In recent years, the concept of natural and organic products has been circulating from language to language. So, what are the essential features of a natural product? Do we know these products? According to the statements made by the association to support ecological life, there are many criteria to recognize the natural product. Before we explain these criteria, let's explain what the natural and organic product is.
What is Natural Product?
The products that are grown without harming any creature in the phases of the product from the planting process to the soil, until the product distribution and the end-user reaches the end-user, are called natural products. Environmentally friendly agricultural methods and tools are used in agricultural methods using natural products. As natural and organic products are protected, grown and stored within the framework of laws and regulations, it has the symbol of naturalness.
Made of natural products harvested in the percentage of cultivated agricultural land in Turkey?
In fact, the natural crop cultivation and organic farming movement started in the early 1970s and continued to rise and European countries were not indifferent to this situation. European countries, according to data recorded in the demand for ecological products from Turkey is trying to başladılar.2011 approximately 42 thousand 460 farmers in Turkey and 442 thousand 581 hectares of these farmers grow crops in the field of natural products. These figures accounted for 1.81 percent of the total agricultural area in Turkey.
Can Natural Products Get Organic Certificates?
Products grown in forests, nature and rural areas are also called natural products or harvest products. These products are demanded, marketed and sold just like organic products. It is not necessary to obtain permission from any institution when collecting products. In areas with natural products, there should be no fire in the last 2 years and no action should be taken to endanger nature. As in organic products, natural products are subjected to certification, certification and similar procedures. The validity period of natural product certificates is 12 months. Certificates must be renewed before the validity period ends.
How far do products grown in nature need to be from the city center?
The products grown in nature can be distracted from being natural by many factors such as the fumes of industrial centers in the city, gases from the exhausts of the cars, and air pollution and environmental pollution that can be measured compared to the natural air of a village. Therefore, if natural products are grown close to city centers, isolation measures should be taken as much as possible.
Ways to Understand Being a Natural Product and Natural Product Criteria
One of the ways to understand that a product is a natural product is primarily grown and harvested during its season. The products that are grown and collected outside the season cannot be included in the natural product criteria.
Natural products are evident with their color, smell and appearance. However, even if natural products are understood from these characteristics, natural smoke that is splashed from elsewhere while the natural smoke of the opposite garden is fired with the help of wind, or the medicines that are splashing from another place change the structure of the natural product. Natural products exposed to such dangers cannot be counted as natural products.
Each stage of the natural product is inspected and recorded by the competent authorities. If these records are positive, the required authorization is obtained and it can be counted as a natural product. For example, one of the fruits collected from the same place but from different gardens is named as natural product, while another cannot enter the natural product class due to a situation that does not meet the criteria during the production phase.
Natural product criteria may differ from region to region from time to time. For example, tomato grown in Çanakkale is called the original natural Çanakkale tomato in terms of its smell and structure, while tomatoes grown in another region of Çanakkale do not belong to the same natural product class. In other words, the conclusion drawn from this is predicted that the same place sometimes comes out of naturalness by considering regional differences.
