycled paper, bleach-free packing material and more. Non bio-degradable plastic clogs up the earth and robs it of fertility. Dumped in the oceans, plastic destroys marine life, upsetting the ecological balance vital to nurture the earth.

Make the conscious choice to opt for organic packaging for your home needs — from ghee and oil to supplements and tea. Know that with each such choice, you are chipping away at the processes that contribute to landfills.

* Organic certification laws act as a protective blanket

Organic regulation certification is aimed at assuring quality, preventing fraud, as well as at promoting commerce. This mandatory certification method that address the growing worldwide demand for organic products, requires the farmers and others involved to follow several organic laws to have their produce certified organic. Organic farming following these certification methods and stringent organic laws that need a minimum of 5 years before land being declared organic, gives environmental protection a whole new meaning.

* Organic farming helps reduce climate change

With over 5.3 million ton of global emissions, agriculture is one of the biggest contributor of global warming in the world. However, the locally sold organic foods that are produced using natural methods, help in reducing the massive amount of transportation and air pollution to a great extent. The use of organic sources of energy emits far less heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere, helping to control the rapidly spiraling rise of global temperatures. Using renewable organic materials in your homes too require less use of chemicals in manufacturing, and keeps the environment cool. (IANS)

Also Read: Awareness programme on organic farming held in Morigaon

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