Organic seems to be the buzzword for healthy eating these days. So what exactly is organic food? Does it refer to tasteless chow that makes one feel like a grazing cow? Get a real taste of all that’s organic in these foodstores of Chennai.

Walk into Ahumcaara (Kilpauk) or Amma Naana (Adyar) and be enlightened. Organic food is primarily food produced the organic way, without using any chemical pesticides or fertilizers, following sustainable agricultural practices.

Such foods contain 50% more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micronutrients than intensively-farm-produced ones. At both these stores the shelves heave with an amazing range of food products, snacks, and groceries that are grown using organic methods.

Fabindia (Mount Road) is another place where along with clothes you get a variety of organic food products, such as, herbal tea, herbs, cereals, sugar, coffee, fruit preserves, honey and tea-time munchies.

Eco Nut (Besant Nagar), with their plum jam, kokum squash, organic muesli and spicy plum chutney, will leave you spoilt for choice. The special products of Future Foods (Adyar) are soya daal and organic coffee powder, things you wouldn’t normally get in other stores.

Enfield Agro Base (Adyar), that has been in organic farming since 1994, is another option for those seeking a healthy diet. What started off merely as a hobby soon became a commercial enterprise. Come here for organic fruits, like guava and mangoes, and vegetables.

If you are looking for organic vegetables, then Organic Harvest (Alwarpet) has fresh produce coming in from their organic farm every morning. Do your veggie shopping from here every morning.

Organic food doesn’t mean only fruits and vegetables. Auroville Boutique Naturals (Khader Nawaz Khan Road) stocks an endless list of grocery items, such as, daal, flour, edible oil, tea / coffee, jaggery, cereal, jam, spread, sauce, soup, chocolate, and cookie.

Organic food usually costs you a little more than the mass-produced items, but then you’d do well to remember that it also gifts you a healthy life. So go organic and live life, the disease-free way.