How expensive is an organic meal?

When I started as an vegetarian 7 years ago,
I was very mindful about
the quality of the vegetarian food I took.
It has to be of a variety, natural and
better if, organic!
-- I promised myself and mum that
I would keep well with a nutritious vegetarian diet ;)


However, the price of organic vegetarian
was a bit strenuous on my monthly expense.
The pressure was building up so much
that I had to complain to Lee Nguan,
one of my few friends who is also a fan of organic food.


We were actually dining at an organic veg cafe at Smith St,
when I vented out my frustration on Lee Nguan,
asking why good food has to be expensive,
questioning the genuineness of the organic food,
wondering how much I got ripped off by these organic cafes
...


Lee Nguan was cool despite my negativity.
In the end, he just commented:
"Kee Yew, if we stop supporting the organic industry,
do you think in future we will get any organic food
when we need them?"


His remark immediately made me feel ashame of myself
for not being grateful for the good food I had,
for not appreciating the hard work of organic farmers,
for not understanding the difficulties organic outlet faces.


That was the day, I aspired
to lend my full support for the organic industry,
to educate others on the impact of organic agriculture,
to facilitate the growth of organic business in the region.

This was also the same aspiration that eventually led to
the setting up of my organic education company,
Cielo Sereno.

There is a deep reason why
we pay such a high price for organic food.
Basically, the high price is the debt
we pay for our forefathers' mistakes
of adopting chemical farming for short-sighted benefits.


If we sulk over the extra cash
that we fork out for our organic food, today,
it's likely that it will be our land, our air, our water
that we will be paying our clean food with, tomorrow.

Go organic, for the sake of humanity.

Well wishes,
Kee Yew