Organic basically means crops that are raised with fewer pesticides & harmful fertilizers or livestock (meat & poultry) raised without the use of any hormones, synthetic chemicals or drugs.
In everyday life we could consider some points/features that can help us in identifying organic foods which are free from fatal disease causing chemicals.
A) By Appearance- If a food item is grown naturally then no two items will look alike or identical. Each fruit apple or mango or even grains would look different from each other. Their colour, structure and shape will never be uniform. People use different artificial ways to make food items look similar but in reality they are never identical naturally.
B) Huge sized- Fruits, vegetables or grains that are big in size shouldn’t be a part of our plate item as they are distorted and modified. Though some big sized fruits or vegetables are grown organically too but they are not the norm and are difficult to find.
C) Insects in food items- Insects that we see in leafy vegetables or bananas or grains are actually our friends. When a leaf has few holes in it or grains get worms, please don’t get worried. It’s actually an indication that your food item is safe & not heavily ‘pesticided’ and insects consider organic food as edible. Also, before using any fresh greens, don’t forget to give a final rinse in salt water.
D) Taste Test- When a food is grown organically without the heavy dose of chemicals you would know it by tasting it. Freshly plucked fruits from trees are juicier but now fruits are plucked when they are green and acetylene gas is used to ripen them. Gassed fruits have more water and unfortunately mangoes are artificially ripened and apples have maximum pesticides.
E) Good for health- Organic food is light on digestive system and reduce the gastrointestinal problems like gas or acidity. Once you start using organic food, you will notice the difference.
F) Fragrance or smell Test- Organic foods have different texture and aroma. For example, organic spices have fresh aroma as they retain their natural oil. In non-organic spices, all the oils have been extracted and sold differently and also they are adulterated.
G) Labels & certification- Organic food items contain organic seal and have been certified organic. Such products contain 95% organic ingredients. If you are not able to find organic seal all the time then check for PLU codes on produce stickers. When you buy groceries, these are little numbers on stickers that are entered and organic PLU codes are different than conventional codes. If a product is organic, code will start with number 9 followed by four more numbers. If it’s not organic, PLU code will be four digit numbers that starts with number 4.
