In "'Organic food' can still bedevil your health", (Opinion, March 2), Anchalee Kongrut writes about the annoying dilemmas consumers of organic food face.
For many years we have promoted "organic food for all". In fact the costs of organic food are less than chemically treated products. But there are various reasons why this does not show up in the actual price. The government's philosophy is that complying with the standards of Good Agriculture Practices or GAP (of the Food and Agricultural Organisation) is sufficient. That means that farmers can use chemicals but have to stop doing it three weeks before the harvest. Most farmers even don't do that.
The government standards for organic certification are close to GAP. But they do not meet the standards of the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) accredited Organic Agriculture Certification Thailand and the Asian certification alliance. IFOAM is a private, membership-based organisation.
