I remember listening to the opening remarks of Professor Virginia Cha during the launch of Sunway Innovation Labs at Sunway University (iLabs Foundry) in 2018. Cha spoke about “restorative innovation” — an economic model underpinning innovation-driven growth that safeguards our health, humanity and the environment.
Among the intriguing examples she discussed was organic farming, where she highlighted the cost disparity between organic and non-organic bell peppers (a fivefold difference). This made me think: If organic farming methods were the foundation of agriculture practised by our ancestors, why do organic vegetables now carry a price tag that is five times higher?
The answer is that it is common practice for vegetables to be commercially graded based on their appearance; those less visually appealing, though not necessarily of lower quality, are ranked at the bottom. This anecdote serves as a reminder of our organic agricultural roots and prompts a deeper inquiry into what constitutes fair practices in agriculture…
