How Organic are our organic produce?

A section of the back-to-nature herb, vegetable and fruit plot just outside the kitchen door in the family home in Melaka, started by my late Mum, and still flourishing to this day.....

May 22 (Day 20 of cycle 2)

I heard some worrying news over the radio. It seems some pet food processed in the US have to be withdrawn as one of the ingredients used is contaminated wheat gluten from China. I really hope that it was due to a mishap and oversight and not intentional because businesses are cashing in on the fact that the animals know no better. What is happening in the world?

And what is even more worrying is the news also mentioned that the cancer rates for the Chinese population has increased by 19-23% (including in the rural areas) due to air and water pollution, and the uncontrolled use of forbidden pesticides and food additives. China used to be envied ( at least from the BC perspective) as not many of their woman suffer from BC. Only if they migrate to the West and adopt "western lifestyle" with regards to food and diet. I know that the Pasar Malam in Bangsar and some of our supermarkets stock up on really fresh vegetables from China, so it makes one wonder if those are really safe to eat.

It also brings to mind related questions like how organic are our organically grown vegetables. It is so easy to pack vegetables into plastic wraps that have the words "Organically Grown" on them. The next time I shop I must take a look at who is the certifying body that ensures that the vegetables are indeed organically grown. I mean if it is big business selling organic vegetables ( which cost a premium over "regular" pesticide-infested ones) it doesn't take an Agriculture graduate to pack "regular" vegetables into organic bags! If "ciplak" T-shirts and handbags can be easily churned out, why not ciplak vegetables if it means hefty profits?!

Ya Allah, I hope I will stop this train of thoughts...it is so scary, enough for me to start taking a cangkul and growing my own. In fact, that is what has been highly recommended by a friend of a friend who is a long time BC survivor ( 12 years and counting). She has been growing her own and does not buy commercially grown ones as she cannot afford to contaminate her food. So what is the rest of us waiting for?

She lives in a regular townhouse with a small patch of land and apparently that is enough to meet the needs of her small family ( hubby and son). Something that we all (even non BC types) need to consider if the authorities are not going to clamp on the indiscriminate use of prohibited pesticides and additives, and if there is no regulatory body certififying the authenthicity of our organic produce. It is no wonder that Proff Has has a vegetable and herb garden in her yard and on her balcony!

I must not dwell too much on these depressing news. But it really is so sad that people in the stone age and those living in the deepest heart of the jungles are eating better and healthier food than the more modern and urban of us. How and where do we start to improve on this? I suppose it is naive to wait for "the government" or "the authorities" to do something about this. Since it is for the good of our own body, so we have to do something about it ourselves.

I have been planning to start a vegetable and herb patch in my little backyard except that the ground gets really waterlogged whenever it rains so much that other than daun pandan and daun kaduk, nothing survives. My back neighbours have all decided to tile-up their backyards, so any excess water during heavy downpours will drain into my backyard and I have a temporary pond each time after it rains. It will require some work , perhaps to get a proper enclosure done to keep out the excess water from the neighbours' yards before I can start testing out my green thumb.

This is one of the many, many times that I miss living in Melaka where we take for granted the availability of land to plant something. My late Mum used to just stick some root or piece of stem into the ground and we will soon have them growing, what with the natural goodness that she nurtured and nourished them with - air beras, air ikan, coffee dregs and tea leaves and home made compost and tanah bakar.

Our banana plants, papayas, nona, jambu, pucuk ubi, serai,kunyit, kantan,lengkuas, tebu, belimbing buluh, belimbing besi, serai, cili padi, cili biasa, sambung nyawa, hempedu bumi, misai kucing are all really truly organic in that we do not use chemical fertilisers and sprays. And we hope the underground layers of soil are not contaminated as no one around us is operating any factories that might be discharging toxic wastes underground. In fact in the very old days, each house hold has their own private well and drinking water used to be fetched from those wells.

I was at the BV Organic store recently and was amazed at how much some of the "organic" bananas and papayas cost! RM 8 for a teeny weeny papaya and back home in Melaka , the birds help themselves to the ones we have on the trees as my brother is not too keen on papayas. Well, this is certainly food for thought. It is a viable business venture if only a proper certifying body exists to regulate it. I am sure there is but it is not very apparent to me other than the claims made by the farms themselves. And we know what that can mean sometimes, don't we.