Our lifestyle is increasingly driven to love nature and promote sustainable behavior.

Massive campaigns have been launched and are ongoing to end the plastic crisis that poses a great threat to nature, from cleaning up beaches and oceans from plastic waste, and to foregoing plastics by switching to reusable straws, tumblers and shopping bags.

Even before these endeavors start showing a significant impact, due to a general lack of consumer awareness about the importance of protecting nature and other reasons, we are now being encouraged to consume organic foods.

Organic foods are said to be healthier because the raw ingredients are grown and processed entirely using organic methods. Instead of the chemical fertilizers and synthetic pesticides commonly used in conventional and industrial farming to provide the necessary nutrients for crop growth and to protect crops from insects and disease, organic farming uses natural fertilizers like cow manure, leaf mold and food compost.

Experts say that organic fertilizers continue to improve the soil long after the plants have taken the nutrients they need. “Therefore, the longer the soil is supplemented with organic fertilizers, the better its composition and texture. So, while inorganic fertilizer is cheaper in the short term, it adds less to the soil in the long term,” says one expert.

Organic foods are a growing lifestyle trend in Asia amid the global growth in organic products. The reported growth globally is between 15 and 20 percent, driven by improving consumer purchasing power.

Evita, 36, a Sundanese mother of two, acknowledges that growing awareness over the natural processes used to produce organic foods has made her and her family more careful about choosing vegetables, which they love.

Apart from raw vegetables, she has made a habit of shopping for other products labeled “organic” in the market, including rice, chicken, eggs and yogurt, as well as other farmed products like honey, coffee and vanilla.

Many other Indonesians, especially those from wealthy families, consume organic foods because they want to live healthier.

A study has found that organic products offer more advantages than inorganically produced food products. Organic foods are not only free of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, but also do not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs).

Ali Khomsan, a public nutrition professor at Bogor Agricultural University (IPB), cited a study during a discussion on “Organic Consumption and Lifestyle Trends in Indonesia” that had found that organic milk — especially milk produced by cows that consumed green (natural) grass — had a higher content of Omega-3 and Omega-6 fatty acids compared to inorganic milk, although they were similar in macronutrient content (fats, proteins and carbohydrates).

According to Stevanus Wangsit, the director of PT Arla Indofood and the Indonesia Organic Alliance (AOI), producers had yet to meet the rising demand for organic foods.

He expressed the hope that more organic foods would be produced locally. “Now that organic rice and vegetables are available in the market, we hope that more types of organic products will be available for your dining table, for perfect intake for your stomach,” Stevanus said at the same event.

The government has issued a number of regulations as well as product certification to ensure that a product is truly organic, as has the Agriculture Ministry. These include SNI 6729-2016 on organic agriculture, Government Regulation No. 64/2013 on organic farming and the Food and Drug Monitoring Agency (BPOM) Regulation No. 1/2017 on control of organically processed foods.

Price, however, remains one of the major barriers for consumers. Several environmentally aware individuals are making efforts to develop organic foods that are affordable to all segments of society, especially horticultural products.

Ruri Prihatini Arimbi has been actively promoting organic farming in Ciarateun of Bogor regency, West Java, along with her husband Titis Priyo Widodo. On her YouTube channel, Ruri, who is an organic farmer, says that the organic vegetables sold at supermarkets are more expensive than nonorganic vegetables ones sold at markets.

“The price of kangkung [water spinach], for example, is between Rp 15,000 (US$1.08) and Rp 20,000 per bunch at a supermarket, whereas the same crop is five or six times cheaper [around Rp 2,000 per bunch] at markets. I think this is because of factors such as trade, logistics and distribution, etc., which involve middlemen in the business,” she says.

“I cut the supply chain. Organic vegetables, for example, are sold directly to consumers in markets without involving middlemen. This makes the products relatively affordable to all segments of society,” Ruri says.

The price of organic products is also an issue in developed countries, where the organic food revolution started.

According to Ludolf von Maltzan of Brodowin Ecovillage, an organic farm in Germany, “Organic products are usually between 30 percent and 50 percent more expensive”, but that “many people are willing to pay the price for it”.

“It’s not a matter of its being healthier, because nutrition today, whether organic or conventional, is fantastic. What matters is the fact that it is less harmful for nature,” he tells Elpais.com, the online edition of the Madrid-based daily newspaper.

So when it comes to our food, we can choose either inorganic or organic. But choosing the latter means that we are not only benefitting our health, but also contributing to environmental sustainability for the next generation.

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