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Organic mineral water already starts in the soil
The loud criticism ranged from "Who needs that?" to "What's organic about water?" and "It's all marketing! A good decade, several court cases and a noticeable change in society later, the discussion has become quieter. More and more people see a need to change consumption, eating and drinking habits as well as the general way we treat our environment and natural resources. The association Qualitätsgemeinschaft Bio-Mineralwasser e.V. is not only steadily gaining members, but recognition within the industry and on the customer side also seems to be growing.
We talked to the chairman of the Qualitätsgemeinschaft Bio-Mineralwasser e.V. Dr. Franz Ehrnsperger about an arduous, but in his eyes vital path.
Dr Ehrnsperger, did you expect it to be so tough?
Dr. Franz Ehrnsperger: Yes, absolutely. (laughs) The topic of organic mineral water is complex and difficult, actually the topic of water itself. You have to give people time to deal with it. After all, they have other worries too. So it was clear to me that it would take a long time to convince them. But I was prepared for that, because I went through the same thing forty years ago.
Back then in the beer business, you mean?
Dr. Ehrnsperger: Exactly. In 1980 I decided to convert the entire production of Neumarkter Lammsbräu to organic. Out of the conviction that you can only maintain an independent, small brewery in the long term if you make better beer than everyone else. That's how I came to organic farming, where there are still traditionally produced brewing ingredients.
So it was more about good beer than saving the world?
Dr. Ehrnsperger: At first, in a way, yes. My thinking was this: German beer became world-famous when organic farming was still the standard. When there was nothing else, no optimised raw materials or aids for brewing. So the key to quality lay in craftsmanship and, above all, natural raw materials.
Back then, in the eighties, the preoccupation with raw materials had declined enormously in many food sectors, among bakers, butchers and us brewers. In favour of economic efficiency, production was based on standardised or semi-finished products. Something like hop extracts or pellets, malt from industrial production. In Weihenstephan, for example, there has not been a chair for hops or malting barley for more than 30 years. Because interest in the raw materials has flattened out so much. And it is precisely with the raw materials that we have started.
"You have to give people time to get to grips with the issue of organic mineral water. After all, they have other concerns as well." Dr. Franz Ehrnsperger And that's how you got to the topic of water?
Dr. Ehrnsperger: Water makes up the largest share of the raw materials in a beer. And yet it is often not taken seriously at all! It has become clear to me that the natural striving of brewers to get raw materials as cheaply as possible has a consequence that no one had on their radar: intensive agriculture, which can supply these cheap raw materials, is causally responsible for the fact that the most important raw material, water, is threatened not only in beer, but in many other foods as well. We have a massive water problem in Germany.
The Federal Environment Agency reports that more than a third of German groundwater resources are in a chemically questionable condition. That should set all the alarm bells ringing - but it has not yet reached enough people. This is another reason why we became active.
So you started by initiating a seal for organic mineral water.
Dr. Ehrnsperger: The fact that until the 2000s there had long been legal regulations for animal and plant productions that certified them as "organic", but no one cared about the most important foodstuff, water, was an occasion for us to examine: What could be the organic criteria for a product that consists of 100 per cent water - like mineral water. Based on the principles of the international organic movement IFOAM, seven guidelines emerged, which have been continuously developed since then.
Can you briefly outline the core of your organic mineral water guidelines, please?
Dr. Ehrnsperger: We look at the water cycle as a whole. We say: water is a fruit of the soil, ultimately just like vegetables, for example. It is sown by the rain and needs a good seedbed. It must be absorbed by the soil and protected from harmful influences. It has a growing season in the soil during which it absorbs minerals such as magnesium or calcium - and there is the right harvest time. A mineral spring that wants to market mineral water with our organic mineral water seal has to take care of all this. He becomes an "organic water farmer". Good water thrives above all in humus-rich soil.
These are endangered by industrial agriculture. That is why every organic water farmer must promote organic farming throughout the country. The long-term goal is 100 percent organic farming. Improving soil quality enables a species-rich microbiome, which in turn can purify the water in the best possible way and lead it to the ground in greater quantities. But an organic water farmer naturally does much more than is necessary for the pure product mineral water and from which everyone ultimately benefits: He promotes biodiversity, climate protection, damping the rise in temperature, binding CO2. To ensure that all these benefits are verifiable, each of our organic water farmers is committed to transparency.
That sounds convincing - from today's perspective, against the background of the consequences of climate change that are visible to all. And yet the resistance was great at the beginning.
Dr. Ehrnsperger: It's no different from what happened with beer back then. In the eighties, the brewers' associations and everyone who had something to say asked: We have the Purity Law, we are very proud of it - so what's the point of organic?
There were also two lawsuits, both of which we won, because although there was no legal basis, the judges looked at our guidelines for organic beer and decided: Lammsbräu has guidelines and controls, everything is clean and transparent - accordingly, they are allowed to call it organic beer. I expected the same in the mineral water sector. Because here, too, with "natural mineral water" as a designation and the nice slogan "natural purity", which a source has to prove, they have words that are good to adorn themselves with, like "brewed according to the purity law". But the content of the term is not clearly defined, and the cover often suggests more than is behind it. It came as it had to: we received a warning letter that originated in the industry. However, the Federal Supreme Court ruled in our favour and confirmed our organic mineral water seal.
"I wish people would think about what kind of water world our grandchildren will find." Dr. Franz EhrnspergerIn the meantime, however, there are also mineral water brands whose operators were on the side of the critics at the time and who now carry organic labels themselves. Doesn't that annoy you to no end?
Dr. Ehrnsperger: We all have the goal of doing something for our grandchildren. We have been living at the expense of our posterity and must do a U-turn. Things can't go on the way they used to.
Many consumers now see this, but a change is needed in society as a whole. The more companies open up to organic and become active, the better. The only thing that needs to be ensured is that they do so consistently and credibly.
There are currently two different private organic standards for mineral water in Germany. Producers have the choice of which seal to apply for. Consumer protectionists think this is confusing. What would they like to see?
Dr. Ehrnsperger: We want our guidelines to be incorporated into a legal standard one day, into an EU organic regulation for organic mineral water. We have already successfully taken this path with crops, milk, etc.
Furthermore, I would like people to think about what kind of water world our grandchildren will find if we do not take countermeasures now. The last few weeks have shown us unbelievable things: The disaster in the Ahr valley and all the other floods are also a consequence of the impermeability of modern, chemically processed fields and meadows. The lack of humus leads to compaction. You can see this with every rainfall: a good humus soil can absorb 100 litres of water per hour, whereas conventional soils of today can only absorb 30. And what does the rainwater not absorbed by the soil do? It takes the last good bits of humus with it, and valuable farmland soil is washed away.
Nevertheless, I am full of hope because I know a better way. If as many people as possible take this path, our world will become healthy again.
