Organic…..what a magical word

Organic foods are something that have always intrigued me. Each trip I made to the supermarket, or to the local farmer’s market, I would try to find some type of organic product to buy. One, because I knew it was healthier and better for me, but also because I always wanted to support the local farmers and even larger companies that cultivated organic produce.

I realized recently that consuming organic foods is a habit that I share with many people all over the world, in fact. It is becoming more and more popular to buy organic instead of conventional products. Meijer, the primary supermarket in Michigan, recently came out with their own organic products, which I began finding more and more of on the shelves of people’s homes that I visited. The prices were always quite a bit more for organic products, but that never seemed to bother the health-conscious, environmental-conscious consumer.

It is quite a different story in developing countries, however. The cooperative I work with just recently put on an organic fruit fair this last Saturday. It something we had been working on for months, and especially in the last couple of weeks leading up to it. The event was held in order to kick off what would hopefully be the beginning of an organic fruit market held every Saturday in the same place. The event was also an attempt to draw more people to buy organic products, and educate the general population on what is organic (something that hardly anyone in Honduras is educated on, except mostly the producers of organic products themselves).

In many aspects it was a great success. The fruit was all presented neatly and beautifully in small bags, which were then placed in baskets and spread out on tables that had been covered with tablecloths. A big change from the fruits that are sold in other markets, that are usually sold out of huge, dirty baskets placed on the ground where dust, trash and who knows what else can get into them. This is something that drew in a lot of people, and caused almost everyone who passed to buy something, although the price was a little steeper than most other fruits. Also, many larger companies and government organizations came that were invited, which gave a good name to the cooperative, and helped them prove to these big shots that they were capable and willing to work to get ahead and make a difference.

In other aspects, however, I was slightly disappointed with what seems to me to be almost a hopeless situation. We had spent the entire previous week putting out announcements in the radio, television and making fliers to stick in the papers. They all invited the general public of the city to the organic fruit fair, even telling them a little what organic fruit is. However, I can almost without a doubt say that absolutely nobody who read or heard any of our promotions were intrigued enough to come that day. Of all the buyers we had that day, I never once heard someone say ¨I heard the announcement on the radio, and couldn’t wait to come!¨ Why? Because most of the people here don’t seem to care in the least what is organic, or whether it is good for the environment, or even their health. They only care about what is cheaper. This is something that could take years and years to get into the heads of consumers, that consuming organic products is better for you and the world in general. However, it is also something that I think the general public in the United States has only recently caught on to. Therefore, I think we’re doing pretty darn well, considering.