A few years ago, a friend of mine asked “Is organic a cooking method?” As you can imagine, I was taken by surprised. However, this pressed me to think about organic from the perspective of the average consumer. When the average consumer reads the word organic on packaging, do they know the definition? Unfortunately, there is no single definition for the term organic across industries. Each industry is working on developing on a working definition. In fact, the Federal Trade Commission has no definition for the term “organic” for non-food products like cosmetics (Bird, 2010), causing confusion among consumers.
The good news is the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has strong regulations on what can be called organic and what cannot.
According to the USDA (2008), “Organic crops are raised without using most conventional pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Animals raised on an organic operation must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. The National Organic Policy (NOP) regulations prohibit the use of genetic engineering, ionizing radiation, and sewage sludge in organic production and handling. As a general rule, all natural (non-synthetic) substances are allowed in organic production and all synthetic substances are prohibited.”
If you are interested in more information about USDA organic standards, click here. . .USDA organic information. They also develop label standards so that consumers can better understand what they are purchasing. Labeling standards range from 100% organic, which can use the USDA organic label to less than seventy percent organic, which can only use the term organic in their ingredient list. Below is the four different organic standards allowed by the USDA.
Those farmers and producers of organic food must be certified by one of the approved USDA inspectors. The biggest being QAI – Quality Assurance International. Because of the complicated process to be certified some local farmers decline, however they continue to use organic growing methods because of personal beliefs. If you are shopping at farmer’s market, it is best to talk to the farmer and find out how they are growing their produce.
Unfortunately, the term organic is still loosely regulated in other industries. The National Organic Board is working to develop a standard for labeling fish but this continues to be a challenge because seafood harvesting is a complicated process. Many sellers are using the organic label from other countries causing more confusion for consumers (Rutberg, 2009). As mentioned above the cosmetic and personal care industries are still struggling to find a standard for the term organic. This continues to be a hot button issue with numerous standards in use throughout the industry.
Challenges with the term organic continue but due to the Organics Food Production Act of 1990, consumers can have a better understanding of what food is organic and what is not.
Why should you eat organic food?
Do not buy it because you think it is going to taste better because you probably are not going to notice a difference. However eating organic food will reduce the amount of synthetic chemicals your family ingests. Some studies are suggestion that organic food overall has more nutritional value than non-organic food. Although this is not conclusive as of yet, organic foods are not less nutritional.
Another benefit is that the long-term affect of purchasing organic food are environmental as it reduces the amount of farmland using synthetic chemicals to manufacture meaning there is less chemicals in our environment.
It is up to us consumers to demand a single definition for the term organic.
References:
Bird, K. (2010) The FTC calls for guidance on what organic and natural mean. Cosmetics Design.com. Retrieved April 11, 2011 from http://www.cosmeticsdesign.com/Market-Trends/FTC-calls-for-guidance-on-what-organic-and-natural-mean-to-consumers
USDA (2008) National Organic Program. United States Department of Agriculture. Retrieved April 16, 2011 from http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELDEV3004443&acct=nopgeninfo
Rutberg, S. (2009) Fishing for organic seafood standard. New Hope 360. Retrieved April 16, 2011 from http://newhope360.com/managing-your-business/fishing-organic-seafood-standards