Consumers are increasingly aware of what they consume. In this context, the discussion on healthy eating has intensified, with emphasis on organic farming.
Today, consumers are looking for ways to consume more natural products, with little or no pesticides, such as organic food produced by family farmers.
Faced with this trend, it is important to understand what organic farming is, how it differs from conventional agriculture, as well as the growing trend in organic family farming.
What is organic farming?
By definition, organic farming is a food production process that is fully committed to ecologically correct practices that ensure the protection of the environment and the health of consumers.
Renato Linhares de Assis, a researcher at Embrapa Agrobiologia, explains that organic farming is characterized by the use of technologies that respect the ecological dynamics of nature.
Working in harmony with ecology, these technologies help to maintain or slightly alter the equilibrium between the organisms present in the productive environment and its surroundings.
According to the researcher, the principle of organic farming is to establish crop and livestock systems based on process technologies.
“Organic farming takes into account a set of procedures that perceive the relationships between plants and animals and the general environment where they are inserted, considering general conditions, such as climate, relief, soil and water.”
Characteristics of organic farming
The main characteristic of organic farming is the refusal to use chemical agricultural defensives, pesticides, synthetic fertilizers and monoculture, which are associated with conventional agriculture.
Thus, the main difference between the two types of crops lies in the way they are planted, which, consequently, also brings about differences in their visual aspects (size and shape).
In the early development of organic farming, the researcher from Embrapa explains that organic foods were often associated with not having a standard size and shape.
“Currently, this occurs to a lesser extent, and in some cases this is still fundamentally due to a demand greater than supply, because, as a result, non-standard products, which in the conventional production chain would be discarded at the production unit, in the organic production chain, depending on the market strategy, it still has consumers,” he explains.
The researcher also mentions those intangible aspects, which are increasingly valued by many consumers. “These aspects are related to the fact that organic agriculture is based on productive practices that respect nature,” Renato emphasizes.
Conscious consumption and organic farming: a perfect harmony
The difference between organic and conventional food is related to the way it is produced. In Brazil, organic food must comply with Law No. 10,831 of December 23, 2003.
Thus, investing in organic farming implies the certainty of producing healthy food for consumption, preserving its intrinsic nutritional characteristics while also valuing farming practices that respect the environment and conserve soil and water, ensuring they are not contaminated by agrochemicals.
In this way, we can say that organic farming is closely related to conscious consumption.
“By valuing organic farming products, conscious consumers access specific markets with higher prices for many products, but which ensure a number of benefits,” Assis concludes.
The researcher from Embrapa Agrobiologia explains that these values are justified and worth the higher price for consumers.
“These values are justified by the structure of production and commercialization that cannot match the economy of simplification of factors and large production scales of conventional agriculture.”
The researcher also points out that, in Brazilian agricultural policy, the negative externalities of conventional agriculture are “paid for” by society, while the positive externalities of organic agriculture are valued only in the niche markets where these products are destined.
A trend that helps family farmers
According to Renato de Assis, organic farming, as a production strategy based on process technologies, adapts more easily to the reality of family organization systems of agricultural production, or Family Farming.
This agriculture is characterized by the adoption of production techniques that are accessible and compatible with the local reality of the community, thus ensuring the cultural integrity of rural populations.
“In most cases, family farmers have diversified production structures with a desired level of complexity, without prejudice to the activities of supervision and control of the work process,” the researcher adds.
In this context, the growth of organic farming in the family model represents the basis of the economy of about 90% of Brazilian municipalities, accounting for the incomes of 40% of the economically active population in the country.
Thus, based on this model, Brazilian family farming has become the 8th largest food producer in the world, ensuring prominence in global agribusiness.
Organic products delivered to your home
There is nothing more satisfying than receiving fresh and healthy organic food on your doorstep, and this is the focus of some market players who intend to unite the quality of organic food with the desire to consume it in many Brazilian homes.
Today, we have online platforms that connect the final consumer with family producers. On these platforms, people can subscribe to receive a monthly or weekly package that best meets their needs and receive their box of products at home – including vegetables, greens, fruit and organic herbs and spices.
To deliver the food, these companies partner with family producers, ensuring the maintenance of the sector and promoting organic farming and small-scale production.
This business model certainly ensures a number of benefits, both for family farmers, who enjoy a larger market for their products, and for consumers, who receive healthy food on their doorsteps.
