I
n the hustle and bustle of our everyday lives, many of
us seem to take for granted the food we ingest and
the consequences that come with it. So consumed
are we by the mundane, that many of us hardly even
look at what is on our plate. Our eyes would rather stay
transfixed to an LED monitor than take a second glance
at our shopping carts. So why is it important that we
do take a look at what goes into our meals, why is
it important for not just us, but for the ecosystem as
well? Let’s take a look.Over the years, the agriculture and farming industry
saw an inexorable boom and even steadier decline.
The world of today believes in immediate results and
hence, when the usage of chemicals and pesticides
showed spikes in production levels, it spread like a
wildfire. The results proved catastrophic in the long
run, with a decrease in soil quality and accumulation of
toxins in cultivation lands. We’ve all been reading about
this and yet have been consuming food cultivated on
these very lands; we’ve been allowing ourselves to get
slowly poisoned.But there wasn’t really anything that we could do
about it, or at least we thought so. The population
was forever exploding and demands were consistently
higher than supplies. This meant that farmers did
whatever it took to meet expectations but were sadly
not educated about its penalties. Soon enough, luscious
and large vegetables and fruits flocked our markets and
the consumer class went haywire. It lasted many, many
years and at one point, our soils and waters simply
couldn’t take it anymore. We realized our folly eventually
and immediate measures were taken all around to
restore harmony.Slowly, but surely, people started becoming more aware
of what was being put on their table. Questions were
asked, research was conducted and the consumer class
took a decisive stance on a healthy economy. This was
the advent of organic farming and many other such
revolutions to restore ecological balance. What started
off as a revolution has now become a household name,
thanks to the efforts of many pioneers and activists.With an increase in awareness, the trend has slowly
shifted towards the very catchy phrase- organic farming
and organically grown vegetables. Even though the
shift was visible, it was still not reachable for many
farmers and therefore the consumers. It was easier and
cheaper to use chemical pesticides and the results were
more immediate and visible as compared to organic
pesticides. Farmers did not have the right exposure,
education or funds and were forced to watch helplessly
as their lands became less and less fertile. Researches
conducted all over the world showed the need for a
definite transition into less toxic and environment-
friendly farming methods such as organic farming, but, it
did not come without obstacles.The ease of availability of chemical fertilizers and lack
of awareness among farmers led to widespread use of
inorganic substituents. There was also the problem of
requiring large quantities of organic materials and lack
of an organized market for such organically produced
goods. There was very little awareness amongst the
people and availability of organic goods was also
limited. It was only after recording substantial data that
the consumer class became aware of the availability
and need for organically grown produce. As the
preference of the customer drifted towards all things