What Does Organic Food Actually Mean?

Organic is a legal, certified standard in India, not just marketing language for food grown without chemicals. A product can only carry the term if it has gone through an actual certification process covering how it was grown, handled and recorded.

What it actually covers

Farming without synthetic pesticides or fertilisers, using approved natural alternatives and practices like crop rotation instead.
A restricted list of permitted inputs, not zero inputs, since organic farming can still use certain approved natural substances.
Ongoing record keeping and periodic inspection, not a one time check, to confirm practices are actually being followed.
In India, this must be backed by certification under one of two recognised systems, covered in more detail elsewhere in this guide.
The term legally cannot be used on a food label without this underlying certification in place.

Picked this week

Organic staples

Organic Kathiya Wheat

$62.24 · 100 KG

Out of stock

Sajerah Farm I · Sajerah

Black Mustard Oil

$2.39 · 1 KG

Our standards

Organic food questions

Is organic simply food grown without any chemicals?: Not quite. Organic farming can use certain approved natural substances. It is a restricted, certified system rather than a zero substance claim.
Can any farmer call their produce organic?: No, legally the term requires certification under a recognised system, not a self-declared claim.
Does organic certification cover processing too?: Yes, certification generally extends beyond the farm to how a product is handled and processed afterward.
Is organic the same as pesticide free?: Not exactly, some naturally derived pest control methods are permitted, so it is more accurate to call it restricted rather than entirely free of any input.

Comments

Loading comments…