The USDA has put in place a set of national standards that food labeled "organic" must meet, whether it is grown in the United States or imported from other countries. When you buy food labeled "organic," you can be sure that it was produced using the highest organic production and handling standards in the world.

What is organic food?

Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. Before a product can be labeled "organic," a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards. Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.

Organic food is NOT: a diet, a fad or "weird hippy food" (no offense meant to the hippy's out there!). Simply put, organic food is grown the way nature intended, without any chemicals or modifications added to it and is the way food was grown before the industrial revolution.

A Special Note about Organic Tea
In the past several years, tea has become more and more associated with its various health benefits. Each cup that you enjoy, either hot or iced, helps insure those benefits. It only makes perfect sense to provide our customers with the purest tea available - with no chemical residues of any kind to compromise the purity of the beverage.

You see, unlike a tomato or an apple, tea cannot be washed after harvesting. Whatever has been sprayed on the leaves or worked into the soil, brews directly into the cup. Because organic tea cost only a few cents more per serving, the logic became very clear to us. All of our teas are grown without chemical pesticides or synthetic fertilizers, and then processed according to the standards set forth by the National Organic Program. Now, you can enjoy the most delicious tea available, in its purest form — as nature intended it to be, without any compromise, and at a very reasonable price.

10 Reasons to Choose Organic Food

To Protect Future Generations
The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. Food choices made now, determine your child’s future health.

To Prevent Soil Erosion
Soil is the foundation of the food chain in organic gardening. In conventional farming, however, the soil is used more as a medium to hold plants in place, so they can be chemically fertilised. Soil structure is neglected and the top-soil is washed or blown away.

To Protect Water Quality
Water makes up two-thirds of our body mass and covers three quarters of the planet. Pesticides and other chemicals widely contaminate ground water and rivers and pollute our primary source of drinking water.

To Save Energy
Modern farming uses more petroleum than any other industry. More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilisers than to till, cultivate and harvest crops. Organic farming is still based on labor intensive practices such as hand weeding and green manure instead of chemicals.

To Keep Chemicals Off Your Plate
Many pesticides were registered long before research linking them to cancer and other diseases could be established. In addition to cancer, pesticides are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic manipulations.

To Protect Farm Workers
Farmers have a much larger risk than non-farmers of contracting cancer. Farm worker health is also a serious problem in developing nations, where pesticide use can be poorly regulated. An estimated one million people are poisoned annually by pesticides.

To Help Small Farmers
Most organic farms are small, independently owned family farms of less than 100 acres. Many family farms have been lost this past decade. Organic farming could be one of the few survival tactics left for family farms.

To Support A True Economy
Although organic foods might seem more expensive than conventional foods, conventional food prices don’t reflect hidden costs such as pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and clean up and environmental damage. If the hidden environmental and social costs of chemically-produced conventional produce were added to that produce, it would be more than double the price of organic food.

To Promote Biodiversity
Single crops are more susceptible to pests, making farmers more reliant on pesticides. Insects have become genetically resistant to certain pesticides and despite the increased uses of chemicals, crop losses are increasing. Organic farmers encourage natural predators on their farms and are content with a smaller harvest.

Because it tastes better
Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, which leads to the nourishment of the plant and, ultimately, our palate.

For more information, please visit the resources page.

Excerpt taken from Delicious, April 1994 and CROPO Issue 23, July,1995 by Sylvia Tawse

Posted in 5508 reads