Organic food: It’s about making smart choices

UAE’s increasing number of organic farms is great news, but do consumers know how to read labels of international certifications?

Over the last four years, 103 local organic farms have been certified by the Emirates Authority for Standardisation and Metrology (Esma), producing 2,701 organic products locally grown, a top official told Gulf News.

The volume of imported organic produce is also growing. But amidst this phenomenon, a lot of buyers are not really aware of how to read the various organic certifying labels, especially those of international organisations because international accreditation practices vary.

Gulf News spoke to UAE based experts to understand the art of reading the organic labels used by different certifying agencies.

Nils Al Accad, founder of Organic Foods and Café, one of the major local distributors of organic food, said that when the organic movement began, legislation in the US and Europe was slow to react to consumer demands, which prompted many countries or states to set up their own standards of certification.

As a result, a profusion of standards was generated which, in turn, led to another instant requirement to further regulate the standards.

“For example, there is a big difference between biodynamic standard (Demeter) and the EU standard or the California standard and the USDA,” he said.

“A minimum standard will say you only need to be 95 per cent organic while some standards even accept one per cent of GMOs (Genetically Modified Origins),” he added, and that these practices would not be accepted by premium standards.

“When we started a decade and a half ago, there was no organic [food] in the UAE. It was limited to a couple of items in pharmacies but not [available] in supermarkets.”

Imported label reading

Another founder of organic foods in the UAE, Elena Kinane, a German expatriate, started her organic farm in Sharjah about four years ago. A year later, she opened her shop, Greenheart Organic Farms, in Al Barsha, Dubai.

Kinane acknowledges that it is hard to measure this industry’s growth and provide precise numbers, but recalls that when she first moved to the UAE over 20 years ago, choices of organic food were limited.

“We used to pack organic food in suitcases and [bring it back] from our travels abroad.”

Kinane said that while it is certainly pleasing to see more people switch to organic food, she urged people to make it a habit to read the product labels and their certification as there are varying standards.

“When you see an organic certification [on an imported product], look it up on the internet to know more about it because there are some highly conscientious certification bodies and there are some very general ones who allow a lot of chemicals in the system.”

Why do they cost more?

The other concern about organic products is that they are expensive and UAE residents are unanimous on this.

Explaining the reason behind the price points, Kinane said that the process of organic farming is intensive and requires meticulous valuations and scrupulous considerations.

“A lot of labour goes into organic farming,” said Kinane.

“You start by preparing the soil. Everything is done by hand, every plant is individually planted and crafted and all the seeds are collected individually from each plant.

“So, on an average, our tomatoes take almost three months to grow. [In comparison], a lot of the hybrid tomatoes can grow in eight weeks or often less.”

And when organic farmers encounter obstacles such as disease or blight, the only recourse is to use natural remedies. Spraying chemicals as a quick fix is not an option.

Kinane’s products have an Esma certification, which is the UAE certifying authority for local organic products.

In 2011, Becky Balderstone launched an organic market, Ripe, that now operates in Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Sharjah when she realised that she could not source seasonal organic, local fresh produce in the UAE. Ripe now operates in Abu Dhabi,