organic food

organic food, fresh or processed food produced by organic farming methods. Organic food is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals, such as human-made pesticides and fertilizers, and does not contain genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Organic foods include fresh produce, meats, and dairy products as well as processed foods such as crackers, drinks, and frozen meals. The market for organic food has grown significantly since the late 20th century, becoming a multibillion dollar industry with distinct production, processing, distribution, and retail systems.

Policy

Although organic food production began as an alternative farming method outside the mainstream, it eventually became divided between two distinct paths: (1) small-scale farms that may not be formally certified organic and thus depend on informed consumers who seek out local, fresh, organically grown foods; and (2) large-scale certified organic food (fresh and processed) that is typically transported large distances and is distributed through typical grocery store chains. If consumers know their local farmer and trust the farmer’s production methods, they may not demand a certification label. On the other hand, organic food produced far away and shipped is more likely to require a certification label to promote consumer trust and to prevent fraud, which exemplifies how national certification regulations are most beneficial.

A regulatory framework is most important when consumers and farmers are geographically separated, and such a framework is likely to cater to larger-scale producers who participate in a more industrial system. This regulatory approach does not necessarily match consumers’ assumptions about organic food production, which typically include images of small family farms and the humane treatment of animals. In general, regulations surrounding organic food do not address more complex social concerns about family farms, farmworker wages, or farm size, and organic policy in some places does little to address animal welfare.

Organic food policies were created largely to provide a certification system with specific rules regarding production methods, and only products that follow the guidelines are allowed to use the certified organic labels. In the United States, the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 began the process of establishing enforceable rules to mandate how agricultural products are grown, sold, and labeled. The regulations concerning organic food and organic products are based on a National List of Allowed and Prohibited Substances, which is a critical aspect of certified organic farming methods. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) regulates organic production through its National Organic Program (NOP), which serves to facilitate national and international marketing and sales of organically produced food and to assure consumers that USDA certified organic products meet uniform standards. To this end, NOP established three specific labels for consumers on organic food products: “100% organic,” “organic,” or “made with organic ***,” which signify that a product’s ingredients are 100 percent, at least 95 percent, or 70 percent organic, respectively. Noncertified products cannot use the USDA organic seal, and violators face significant fines and penalties.

Organic regulations vary by country, some of the most comprehensive rules being seen in Europe. Objectives of organic farming in the European Union (EU) include respecting nature’s biological systems and establishing a sustainable management system; using water, soil, and air responsibly; and adhering to animal welfare standards that meet species-specific behavioral needs. In addition, principles of organic production in the EU are based on designing and managing farms to promote ecological systems and on using natural resources within the farming system. These policy goals go far beyond a defined listing of prohibited materials in organic production.

Environment

The overall impacts of organic agriculture are beneficial to the environment. Certified organic production methods prohibit the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, thus reducing chemical runoff and the pollution of soils and watersheds. Smaller-scale organic farming often is associated with significant environmental benefits, owing to the use of on-farm inputs, such as fertilizers derived from compost created on-site. By comparison, large-scale organic farms often require inputs generated off-site and may not employ integrated farming methods. These operations may buy specific allowable inputs, such as fish emulsion or blood meal to use as fertilizer rather than working within the farm to increase soil fertility. While this decrease in synthetic chemical use benefits the environment compared with industrial agriculture, these methods may not promote long-term sustainability, since off-farm inputs usually require greater fossil fuel use than on-farm inputs.

Society

Social concerns related to organic food include higher costs to consumers and geographic variations in demand. Organic food usually is more expensive for consumers than conventionally produced food because of its more labour-intensive methods, the costs of certification, and the decreased reliance on chemicals to prop up crop yields. This often translates into unequal access to organic food. Research indicates that greater wealth and education levels are correlated with organic food purchases. Further, there are trends in some lower-income countries to produce certified organic crops solely for export to wealthier countries. This sometimes generates a situation in which the farmers themselves cannot afford to buy the organic foods they are producing. While this strategy may bring economic gain in the short term, it is a concern when farmers are forced out of producing food crops that feed their local communities, thus increasing food insecurity.

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Certified organic agriculture has also become a big business in many places, with larger farming operations playing a key role in national and global certified organic food markets. Given economies of scale, big food-processing companies often buy from a single farming operation that produces organic crops on thousands of acres, rather than from many smaller farms that each grow on smaller acreages, a practice that effectively limits the participation of smaller farmers in these markets. There also is disparity among farmers, since the organic certification process can be prohibitively expensive to some smaller-scale farmers. Although certification subsidies exist in some places, such farmers often opt to sell directly to consumers at farmers’ markets, for example, and may decide to forgo organic certification altogether.

Overall, organic food has grown in popularity, as consumers have increasingly sought and purchased foods that they perceive as being healthier and grown in ways that benefit the environment. Indeed, consumers typically buy organic food in order to reduce their exposure to pesticide residues and GMOs. Further, some research shows that organically produced crops have higher nutritional content than comparable nonorganic crops, and some people find organic foods to be tastier. The question remains, however, whether organic food shipped in from across the globe is truly a sustainable method of food production. Certainly organically produced food from a local farmer who employs an integrated whole-farm approach is fairly environmentally sustainable, though the economic sustainability of such an endeavour can be challenging. Although humans must decrease their reliance on fossil fuels to combat climate change, many organic policies do little to address the issue of sustainability, focusing instead on the strict list of prohibited substances, rather than a comprehensive long-term view of farming and food.