Organic 101

Click on each question below for answers to common questions about organics.

1. Is organic food better for you?

   There is mounting evidence which suggests certain organically produced foods are more nutritious than their conventional counterparts. Furthermore, organic foods and fiber are spared the application of toxic and persistent insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and fertilizers. Many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases.

2. Who regulates 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 (OFPA). The National Organic Standards Board was then established to develop guidelines and procedures to regulate all organic crops.

   The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) during December 2000 unveiled detailed regulations to implement OFPA. These took effect on April 21, 2001. USDA's National Organic Program oversees the program.

3. How will purchasing organic products help keep our water clean?

   Conventional agricultural methods can cause water contamination. Beginning in May 1995, a network of environmental organizations, including the Environmental Working Group, began testing tap water for herbicides in cities across the United States’ Corn Belt, and in Louisiana and Maryland. The results revealed widespread contamination of tap water with many different pesticides at levels that present serious health risks. In some cities, herbicides in tap water exceed federal lifetime health standards for weeks or months at a time. The organic farmer’s elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, in combination with soil building, works to prevent contamination, and protects and conserves water resources.

4. Why does organic food sometimes cost more?

   Prices for organic foods reflect many of the same costs as conventional items in terms of growing, harvesting, transportation and storage. Organically produced foods must meet stricter regulations governing all of these steps, so the process is often more labor- and management-intensive, and farming tends to be on a smaller scale. There is also mounting evidence that if all the indirect costs of conventional food production—cleanup of polluted water, replacement of eroded soils, costs of health care for farmers and their workers—were factored into the price of food, organic foods would cost the same or, more likely, be cheaper.

    

   Source: www.ota.com

Be a smarter produce picker...

• Fruits topped the list of the most contaminated foods based on findings by both the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
• Eating fruits and vegetables which are the highest in pesticides exposes a person to an average of up to 14 pesticides per day.  Eating the least contaminated produce decreases a persons exposure to less than 2 pesticides per day.