Eating Organic

Summary of The Organic Food Guide by Cindy DeHaan
Definition of organic: Organic food is grown, processed, and packaged without the use of agricultural chemicals, artificial colors or flavors, genetic modification, irradiation, or other synthetic ingredients.
Organic farming treats plants, soil, and animals with natural products instead of synthetic chemicals and drugs.

Organic farmers believe that although pesticides produce abundant amounts of low-cost food, they create higher costs in other sectors of society. The food is cheap, but the cleanup is exorbitant. Consumers may save at the supermarket, but they lose these savings through tax dollars, agribusiness subsidies, and superfunds–all necessary to correct the results of chemical-based agriculture.

What does “naturally grown” mean? Natural food is packaged and processed without the use of additives or preservatives, but it may be grown using some conventional methods, including pesticides and genetically engineered grain. There is no authorized monitoring or certification. To learn more, visit the Web site www.naturallygrown.org.

Why could it be better to have “locally grown”? It is in season, there is no trucking or refrigeration, its low distribution costs make it economical, and it is usually fresher. Locally grown does not mean that it is organic. This is more along the lines of “naturally grown” unless more specified. Local growers can not afford to be affiliated with the certifiers of organic growers so it would be just the farmer’s information given and not knowing if it is truth or not.

What is CSA-Community Supported Agriculture? Unlike most farms, this one is “not-for-profit.” Each CSA has a circle of subscribers who agree in advance to meet the financial needs of the farm. In return they receive a “share” of the harvest as the harvest season arrives. To learn more, visit the CSA Web site, www.CSAcenter.org.

What is Biodynamic farming? This is certified organic farming with a cosmic connection. This is a farmer who aspires to integrate organic methods with the rhythms of the sun, moon, planets and stars. This is based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner.

What is “fair trade”? This is a food network that involves international trade. Not all foods grown by fair trade cooperatives are farmed organically. What this does mean is that fair trade coffee, chocolate, bananas, etc. are “all natural,” if not labeled CERTIFIED ORGANIC. The reason we do fair trade is because of low-cost labor, which means we make more money than the growers. So your $4 latte made Americans a lot of money and the farmers in Latin America can not even buy the essentials like food and clothing.

What is a “farmers’ market”? This is where local farmers can sell their organic grown or conventionally grown produce for more of a profit by bypassing supermarkets and distributors. There are no guarantees here, so ask the farmer and you will learn a lot. To learn more visit the Web site www.localharvest.org.

What is Conventional grown food? Food that is grown with pesticides, hormones, synthetic fertilizers, antibiotics, factory grown fish, and genetically mo