What makes organic special

We would like to go over what kind of regulations needs to be cleared to be certified as organic. The farmers put in a lot of hard work to be certified as organic.
*This time we will be talking only about the organic regulation in Japan, which also can be used as USDA and EU organic.

 

To Be Certified Organic

In Japan main of the organic products are certified by JONA (Japanese Organic and Natural Food Association) under the regulation of the Japanese Agriculture Standards, which is also called the JAS. Including our organic green tea, organic products in Japan must clear the following requirements in order to be certified as organic:

 

1. Can not use chemical pesticide and chemical fertilizer for at least 3 years
2. Can not use any GMO (Genetically modified organism) seeds or young plants
3. Can not be located in a place were chemical pesticide can be flown in from neighboring farm lands. 

 

Necessary Period to be called Organic

Farmers will need at least three years to be certified organic. Organic plantation is something that you can not start right away next week. It will take time for it to be able to make something that can be sold out in the market. Many farmers doing organic plantation experience a substantial fall of production when they start off, which means they will experience income fall as well. When they stop using the chemical pesticides, there plantations are ruined by diseases and pests right away. Many take extremely long time to find the right method to produce it organically. They need to find that method that will protect from the pests and diseases naturally by adapting to climate and land. Some of the farmers even take more than 5 to 10 years to be certified organic. It takes so long, but it is amazing how they have strong determination that keeps them going until they find out there own method of organic plantation.  

Starting Organic Plantation

There are many reasons that they start organic plantation, but one of the reasons are simply they want to keep the land clean and sustainable, as chemicals are said to give negative effect to the soil and water. Farmers in Japan have a strong will to keep the farm land clean and healthy to pass it over to the next generation so the next generation will be able to live and enjoy the same natural environment that they have enjoyed. In most cases, there are family lands that has been passed down from the previous generation. 

Also in very few cases (especially in green tea), because some farmers suffer from health problems when using chemical pesticides and fertilizers.

Taste of Organic Green Tea

In the Japanese green tea industry, it is some times said that organic teas are not tasty as non-organic green teas. Simply making organic green teas are very challenging but the biggest challenge is to produce organic green teas that also taste very well. 

As for our ShiZen Green Tea, it took 5 years to make a small batch, another 5 years to make the whole field organic, and still working for over 15 years to make the teas taste better and better so everyone can enjoy safe great tasting organic green teas:) Learn more about our farmer

If there is any questions please feel free to ask anytime. Thank you!

>See Our Organic Green Tea Powder

>See Our Organic Green Tea Loose Leaf