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| Organic products enjoy rising popularity as more people adopt healthy living. JP/Triwik Kurniasari |
The
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.”
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