What Exactly Does ‘Organic’ Mean For The Products You Buy?
Although it seems that every manufacturer and every store out there is starting to sell organic food, clothes, bedding, makeup, etc, there are major differences in how products are graded to be “organic”. In 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) became the agency in charge of organics in the United States with the National Organic Program, which regulates the standards for any “farm, wild crop harvesting, or handling operation that wants to sell an agricultural product as organically produced”. And according to the NOP, for products to attain the “organic” label from the program, they must meet these conditions:
- be 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
However, there are different standards for foods and goods that have varying levels of “organic” to them. In order get the USDA Organic seal seen above, a product must be at least 95% organic. Granted, there can still be 5% non-organic materials in the goods, but 95% organic is a pretty good standard. To be labeled 100% Organic, all ingredients must actually be 100% organic. Products with less than 70 % organic ingredients cannot label the entire product as organic, but rather can label individual ingredients that are organic on the side of the package.
Some things to keep in mind when buying food and products:
- Natural does not mean organic and/or healthy
- Free-range does not mean organic
- Hormone-free does not mean organic
- The word “organic” on something does not mean that everything in the product is actually organically grown
- The use of the USDA seal is voluntary, so if you don’t see the seal, it does not mean a product is not organic
However, the USDA has determined that some ingredients used for growing organic foods/goods do not need to be necessarily “healthy” for any of us - chlorine, Copper sulfate, ozone gas, Peracetic acid, Plastic mulch, ammonium - the list goes on and on. If you want, you can read the whole long list right here.
The key thing to keep in mind when shopping for organic food or products is to look for 100% or 95% organic labels, as anything less than that and you might be allowing a decent sized amount of chemicals into your food or goods. Also, be sure to look for the actual USDA labels, and if in doubt, be sure to read the entire list of ingredients on the side of the package. It can get pretty confusing, so being aware is half the battle.
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5 Comments, Comment or Ping
deepali
To be honest - it means nothing. The USDA organic label is self-regulating, which means companies are on their honor to obey the standards. USDA simply does not have the infrastructure (or the incentive) to actively maintain the program, and there are gross violations all over the place (ie, Wal-mart’s “organic” items). Also, a company or food producer has to be a certain size in order to even qualify for the label. In the end, it’s partly helpful, but not really. You can go a step further by seeking specific information from companies and producers about their practices. If they’re close to you, you can ask to pay a visit.
If they’re not, ask your supplier (grocery store, etc) what steps they take to ensure the integrity of their food (ie, Whole Foods makes site visits).
Or best yet, eat local and know your farmer.
Dec 13th, 2007
maria
well, organic doesn’t automatically mean healthy, either…i mean, you could eat organic, BGH-free butter all day you’d still be eating butter all day. i think i’m preaching to the choir mentioning this here, but you’d be surprised…
Dec 13th, 2007
lavardera
When the USDA standard was being defined there was a fight going on between the organic producers that had long worked under the California standard and the large food corporations that were interested in softening the standards. I never read any account of the outcome of this. How does the USDA compare to the old California standard?
Dec 16th, 2007
david
Good question Greg…and while I could not find a side by side comparison (but I can see that the California standards were way higher), you can check out a lot of the concerns with the USDA version at http://organicconsumers.org/sos.cfm/
Hope that helps - but it’s not a fun read!
Dec 17th, 2007
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