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span class="inline inline-left">Organic products enjoy rising popularity as more people adopt healthy living. JP/Triwik KurniasariThe importance of living a healthy life is a popular trend, with more nature-focused communities going for only natural and organic products.

Ahmad Nuh used to consume white cane sugar, the most common sweetener used in food and drinks. But the 30-something man decided to stop his habit when he started working at a palm sugar company around four years ago, finding that palm sugar was healthier since it contained more fibers and nutrients and had less carbohydrates than white sugar.

“White cane sugar undergoes a long process and producers sometimes add other refined sweeteners, chemical contents and even coloring, so it’s not that healthy,” Ahmad told The Jakarta Post.

“A long time ago, people ate palm sugar to boost their energy so they could walk for miles. So, let’s go back to the old days which ensured a healthier life.”

Since then, he eliminated white sugar from his daily intake, replacing it with palm sugar made from the sap of sugar palm trees or date trees. His family and relatives used followed his steps and used palm sugar to make soup or other dishes.

Ahmad was among the participants of the 2011 Organic, Green and Healthy Expo organized by the Indonesian Organic Community (KOI) and the Alliance of Indonesian Organic (AOI) at CNI Building in West Jakarta’s Puri Indah recently.

The event was aimed at introducing local certified organic and natural products as well as encouraging the public to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Organic food products are made in ways that limit the use of synthetic substances including pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Among items on offer were vegetables, grains such as white rice, red rice and black rice, miscellaneous snacks made from cassava, sweet cassava and bananas, teas ranging from regular green and black tea to Rosella and kumis kucing (Orthosiphon spicatus), forest honey and palm sugar.

But the term organic is not only a matter of being pesticide free —the food must also be preserved in a chemical-free environment.

Theophillia Arispraptami of the Indonesian Forest Honey Network is promoting tropical forest honey, which is dubbed as organic, as the honey is not manufactured by humans.

The honey, she said, is derived from Apis dorsata bees, the most productive Asian bees living in tropical and subtropical areas such as Indonesia, the Philippines, India and Nepal.

“We collect and extract the honey directly from the hives in the forests, maintaining its natural nutrient values. The bees collect nectar and pollen from blossoms in the forest, while manufactured bees gathered nectar only from one type of blossom, depending on the season,” Theophillia said.

“The hives are usually found hanging on trees, caves and stones, while regular honey comes from worker bees in designed boxes.”

She also said that forest honey was safer, as the honeybees consumed wild blossoms that were not contaminated by hazardous chemical contents.

Sentarum Lake National Park in West Kalimantan and West Java’s Ujung Kulon National Park are two areas used to cultivate forest honey.

The network, she said, guaranteed that the honey was not mixed with water or sugar, not heated and contained no chemical treatments, because the cultivation was under supervision of organizations including her institution.

The farmers are trained before they harvest the honey so they don’t ruin the hives and the environment.

“We don’t squeeze the hives to get the honey. We only drain it so the honey will be more hygienic,” she said, adding that forest honey is sold from Rp 75,000 (US$8.20) to Rp 90,000 at a number of stores that specialize in organic produce in the capital.

Theophillia pointed out that forest honey production required well-conserved green forests, protected from illegal logging, fire and land conversion.

Eni Widarijani, a member of an organic community in East Java, said the production of organic foods required special treatment.

“Organic farming procedures are performed to conserve soil and water and reduce pollution,” Eni says.

“Firstly, we have to change farmers’ mindsets to go back to nature and leave all pesticides behind to boost their harvest. We had to give them some real examples to convince them.”

She and other members also encouraged farmers to go back to nature by making use of plants in their environment such as secang (sappanwood) and pegagan or button grass (Cetella asiatica), which can be turned into hot drinks.

To clean the grass from the dirt, they usually use lemon zest or aloe instead of using chemical-based disinfectants.

For many people, consuming natural and organic food poses some challenges, since such items are not easily found and the high prices may take toll on people’s wallets.

The author of Hidup Organik, Panduan Ringkas Berperilaku Selaras Alam (Organic Living, A Simple Manual to Live in Harmony with Nature), Bibong Widyarti, said the costly price was mainly caused by the long process of organic certification programs.

All organic foods, she added, have to meet some standards, including how the foods are grown, handled and processed before the products can be sold on the market.

Yuniken, who has consumed organic products since 2007 and organized women in West Java’s Bogor to farm organic products, admitted she had to be able to manage her household budget to support the healthy habit.

“One of the obstacles, however, sometimes is that it’s not easy to get organic items, especially when we run out of the stuff and don’t have time to go to organic food stores,” Yuniken said.

“But I’m trying my best to serve healthy dishes on my table with fresh organic produce. It’s for the sake of my family’s health.”