The word "organic" means the way farmers grow and process farming (agricultural) products. These products include fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products such as milk and cheese, and meat.
Organic farming practices are designed to meet the following goals:
•Improve soil and water quality
•Cut pollution
•Provide safe, healthy places for farm animals (livestock) to live
•Enable natural farm animals' behavior
•Promote a self-sustaining cycle of resources on a farm
Materials or methods not allowed in organic farming include:
•Artificial (synthetic) fertilizers to add nutrients to the soil
•Sewage sludge as fertilizer
•Most synthetic pesticides for pest control
•Using radiation (irradiation) to preserve food or to get rid of disease or pests
•Using genetic technology to change the genetic makeup (genetic engineering) of crops, which can improve disease or pest resistance, or to improve crop harvests
•Antibiotics or growth hormones for farm animals (livestock)
Organic crop farming materials or practices may include:
•Plant waste left on fields (green manure), farm animals' manure or compost to improve soil quality
•Plant rotation to keep soil quality and to stop cycles of pests or disease
•Cover crops that prevent wearing away of soil (erosion) when sections of land aren't in use and to plow into soil for improving soil quality
•Mulch to control weeds
•Insects or insect traps to control pests
•Certain natural pesticides and a few synthetic pesticides approved for organic farming, used rarely and only as a last choice and coordinated with a USDA organic certifying agent
Organic farming practices for farm animals (livestock) include:
•Healthy living conditions and access to the outdoors
•Pasture feeding for at least 30% of farm animals' nutritional needs during grazing season
•Organic food for animals
•Shots to protect against disease (vaccinations)
How your food is grown or raised can have a major impact on your mental and emotional health as well as the environment. Organic foods often have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally-grown counterparts and people with allergies to foods, chemicals, or preservatives may find their symptoms lessen or go away when they eat only organic foods.
Organic produce contains fewer pesticides. Chemicals such as synthetic fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides are widely used in conventional agriculture and residues remain on (and in) the food we eat.
Organic food is often fresher because it doesn’t contain preservatives that make it last longer. Organic produce is sometimes (but not always, so watch where it is from) produced on smaller farms nearer to where it is sold.
Organic farming tends to be better for the environment. Organic farming practices may reduce pollution, conserve water, reduce soil erosion, increase soil fertility, and use less energy. Farming without synthetic pesticides is also better for nearby birds and animals as well as people who live close to farms.
Organically raised animals are NOT given antibiotics, growth hormones, or fed animal byproducts. Feeding livestock animal byproducts increases the risk of mad cow disease (BSE) and the use of antibiotics can create antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. Organically-raised animals tend to be given more space to move around and access to the outdoors, which helps to keep them healthy.
Organic meat and milk can be richer in certain nutrients. Results of a 2016 European study show that levels of certain nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids, were up to 50 percent higher in organic meat and milk than in conventionally raised versions.
Organic food is GMO-free. Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) or genetically engineered (GE) foods are plants whose DNA has been altered in ways that cannot occur in nature or in traditional crossbreeding, most commonly in order to be resistant to pesticides or produce an insecticide.
