Traditional farming methods are often used, such as rotating crops to prevent nutrient depletion in soil and integrating crops and livestock. Organic foods are not necessarily completely chemical free. They may be grown on land not previously used for organic food production and, therefore, might contain chemical residues.
However, the pesticide residues in organic food are considerably lower than those found in conventional farming — where foods are produced with synthetic chemicals.
The Australian organic food industry is booming. It is estimated that more than six out of every ten Australian households now buy organic foods on occasion. Popular products include fruit and vegetables, beef, non-alcoholic drinks, nuts and ready to eat foods. Most people buy organically-grown food products because they are concerned about pesticides, additives , antibiotics or other chemical residues and believe organic food is healthier. Other reasons include — concerns with the impact of conventional farming on biodiversity and the environment, and the ethical treatment of livestock.
Several studies have compared the nutritional content of organic and conventionally grown plants, and most have shown no significant differences in key vitamin and mineral content.
Although the differences are small — research has shown that some organic food has:. Organic foods promote more humane treatment of animals, as well as providing meat that is free from hormones and antibiotics.
Also, some people worry about the long-term health, economic and environmental consequences of GM foods and choose organic foods in support of an industry that does not use GM techniques. Organic foods promote healthier and more sustainable use of natural resources. Modern conventional farming methods include excessive use of chemicals and planting only one crop multiple times monocropping. This has led to a decline in soil fertility, and an increase in salinity and blue-green algae in waterways over many years.
Organic farmers try to minimise damage to the environment by diversifying their crops, using physical weed control, and animal and green manure. Organic food is often more expensive than conventionally produced food.
This is because organic farming generally operates on a smaller scale, production is more labour intensive. Also, without herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals, yields are generally smaller. Organic farms are only certified after they have been operating according to organic principles for three years. Before , a standard guidelines and rules did not exist for domestic and imported organic foods. Two key standards now govern the production, processing and labelling of organic food in Australia.
The new legislation will harmonise rules for non-EU and EU producers. It will also simplify procedures for small farms in order to attract new producers, thanks to a new system of group validation. The list of organic foods is expected to grow, with the addition of products such as salt and cork. The possibility of certifying insects as organic is also expected in the rules. Buying organic food is still too expensive for many. One of Farm To Fork's main goals is to make healthy, sustainable food more accessible and affordable to all Europeans.
A French from shows that a basket of eight organic fruits and eight organic vegetables is, on average, twice as expensive as a basket of non-organic products. Note: The requirements listed in this article are just some of the conditions necessary for a product to be considered organic. If you want to know more about what is needed to obtain the green logo, please check the EU regulation. This content is not available in your region.
The EU is the second-largest consumer of organic food in the world. EU organic logo European Commission. Greg - thanks for the great question! Organic certification verifies that farms or handling facilities comply with the organic regulations and allows producers to sell, label, and represent their products as organic.
Consumers purchase organic products expecting that they maintain their organic integrity from farm to market. Through enforcement, USDA creates a level playing field by taking action against farmers and businesses that violate the law and jeopardize consumer confidence in organic products.
In addition to meeting the USDA organic standards, organic products must also follow all the same food safety regulations as conventional food products. FDA is responsible for overseeing the rest of the U.
I have little option where I live to purchase organic. In regards to the slaughtering of the animals, nothing is mentioned. Are there any different regulations on this?
Are the animal still sent to a factory for slaughter. How does this actually occur. I am totally against the horrors of factory farming. I find it amazing how many legitimate questions are not being answered They won't. You picking and choosing to answer the questions that may not make you look like you are in the pocket of big chemical companies,won't work.
It is obvious that you ignore the very real concerns citizens have. So, once again, if everything is organic in a processed product but it contains a GMO citric acid, do you label it 'organic'? Claims are wide spread across the internet that "Research is showing increased health problems with GMO wheat" and other GMO grown crops, yet no one can actually produce any of those studies.
It's simply internet rhetoric hysteria that is being spread. No one that I know wants their food treated with pesticides so why not try to develop other means of insect resistance crops by using GMO's or some other way? Many crops simply can't be grown on a large scale without some way of controlling pests.
Because for items that I don't grow, that's all I have. I believe you have strayed too far from the real meaning of "organic" in the certification process. It is based on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain and enhance ecological harmony. I believe that your regulations sometimes go too far, and sometimes not far enough, and the way to decide that the above ruler needs used.
I recently purchased grapes from Aldi and became very ill after consuming less than 15 grapes. The company stated I was the only one to complain. They also stated the batch was shipped mid May - almost 30 days had past. What grape stays perfectly crisp and fresh 30 days?
As of today these grapes are still being sold in the Palm Springs Aldi Market. Formaldehyde is a CA Prop 65 Chemical and is illegal to be used without a disclaimer - but we allow big business to pretend and USDA and FDA do little if nothing to protect the certification standards. Consumers deserve to know what they are eating and the term organic certified is meaningless when we allow this behavior to continue. All vanilla is grown organically without chemical pesticides, herbicides, etc.
However, most vanilla farmers are small shareholder producers and cannot afford to be certified. On my website I say that our vanilla is "organically grown. Is it okay to say "organically grown? It is truly sad how many people are blind to the dangers of the food they buy and eat. Often I feel like the only reason I care about organic and others don't is because I'm forced to, due to my obesity, and they don't have to care about what they ingest.
The saddest part is my fellow college students will sit there and spew the same nonsense that everyone else does, that "organic isn't any better. The reality is they're denying it because they don't want to spend more money on their food.
But this is an illusion because if you ration yourself, organic winds up costing the SAME. The real problem here is we're so used to our luxuries that we all need to be reminded of what the Africans have to subsist on. Grains, that's it. They don't get to drink the milk or eat the meat from the cattle they raise, they must sell it to make a living. All they get to have is grains.
Organically-raised animals tend to be given more space to move around and access to the outdoors, which help to keep them healthy. Organic meat and milk can be richer in certain nutrients. Results of a 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.
It could be grown in your local community, your state, your region, or your country. Financial: Money stays within the local economy. More money goes directly to the farmer, instead of to things like marketing and distribution. Transportation: In the U. Or the food is highly processed in factories using preservatives, irradiation, and other means to keep it stable for transport.
Freshness: Local food is harvested when ripe and thus fresher and full of flavor. Some small local farmers use organic methods but may not be able to afford to become certified organic. The ongoing debate about the effects of GMOs on health and the environment is a controversial one.
For example, much of the sweet corn consumed in the U. GMOs are also commonly found in U. If the ingredients on a package include corn syrup or soy lecithin, chances are it contains GMOs. The use of toxic herbicides like Roundup glyphosate has increased 15 times since GMOs were introduced. While the U. Food and Drug Administration FDA and the biotech companies that engineer GMOs insist they are safe, many food safety advocates point out that no long term studies have ever been conducted to confirm the safety of GMO use, while some animal studies have indicated that consuming GMOs may cause internal organ damage, slowed brain growth, and thickening of the digestive tract.
GMOs have been linked to increased food allergens and gastro-intestinal problems in humans. While many people think that altering the DNA of a plant or animal can increase the risk of cancer, the research has so far proven inconclusive. As mentioned above, one of the primary benefits of eating organic is lower levels of pesticides. However, despite popular belief, organic farms do use pesticides.
The difference is that they only use naturally-derived pesticides, rather than the synthetic pesticides used on conventional commercial farms. Natural pesticides are believed to be less toxic, however, some have been found to have health risks.
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