Since food is the basis of sustenance, and so required by everyone and everyday, it usually is the first and foremost part that takes a jolt.

People start to opt for cheaper options and save money wherever they can; quality takes a back seat in such situations. It’s easy to forget in times of financial constraint that anything bought cheap is cheap because it has been produced cheaply using cheap ingredients.

Though prices of organic products are rising for many of the same reasons affecting conventional food items, there is an increasing demand for organics.

“People for whom health is the bottomline, never compromise on nutrition. We are experiencing a rising demand for organic food,” Managing Director of Huckleberry Farms, David Spalter, told Rural Living.

Huckleberry Farms has been in the organics business for about 14 years, and entered the New Zealand market when it was fairly amateur.

David said that families on every kind of budget shop at their outlets. “With people becoming more aware and driven largely by their own wellbeing, the organics market has grown hugely over the years.

“Apart from the organics factor, the shift from shopping at the large format supermarkets to smaller stores that provide more interaction with store owners and the staff, is a worldwide phenomenon,” he added.

At a basic level, all farming, including conventional, still needs fuel to power the tractors and to drive the crops to the market. If the farm uses oil-intensive fertilisers or pesticides, those are getting more expensive as well.

For any produce that involves more processing and distribution, that can also result in increasing the costs of that product.

Generally, the rule of thumb seems to be that the more processed something is, the more the price can rise. Usually, since organics is more labour intensive and has fewer processing steps, it will encounter fewer places where the cost can rise.

“Lately the gap has been closing between the prices of organic and conventional products. The rising demand for organics and with more growers getting into it, the gap can be expected to get narrower,” David commented.

Though organic produce might seem slightly more expensive, it certainly is worth trying for the long term health benefits it can offer. “Open your mind and give it a try. Be prepared to try out some new products and tastes. At the end of it, if you come out feeling cheated, I’ll be very surprised,” he said smilingly.