The Story of Food: Part 1: What is Organic?

By now, it has become clear that organic food production is a growing industry in the United States and around the world. The CEOs of top named national brands like Cascadia Farms surely want you to “buy organic” but what does “organic” really mean and what are the benefits of eating it?

Crops designated as organic must be grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste or sewage sludge, and must be processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. Animals must be raised without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones. In most countries including the US, organically produced foods may not be genetically modified.

The benefit of eating organically is quite simple and integral for our overall health. We eat to live; therefore, it only makes sense to avoid eating foods containing life threatening toxins and pharmaceutical drugs, or foods that may be genetically modified possibly leading to unknown negative health consequences. In a world where it is increasingly difficult to control our toxic exposure, I highly recommend eliminating it from our foods where we are able.

As positive a role as organic foods are to our health, I would like to point out a disturbing trend in the organic industry. Many of us envision an organic farm as pastoral green farmland of rolling hills, beautiful plants, and happy animals. The unfortunate reality is that organic food production is rapidly becoming as rooted in corporate mega-farming as conventional food production. Under current FDA regulations, organic refers only to what chemicals are or are not used to grow crops and raise livestock, but not to how the food is produced. Large, monoculture fields, caged hens, and overcrowded feedlots are becoming as much a part of the organic industry as in the traditional industry.

Organically raised meats can be even a further step away from the idyllic pastures of our imaginations. Due to the fragility of raising animals in the close confinement of a feedlot and the inherent unhealthy living conditions of such an environment, avoiding the use of antibiotics can lead to extreme practices. Organic ranchers who do not allow free-range feeding have to dress in surgeon-like clothing and masks in an attempt to prevent the spread of disease in their herds. The food may well be organic, by definition. However, is it sanely produced? Read more on this in Michael Pollen’s book The Omnivores Dilemma.