Oct
When I first learn the existence of organic products many years ago, I thought that must be some form of food grade that only the royals could have. Then I discovered organic skincare products which sparks my interest to find out more.
What it takes to get the certification
The soil of the farm will have to be free from any chemical applications for a few years. The number of years will differ from country to country. Soil test is usually done a few times by the certifying bodies via designated laboratories. The seeds that are used to plant must derive from organically grown plants prior. This will also require lab tests. Natural fertilisers are only allowed in the planting process. Weeding has to be done manually by hand. More often than not, if you get to visit organic farms that has been certified, you may be able to see signage that says “DO NOT SPRAY” or “ORGANIC FARM”.
As you can see, the process itself speaks of ‘back to basics’ where manpower is needed to achieve this.
Certification Bodies
There are a few bodies in the world that are known to issue these certification. They are EcoCert, BioCert, Australian Certified Organic, USDA just to name a few.
The farmers who has gotten these certifications will have pay a lot of money for the repeated tests and certification fees. They also have to spend more in terms of money and manpower to ensure the crops are well taken care of. By the time, the products have reached our hands, the cost will be higher. This is why when you walk into a grocer and compare the prices of organic and non-organic products, the difference is quite significant.
So know why you will be paying higher for organic certified products. It is not because it’s an “in-thing” or a trend. The costs incurred are real and the effort the farmers put in are massive to ensure we consume and use chemical free products.
Does this mean to only look for organic certified products?
Small business may not be able to afford to pay for organic certification. However they can use organic certified ingredients to produce their final products. You may enquire of the process taken to reach the final product output. However there may be some trade secret process which the company will not reveal. But for me, for now, as long as the ingredients can be certified, I would say it is safe to use the end product.
Now that you know what organic certification is, you can ask the suppliers or sellers which category their products fall into.
Thank you for reading š
xoxo
Eliza (info@evapurity,com)
