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Is it a marketing gimmick or is it a back-to-the-roots movement that’s seeing urban India increasingly showing a penchant for organic food? As more and more people make a beeline for the shelves stocking organic food products, whether in boutique grocery shops or the large-format department stores, health considerations seem to be paramount in the minds of consumers. Rashi Sharma, a housewife living in Delhi’s Golf Links regularly picks up food from the Fabindia store in nearby Khan Market. She says: “Given that organic food is grown without the use of any fertilisers or pesticides, it seems a natural, healthier option. I have also picked up herbal tea and organic spices from Delhi Haat, and keep a lookout for more options within the organic range.”

Unlike “regular food”, those with an “organic” tag sell on the premise that it is free of any artificial enhancer — be it chemical fertilisers, pesticides, growth hormones, genetic modifications or synthetic additives. The benefits seem obvious when you hear horror stories of what pesticide residues and contaminants can do. “The damages to the endocrine and reproductive systems in the long-term due to ingestion or exposure to harmful chemicals have been proved in studies conducted among animals. Given the epidemiological link between congenital defects and rural populations exposed to high levels of pesticides, organic foods definitely score better,” points out Dr SK Wangnoo, senior endocrinologist, Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, New Delhi. With infant reproductive organs still forming and the brain developing through age 12, and with young livers and immune systems less able to rid bodies of contaminants, going organic is more important for children and pregnant or breast-feeding women.

Growing organic foods however isn’t that easy. Farmers have to ensure that the entire production chain is free of any chemical contamination. “That means even animals whose manure may be used in the field should be eating organic food. A farm cannot grow both organic and inorganic food at the same time. One cannot go by conventional wisdom and assume that anything which is sold under the herbal label or tagged chemical-free is organic produce,” cautions Dr KL Chadha, agricultural scientist and president of the Horticultural Society of India.