This lifestyle, however, has taken root in the heartland with the launch of Pasar Organic, a line of house-brand organic products by supermarket chain leader NTUC FairPrice.

Its more than 30 types of certified organic vegetables, grown without pesticides and other chemicals, are priced at up to 50 per cent less than brand-name counterparts and focuses mainly on Asian varieties such as chye sim, kai lan and ladies finger.

This is welcome news to home cooks as the range of organic greens available had previously been more suited to the Western diet, such as artichokes and salad leaves.

Asian greens grown without pesticides or chemicals have been available at the Pasir Panjang Wholesale Centre and supermarkets such as Shop N Save and Cold Storage since last March.

But most of it is categorised as 'organically-grown', which means its organic quality is not authenticated; or as 'organic in conversion', which means the produce is in the process of being certified.

Read the full story in Saturday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!