The expectations regarding organic food are high: organic food should be pesticide-free, tasty and healthy, and be processed in an environmentally friendly and socially responsible way. Animal welfare and site- and species-specific husbandry, as well as the prohibition of synthetic pesticides, mineral fertilisers, genetic engineering and synthetic ingredients in organic farming should be reflected in the quality of organic food. The FiBL dossier "Sustainability and quality of organic food", which serves as a base for this site, shows the different aspects that bring quality into our food.
These expectations make it clear that the quality of food cannot be reduced to just the individual characteristics of the product, but must include the entire process from the field to the plate. Therefore, in today’s understanding of the term, food quality includes not only regional added value, quality assurance, fair trade and sustainability, but also energy consumption and production and processing techniques.
The figure below shows how the aspects of sustainability and quality overlap. Health acts as a link between society, economy and ecology – the traditional pillars of sustainability.
Quality considered as a result of sustainable production and life
The concept of sustainability includes not only environmental, but also social and economic criteria. To assess the quality of food, the aspect of health is added. Health is also fundamentally anchored in the Principles of Organic Agriculture, laid down by IFOAM (International Foundation for Organic Agriculture). Graph: FiBL
