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The word ‘organic’ is now creating a loud buzz everywhere, especially in reference to food. With today’s pervasive health concerns such as hypertension, diabetes, obesity, hormonal imbalance and cancer, more and more people are taking steps towards a better way of living. And many are starting with what they eat.
My love affair with organic food started last year as an epiphany while walking through Salcedo Saturday Market. My bespectacled eyes were brilliantly greeted by mounds of huge and vibrant bell peppers taking all the colors of the rainbow. In my slight enchantment, they all seemed to whisper, “Stuff us with red rice, fontina, feta, basil and salmon.” And so I did, all too willingly.
Benefits of organic produce
Having been into organic eating since then, I’ve come to learn how it can benefit, not only the health, but also the environment.
Organically-grown produce is reputedly more nutritious than vegetables grown the conventional way. It can contain as much as 50% more essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidants than its counterparts. It is grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, growth hormones, antibiotics. The toxicity factor is taken out of the picture.
Organic farming requires less water and energy which equate to a better world and environment. This fact ties a pretty bow atop an already attractive package for health-conscious consumers.
Here are just a few organic produce that have excellent health benefits, worth trying over their conventional counterparts:
- Free-range organic eggs, aside from tasting better than commercial eggs, are less likely to be contaminated with salmonella. They have 1/3 less cholesterol, ¼ less saturated fat, 2/3 more vitamin A, 2x more Omega-3, 3x more vitamin E and 7x more beta carotene.
- Free-range chicken is leaner and tastes more robust, needing less seasoning. Being fed its natural diet, it has better Omega 3 and 6 fatty acid balance, an imbalance of which increases risks of inflammatory diseases.
- Unpolished rice is richer than white rice in fiber, vitamins, minerals such as iron, manganese, selenium, magnesium, and essential fatty acids.
- Organic spinach is a great source of vitamins A, K, B, C and E, fiber, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium, lutein and omega-3. It helps prevent inflammation, improves mental prowess and promotes better gastrointestinal health.
- Organic unpasteurized milk is creamier and tastes better than pasteurized milk. Not only that, it is more nutritious since the enzymes and good bacteria are intact. Its proteins are not adulterated by heat hence does not promote allergies which a lot of people develop from drinking commercial pasteurized milk. Although it is still possible getting sick from drinking raw milk, the chances are incredibly slim.
- Guyabano (soursop) is said to be a natural cancer cell killer that is 10,000 times more potent than chemotherapy. Guyabano is an abundant source of vitamins B1, B2 and C; potassium and fiber. Aside from the fruit, the leaves were used in old folk medicine to alleviate fever, rheumatism, eczema and induce sleep.
Organic producers
Today’s organic food consumers enjoy a myriad of choices as more purveyors are setting up - offering delivery services, strategizing community distribution and converting their traditional farms to employ organic ways of farming. Stalls offering organic products are sprouting all over malls, supermarkets, and weekend markets. Online shops proliferate too.
Organic food has never been more available. And the choice to go organic has never been made easier.
Most organic food suppliers like Gejo Jimenez (Kitchen Herbs) started with his own backyard after realizing the inarguable benefits of eating biodynamic and organic food, then branched out from there.
Some suppliers like Gil Carandang (Herbana Farms) and RT Gonzales (Organic Manila) evolved into staunched advocates of teaching farmers the ways and value of organic farming, and bridging the gap between producers and consumers for better distribution. One thing is for sure, they all live to tell why organic food is the only way to go and eagerly make converts along the way.
Cost vs. benefits
So organic food is now within the average Juan’s reach compared to how it was a decade ago. But cost is an issue that needs to be addressed. Ubiquitously, there is a notion that organic food is just for rich people.
Indeed, it costs more than commercial produce but it’s not necessarily expensive. Organic farming and raising animals are labor-intensive, takes more time and relatively low in yield. It requires more hands and more bodies to provide the manual inputs required.
Another huge factor is the fact that organic farmers hardly get any substantial support from the government. According to Mara Pardo de Tavera (MOM’s), organic produce should be kept at no more than 50% of commercial produce market price in order to keep it reasonably competitive.
Cost, Pardo de Tavera emphasizes, should be taken in the perspective of forking out a few more pesos for safe and healthy food rather than spending a fortune in hospital bills because of diseases acquired from long-term consumption of toxic food.
You are what you eat – that’s one truth we face with each food choice we make every day. As organic food becomes more widely available, we can only hope that more people go for better, healthier alternatives.
As for me, the love affair continues.
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Directory of organic produce shops and providers:
ORGANICUS
SM (Makati & Megamall) and Landmark (Makati & Trinoma)
RT Gonzales
02-7949226
0928-6245185
BF Parañaque’s Saturday Organic Market; offers delivery within Metro Manila
Gil Carandang
Salcedo Saturday Market
Mara's Organic Market – MOM’s
Mara Pardo de Tavera or Nemia Adona
02-4747453, 02-8193864
0917-8921432
San Lorenzo Sunday Market
Rustan’s Go Fresh! Supermarket (Rockwell)
KITCHEN HERBS FARMS (organically-grown specialty produce)
Gejo Jimenez
049-5440801
0917-8108293
The Market – deli/grocery/restaurant in Leviste Street, Makati
ISIP Store (bio-dynamic and organic produce)
Manny Pineda
02-8994675
6241 Palma corner Mañalac Streets, Barangay Poblacion, Makati
(Market is open all day every Tuesday)
SOLRAYA’S SUNSHINE CHICKEN (free-range)
HERBaboy (pork from naturally-grown pigs)
02-4171800
0917-8472639
02-7592678
0917-5375639, 0919-6738484, 0917-5201184
San Lorenzo Sunday Market
SM Hypermarkets
Weekend markets where you can find organic produce:
- Salcedo Saturday Market – Jaime Velasquez Park, Tordesillas Street, Makati – 7 AM to 2 PM
- San Lorenzo Sunday Market – Legaspi corner Herrera Streets, Makati – 7 AM to 2 PM
- Lung Center Sunday Market – East Avenue, Quezon City – 7 AM to 12 PM
- Northeast Greenhills Sunday Market – Connecticut Street, Greenhills – 7 AM to 12 PM
- Alabang Tuesday and Saturday Market – Clubhouse parking lot, Ayala, Alabang Village – 7 AM to 12 PM
- BF Homes Saturday Organic Market – BF Homes covered court (near clubhouse), Pilar Banzon Street, Phase I, BF Homes, Parañaque – 10:30 AM to 7 PM
Photo: “Dinner Pepper” by Alexi Kostibas, c/o Flickr. Some Rights Reserved
Other photos by Fristine de Guia, Gejo Jimenez and RT Gonzales. Used with permission.
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