Organic or Not?

Before we tackle which stores buy where, let's examine the question of whether or not to pay more for organic produce.  What does organic even mean?  Here is a great break down from the Mayo Clinic website:

Conventional vs. organic farming

The word "organic" refers to the way farmers grow and process agricultural products, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, dairy products and meat. Organic farming practices are designed to encourage soil and water conservation and reduce pollution. Farmers who grow organic produce and meat don't use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weedkillers, organic farmers may conduct more sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.

Here are some key differences between conventional farming and organic farming:

Conventional	Organic
Apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth.	Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Spray synthetic insecticides to reduce pests and disease.	Spray pesticides from natural sources; use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease.
Use synthetic herbicides to manage weeds.	Use environmentally-generated plant-killing compounds; rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth.	Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventive measures — such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet and clean housing — to help minimize disease.

Organic or not? Check the label

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has established an organic certification program that requires all organic foods to meet strict government standards. These standards regulate how such foods are grown, handled and processed.

Any product labeled as organic must be USDA certified. Only producers who sell less than $5,000 a year in organic foods are exempt from this certification; however, they're still required to follow the USDA's standards for organic foods.

If a food bears a USDA Organic label, it means it's produced and processed according to the USDA standards. The seal is voluntary, but many organic producers use it.

Products certified 95 percent or more organic display this USDA seal.

Products that are completely organic — such as fruits, vegetables, eggs or other single-ingredient foods — are labeled 100 percent organic and can carry the USDA seal.

Foods that have more than one ingredient, such as breakfast cereal, can use the USDA organic seal plus the following wording, depending on the number of organic ingredients:

• 100 percent organic. To use this phrase, products must be either completely organic or made of all organic ingredients.
• Organic. Products must be at least 95 percent organic to use this term.

Products that contain at least 70 percent organic ingredients may say "made with organic ingredients" on the label, but may not use the seal. Foods containing less than 70 percent organic ingredients can't use the seal or the word "organic" on their product labels. They can include the organic items in their ingredient list, however.

Do 'organic' and 'natural' mean the same thing?

No, "natural" and "organic" are not interchangeable terms. You may see "natural" and other terms such as "all natural," "free-range" or "hormone-free" on food labels. These descriptions must be truthful, but don't confuse them with the term "organic." Only foods that are grown and processed according to USDA organic standards can be labeled organic.

Sounds great, right? Pretty simple?  Nope.  Even though organic farming takes out some problems with conventional COMMERCIAL farming, there are still plenty of issues.  

1. Becoming USDA certified organic is costly - both in time and money.  Here is a link to the process.  Many of the smaller farms that I've talked to say that it's just not worth it to them, which means much of the USDA certified produce you find in the store is still from huge commercial farms that can afford to become certified.

2. Commercial organic farms still have the biggest problem that we see in conventional commercial farms: they only grow one thing and a lot of it.  That's called a monoculture. Nature just does not function this way!  When you try to grow a huge amount of one crop, you run into a number of problems (pests and soil depletion being my biggest concerns).  So how do you deal with that?  You have to use natural means like tilling the soil constantly, shipping in manure/compost, etc.  

3. Since an increasing amount of our produce is coming from other countries, can we trust that they are legitimately organic?  Here is one article that surfaced in 2010 regarding Chinese imports to Whole Foods.  There still are a lot of questions when it comes to "real" organic being imported.  Here is another article discussing the issue more recently.

All in all, commercial organic farming is not very efficient (and not extremely trustworthy) and studies show that the fruits and vegetables produced by these means are not really any better for you than conventional studies.  Again from the Mayo Clinic:

Organic food: Is it more nutritious?

The answer isn't yet clear. A recent study examined the past 50 years' worth of scientific articles about the nutrient content of organic and conventional foods. The researchers concluded that organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs are comparable in their nutrient content. Research in this area is ongoing.

Here is a good article for you if you'd like to read more:

Cambridge Journal

Even though it's from 2002, most places I've looked say we're still at the same point: organic produce from the grocery store is not nutritionally superior, but does have significantly less pesticide residue. So they've got that going for them. 

Here is an article that's more recent.  Again, seems like the major pitfalls come from commercial farming.  

So, when it comes to money votes, here's where I come down:

- I vote to purchase produce from local, small farms whenever possible.  I RESEARCH the farms I buy from and ask lots of questions.  Just because they are a small farm doesn't mean they are doing things right!  Well-run family farms are able to avoid the pitfalls of commercial farms (meaning they are extremely efficient and sustainable).  To see a great breakdown of family farm operations vs. commercial/industrial, click here.  There is still a lot of research to be done to find out if locally grown, small farm food is better than what we find in the store, but here is one initial article that is fantastic: 

Harvard School of Nutrition 

- When it's not possible, I vote to purchase some organic foods, specifically those that are produced in the USA (which means they should REALLY be organic).  That means eating mostly seasonally again, because you are just not going to find watermelons or apples from the USA in January.  Here is a great list of seasonal food items (you can even search by region or season). Here is a list of the fruits/veggies that tend to absorb the most and the least pesticides.  I try to buy all berries, leafy greens and tree fruits organic when I can't buy them locally.  I don't buy all of my food organic (because of the reasons stated above).  Local and small-farmed is best, some organic is good.

- I vote for produce that has a label stating where it is grown. Luckily, many stores are starting to advertise whether it's "Grown in the USA!" and many labels now subtly say where they were grown (think berry packages).  If it's not labelled, I avoid it.  I definitely buy produce from other countries (like bananas from Ecuador or various products from Mexico), but I want to support those companies that are labeling their food!