Organic Produce

Buying organic food is a good idea - for both your own health and the environment. However, learning where your food comes from and how it is grown can be more important than an "organic" label.

In 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture decided to regulate the term "organic". By doing so, any product with that word on its label must be grown and processed meeting certain standards. It is intended to assure quality and prevent fraud. Farmers wanting to be "certified organic" must pay an annual fee, wait through a three year transition period, and continue to comply with the rules, regulations, record keeping and inspections to maintain the certification. Thus, organic produce tends to be more expensive.

Originally, those standards were fairly strict and were based on common sense. In the 1960's through the 1980's, the organic food industry comprised of mainly small, independent farmers, selling locally. Organic "certification" was a matter of trust, based on the a direct relationship between the farmer and consumer. With the growing worldwide demand for organic food, high volume distribution channels have hired lobbyists to change the regulations to allow more produce to be "legally" organic.

With organic standards being relaxed, coupled with the high costs of compliance, many small farms have opted out of the official program while continuing to use sustainable, synthetic chemical free practices. For these reasons, it is best to learn how your food is produced and the best way to find that out is to buy locally, directly from the farmer.