Why do organic vegetables remain so expensive?

For higher food production standards, are you willing to buy organic vegetables that cost three to five times more than ordinary vegetables? Because food safety problems keep appearing, all kinds of "organic vegetables," "pollution-free vegetables" and "green vegetables" have emerged. As soon as these vegetables are "born" they carry all kinds of green labels, and their prices are much higher than ordinary vegetables. So where exactly are they superior to ordinary vegetables? In this issue of "Environmental Protection Around Us," the reporter will take readers to explore the secrets behind green vegetables.

Comparison

Price comparison:

"Organic" costs three to five times more than ordinary vegetables

A recent visit by the reporter found that the "organic vegetables" and "green vegetables" sold in supermarkets cost about 3 to 5 times more than ordinary vegetables in farmers' markets selling meat and vegetables. For example, choy sum sold in a farmers' market costs 4 yuan per jin, while the price of choy sum in the supermarket is 8.9 yuan per jin. The price gap for broccoli is even larger: in the farmers' market broccoli costs 4.5 yuan per jin, while "pollution-free broccoli" in the supermarket is priced as high as 16.80 yuan per jin.

Faced with the high prices of "pollution-free vegetables" and "organic vegetables," many residents said they simply cannot afford them. Xiao Shen, who was buying vegetables in the supermarket, kept hesitating while choosing. "So expensive, how can I buy it? Forget it, these 'pollution-free' ones are really beyond my budget. I'll just pick through them and see if there are any 'with pollution.'" Xiao Shen said humorously.

During interviews, the reporter found that most residents do not choose to buy vegetables in supermarkets because the prices are simply too high. In addition to the 3 to 5 times price difference for green vegetables, once many grain foods carry the "organic" label, their prices also rise noticeably. For example, corn in the supermarket is priced at 5.5 yuan per ear, while the reporter saw in the farmers' market that corn generally costs 3.5 yuan to 3.8 yuan per ear.

In response, a senior figure in organic food certification who was unwilling to give his name said that organic vegetables consume more labor and have fewer choices of inputs, so their prices are relatively higher. Organic vegetables also require certification by relevant institutions and have lower yields, which leads to high prices. "Of course, this may also include some pricing strategy. Nowadays some residents may look at organic vegetables through biased eyes. In fact, there are many high-priced goods on the market, and the organic vegetable market is not easy to run." The figure said.

Regarding the relatively high prices of "organic vegetables," Jiang Zhuoqin, deputy director of the Institute of Preventive Medicine at Sun Yat-sen University, quality head of the Health Food Testing Center, and professor in the Department of Nutrition of the School of Public Health, believes: "First, this is a commercial behavior. Under a market economy, how to set prices is the merchant's business. But 'organic vegetables' are indeed more expensive than 'ordinary vegetables,' because their cultivation costs are different."

Safety comparison:

Organic vegetables have higher food safety standards

In the supermarket, the reporter held broccoli labeled "organic vegetables" and asked a supermarket employee how "organic vegetables" differ from other vegetables and how to tell them apart. The supermarket employee said he was not clear either. "Maybe the suppliers are different. As for how they taste, I think they are probably about the same." So what exactly is the difference between "organic vegetables," "pollution-free vegetables" and "ordinary vegetables"? Jiang Zhuoqin said frankly: "In fact, pollution-free and organic vegetables are no different from ordinary vegetables in terms of nutrition. The biggest difference lies in food safety."

He pointed out that organic vegetables refer to vegetable products that, during the vegetable production process, strictly follow organic production procedures, prohibit the use of any chemically synthesized pesticides and chemical fertilizers, as well as genetically engineered organisms and their products, and instead follow natural laws and ecological principles, adopt a series of sustainable agricultural techniques, coordinate planting balance, carry the green food label, maintain the continued stability of the agricultural ecosystem, and have been appraised and certified by an organic food certification body, which issues an organic food certificate.

It is understood that organic vegetables are called "pure and then pure" food by people. From the base to production, and from processing to market, they all have very strict requirements. In the many processes from production to processing, organic vegetables absolutely prohibit the use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, hormones, genetically modified organisms and other artificially synthesized substances. Jiang Zhuoqin said that organic vegetables may be no different from ordinary vegetables in nutrition, but in today's world where food safety is increasingly the focus, being able to guarantee the "purity" of food is already very "worth it."

Science popularization

Four grades of vegetables, with "organic" as the highest

During the visit, the reporter found that supermarkets divide vegetables into "organic vegetables," "pollution-free vegetables" and "ordinary vegetables," and the same kind of vegetables in different sections have different prices. Why does such a difference exist?

Jiang Zhuoqin told the reporter that vegetables are divided into four grades: "ordinary vegetables," "pollution-free vegetables," "green vegetables" and "organic vegetables." Vegetables have a "vegetable grade pyramid," and the lower the level, the lower the degree of safety. Jiang Zhuoqin pointed out: "Pollution-free vegetables restrict the use of chemical pesticides and chemical fertilizers, but do not restrict the use of growth regulators. Green vegetables restrict the use of chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers and growth regulators. The highest grade, organic vegetables, completely prohibits the use of chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers and growth regulators."

Guide

Scratch the coating and check the barcode to verify authenticity

Yesterday the reporter found during a visit that the packaging of "organic vegetables" and "pollution-free vegetables" in the supermarket all had clear labels, but the verification labels marked on them differed. In response, sales staff said they could not guide consumers on how to verify whether these vegetables were "organic" or "pollution-free."

The reporter found that because suppliers differ, different vegetables carry different anti-counterfeiting query methods. Among them, "organic chives" produced by "Shenzhen Weiwu Jinshi Agricultural Development Co., Ltd." had an anti-counterfeiting barcode and provided a related complaint phone number and query website. The reporter logged into the website and found it could link to the "China Food and Agricultural Products Certification Information Platform," and then query through the relevant code.

Another producer of "pollution-free vegetables" had a label on its packaging issued by the Agricultural Product Quality and Safety Center of the Ministry of Agriculture. Consumers could scratch off the coating to obtain information, then send the information to query the details of that vegetable.

Jiang Zhuoqin pointed out that organic or green vegetables come from different suppliers and are certified by different certification bodies, so the labels on the packaging also differ. It is very difficult for residents to tell whether vegetables are "organic" or "pollution-free" by appearance, but they can query them in the corresponding way through the relevant labels on the packaging.