Mexico City, a metropolis famous for its smog and crowds (among other wonderful things) isn’t the first place you’d think of when you hear the words “organic crops”. But that a new breed of farmers known as have set out to produce food free of contaminants and totally natural in the Mexican capital:

Conceived as a strategy to promote organic agriculture in rural areas within the Federal District, the Sello Verde (Green Stamp) — certification means that chemicals have been definitively eliminated throughout the production chain — has begun to pay off, with 84 organic products free of contaminants being grown, which have even been exported to the U.S. and Europe because of their high quality.

Vegetables, fruits, corn, honey and nopal (edible cactus) are only some of the items which, through the help of 23 farmer organizations have reached the level of quality demanded by certification.

According to La Jornada, one farmer, Gerardo Camacho, says the journey towards putting such a variety of organic goods on the market hasn’t been an easy one, mainly because the consumption of organics isn’s very widespread in Mexico. Most of the agricultural companies involved in the Sello Verde movement are small, family-owned businesses who have a hard time getting their products to market due to “middle men” who impede their entry:

“There is indeed a market, because there are only a few of us, but their are lots of bad habits. They have disdain for small production, they ask us for credit applications and demand high pay.”

They’ve got to start somewhere. When organics first came onto the scene in the U.S., it wasn’t an easy transition either. And if anything, there should be a market for Mexican-made organics in the U.S.

Via / La Jornada

Where to buy organic products in Mexico (Spanish)