"Organic" refers to how the food has been grown and processed. The standards for the production, processing and certification of organic foods have been established by the Federal Organic Food Protection Act of 1990. Organically grown foods are grown without synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers. Instead, common practices used in organic farming and food production include the use of natural fertilizers and composts; crop rotation for building healthy soil; pest and weed control using naturally occurring toxins, predator insects, and hand cultivation. Organic farming is time-consuming and often more costly than the non-organic methods but it provides the highest quality foods without the risk to public health or to the environment.

Organic food tastes better than their non-organic counterparts since well-balanced soils grow stronger, healthier plants that taste better. Current research concludes that organically grown products contain more nutrients as well. Although there is a perception that organic foods are more expensive, a recent article in The Green Guide for Everyday Life reported that a comparison between a selection of conventional food versus a similar selection of organically grown/produced food revealed that organic food was slightly cheaper.

Organic farming respects the balance of nature, reduces health risks, conserves water resources and builds back the soil. It works in harmony with nature providing quality food choices and preserving our natural resources for the next generation.

Source: Boston Common Press; Organic Trade Association

Ten Reasons Why You Should Eat Organic Food

1. Protect Future Generation
   Children receive four times the exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. The food choice you make now will impact your child's health in the future.
2. Prevent Soil Erosion
   The Soil Conservation Service Estimates that more than three billion tons of topsoil are eroded from the United States croplands each year. That means soil is eroding seven times faster than it is built up naturally. Soil is the foundation of the food chain in organic farming. But in conventional farming the soil is used more as a medium for holding plants in a vertical position so they can be chemically fertilized. As a result, American and Canadian farms are suffering from the worst soil erosion in history.
3. Protect Water Quality
   Water makes up two-thirds of our body mass and covers three-fourths of the planet. Despite its importance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), estimates pesticides (some cancer-causing) contaminate the ground water in 38 states, polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.
4. Save Energy
   Farms have changed drastically in the last three generations, from the family based small businesses dependent on human energy to large scale factory farms highly dependent on fossil fuels. Modern farming methods uses more petroleum than any other single industry, consuming 12 percent of the country's total energy supply. More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate, and harvest all the crops in the United States. Organic farming is still mainly based on labour-intensive practices such as weeding by hand and using green manures and crop covers rather than synthetic inputs. Organic produce also tends to travel a shorter distance from the farm to your plate.

5. Keep Chemicals off Your Plate
   Many pesticides approved for use by the EPA were registered before extensive research linking these chemicals to cancer and other diseases had been established. Now the EPA considers that 60% of all herbicides, 90% of all fungicides and 30% insecticides are carcinogenic. A 1987 National Academy of Sciences report estimate that pesticides might cause an extra 1.4 million cancer cases among Americans over their lifetimes. The bottom line is that pesticides are poisons designed to kill living organisms, and can also be harmful to humans. In addition to cancer, pesticides are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic mutation.
6. Protect Farm Workers Health
   A National Cancer Institute study found that farmers exposed to herbicides had a greater factor of six, than non-farmers of contracting cancer. In California, reported pesticide poisonings among farm workers have risen an average of 14% a year since 1973, and doubled between 1975 and 1985. Field workers suffer the highest rates of occupational illness in the state. Farm workers health also is a serious problem in developing nations, where pesticides can be poorly regulated. An estimated 1 million people are poisoned annually by pesticides. Several of the pesticides banned from use in the United States are still manufactured here for export to other countries.
7. Help Small Farmers
   Although more and more large scale farms are making the conversion to organic practices, most organic farms are small independently owned and operated family farms of less than 100 acres. It's estimated that the United States has lost more than 650,000 family farms in the past decade. With the US Department of Agriculture predicting that half of this country's farm production will come from 1% of farms by the year 2000. Organic farming could become one of the few hopes left for family farms.
8. Support a True Economy
   Although organic food might seem more expensive than conventional foods, conventional food prices do not reflect hidden cost borne by taxpayers, including nearly $74 billion in federal subsidies in 1988. Other hidden costs include pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and clean up, and environmental damage.

9. Promote Biodiversity
   Mono cropping is the practice of planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year. While this approach tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970, the lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients. To replace the nutrients, chemical fertilizers are used, often in increasing amounts.
10. Taste Better Flavour
    There's a good reason many chefs use organic foods in their recipes. They taste better. Organic farming starts with the nutrients of the soil which eventually leads to the nourishment of the plant and ultimately our palates.

Although this is an American study, the situation in Canada isn't very different.

Excerpted from an article by Sylvia Tawse, Organic Times, Spring 1992.

Questions about organic food in general

What is organic food?

Organic refers not to the food itself, but to how the food is produced. Organic food production is based on a system of farming that maintains and replenishes the fertility of the soil. Organic foods are produced without the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. Organic foods are minimally processed to maintain the integrity of the food without artificial ingrediants, preservatives or irradiation.

What is the official definition of organic?

The National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) defines organic as follows: "Organic is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony."

How is "Certified Organic" food different from
other organic food?

Certified means that the food has been grown according to strict uniform standards which are verified by an independent state or private organization. Certification includes inspections of farm fields and processing facilities, detailed record keeping and periodic testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards which have been set.

Who regulates the certified organic claims?

The federal government set standards for the production, processing and certification of organic food in the Organic Food Production Act of 1990. A National Organic Standards Board was established at that time and now is developing the guidelines and procedures which will regulate all crops from produce, grains, meat, dairy, and eggs to processed foods. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture oversees the program. Read & comment on the National Organic Program's Proposed Organic Rule.