BEIRUT: While the Farmers Association in Lebanon bemoans the Agriculture Ministry’s tightening of restrictions on the use of pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals in food production, one niche sector of the industry is cheerfully smiling.

For the country’s organic producers all food scandals raise awareness of the benefits of healthier eating and all increased regulation promotes their production values.

There’s a “big increase in demand,” says Mario Massoud, commercial director of Biomass, a Lebanese, family-owned company selling organic produce. “People want to eat better, healthier and fresher,” he continues, adding: “food scandals are helping.”

What started out in 2007 with the Massoud family growing pesticide and chemical-free produce for its own consumption on small plots of land in north Lebanon has grown into an Italian certified organic farming enterprise that works closely with some 40 farmers across the country.

Meanwhile, Khalil Haddad, general manager of LibanCert, the first Lebanese organic inspection and certification body, says the number of certified organic farmers has almost doubled since 2009: “At the end of 2009 there were 70 operators. Now there are more than 130.” LibanCert was added just last month to a list of European Union approved certification bodies worldwide, meaning that certified producers of organic crops will be able to export their products to the EU without an export certificate from July 1, 2012.

Yet even with the growth in demand and increase in supply, consumers must be prepared to spend extra time seeking out organic products and be ready to dig substantially deeper into their wallets. And with organic certification relatively new in Lebanon, they will also have to employ their own good judgment.

Some, however, feel it’s worth the effort it takes to be a more conscientious consumer.

Layla Totah, owner of The Old Fashioned Way sewing school, offers her students home baking, and tries to use organic ingredients as far as is possible. A shopping trip for Totah begins with a visit to the Farmers’ Market outside Bread Republic in Hamra Tuesdays. Here, alongside a range of locally made products, Bechly Green offers a small range of seasonal organic fruits and vegetables, while Zeitounati, a Sidon based company, sells organic, but not yet certified, olives and extra virgin olive oil.

Manning the Zeitounati stall, Said Jumblat says he is seeking organic certification that will enable him to export his products northern Europe. He also points out that one cannot find his olive oil on supermarket shelves. “The glass containers would be placed on shelves open to light and this light causes oxidation which severely diminishes the quality of the oil,” he says.

After the Farmer’s Market it’s onward to the Beirut Health Store, offering imported organic flours and cereals. Not all of their products are certified organic, but they’re locally produced without chemicals. Many consumers, including Totah, must contend with higher prices and make the best choice from what’s available. “If I can’t buy organic, I go for what’s grown or made here by small producers,” she says.

Finally, Totah visits Healthy Basket, a project started in 2001 by the American University of Beirut to improve rural farmers’ livelihoods while simultaneously putting healthier, environmentally friendly food on the market.

Each week Totah receives a delivery of a basket of certified organic vegetables from the store. Baskets come in small, regular and large sizes and are priced at LL25,000, LL32,000 and LL46,500 respectively. A regular size basket is enough for two people for a week. However, today Totah wants to order a free-range chicken.

The chicken on offer at Healthy Basket is not certified organic. The saleswoman says the store has not yet managed to source organic meat in Lebanon. But Totah believes the meat is closer to organic than other options, and at least she knows the bird had space to run around and flap its wings prior to its demise.

For eggs and dairy, Totah usually buys Biomass or Campagnia organic products, which she finds in larger supermarkets. She admits though that she has never successfully sourced organic butter.

However, it is meat that poses the biggest challenge for the aspiring organic-only consumer in Lebanon.

Shuman Farms chickens, products of the Lebanese Poultry Company, are “free of antibiotics and chemicals,” according to the product’s packaging. Maria Renno, quality controller and marketing manager for the business, told The Daily Star by phone that the chickens are raised on a diet of mainly grains – corn and soya – and some vitamins. She says the company has not considered organic certification, and gave no details as to the housing conditions for the chickens.

At Spinney’s supermarket in Ashrafieh no labeled organic fresh meat products are on display. Upon inquiry, sales staff recommended Shuman Farms chicken as the closest alternative. A request for free-range chicken drew incomprehension.

Lynda Khalife of Spinney’s Lebanon lists some imported meat products that, although uncertified, are treated and fed naturally: Australian black angus meat; white tenderloin and topside white veal steak from Dutch operator Ekro; and tenderloin, striploin and ribeye from New Zealand company Affko. But she adds these imports are all quite pricey.

Spinney’s does however offer a selection of organic produce in other categories. In the fruit and veg department a handful of Biomass products are attractively packaged in cardboard boxes. But temptation may prove resistible when six tomatoes set you back LL6,000 and a head of lettuce LL3,500.

TSC’s Signature store in Downtown offers a more extensive range of Campagnia and Biomass vegetables, fruits and herbs. It also carries a wide selection of Biomass dairy products including laban, lebneh, halloum and goat’s cheese. Again though, there is no organic meat on offer at present, and according to the sales assistant imported free-range birds are only stocked over the Christmas and New Year period.

It seems despite growth, organic products are for now to remain the preserve of those with the means and time to be choosy. But as more farmers come on board, and with, as Massoud and Haddad say, the Agriculture Ministry taking a more active part in the development of the sector through the formation of a committee on organic farming and the enforcement of farming regulations, more natural products may in time become the norm. For now, the organic-search continues.