What does the Organic Label Really Mean?

Thanks to the 'Organic' labels -the consumers can now spare themselves the trouble of going through the list of ingredients on a product's packet in order to decide whether it is organic or not. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has introduced a few national standards that need to be met before companies can use the term "organic" for their food items. Any product labeled 'Organic' assures that it is created without the use of artificial hormones, antibiotics, pesticides, bio energy, or irradiation. The farmers involved in the agriculture of organic foods are not only required to abide by certain water and soil conservation mechanisms, but also need to give a benign treatment to animals.

The Definition of Organic

It may be strange yet interesting to note that marking a food item as organic does not necessarily indicate that the food is healthful and nutritive. The USDA does not claim that food produced organically has more salubrious benefits than conventional food, but it does assure that such foods do not contain any pesticides or harmful chemicals. Therefore, the picky consumers, who pay a lot of heed to nutritional values of everything they eat, are still required to read labels attentively in order to decide how nutritious their diet is going to be. Another interpretation conveys that the term 'organic' does not mean 'natural.' All it means is that USDA has approved the food.

USDA's Steps towards Creating Organic Foods

These days, the USDA makes the use of state and private agencies in order to carry out inspections on food companies to certify them to market organic foods. However, all the farmers making less than $5000 through organic sales are exempted from the process of certification. They do however, have to comply with the latest standards of the government and be veracious about their claims for organic label. A fine, as large as $10,000, can be issued upon the companies and individuals, who try to label or sell a product, which does not meet the USDA standards.

The Benefits of Organic Foods over Conventional Foods

The best thing about organic foods is that they comprise of less amounts of minerals. Most of the other foods contain heavy metals, detrimental to our health in the end. These metals include aluminum, which is responsible for Alzheimer's disease; Mercury, which causes neurological damage; and lead, the mental implications of which are known to affect children's IQ adversely.

Therefore, in a world where nothing can be trusted for complete purity, the consumption of foods, certified as organic can certainly define your path towards a healthier lifestyle.

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What is Organic Farming and is it Important

Organic farming is a broad concept with extreme application. It is well appreciated on a large scale by the people as now with the help of it they can easily grow their own food. If you have a little bit of free time with you then you need not to face any kind of problem. You can prepare and serve good quality delicious food by doing organic farming at your home.

It is not true that organic farming is practiced at a small scale only. By having a trip of farming sector you can easily understand how much vast this sector actually is. This is not the case some time before. Few years back it was not a highly thriving and demanding sector but now the case has totally changed. It is now not limited to a small scale industry as day by day more corporate sectors are taking interest in this field. Large corporate farming is taking keen interest in the concept of organic farming. Continuous research is going on to find out the way by which huge fields of a single crop can be grown. No one can deny the fact that in the process of organic farming, pests are believed to be the major threat. Due to harmful impact on the biodiversity unnatural pesticides are not much preferred to use.

If you are going for the natural pesticides for controlling the pests then it is certainly an eco friendly approach but believed to be much expensive in contrast to unnatural ones. Some time before, due to expensive nature they were not much preferred in the process of organic farming. After the entrance of large scale industries with huge budget this can be achieved now very easily. Natural pesticides can be a good option when it is about the large scale organic farming but if you are going for it at your home or at a small scale in a separate piece of land then it is advisable to look for any other good option. This is because like other kinds of farming organic farming also requires the process of sowing, cultivating and harvesting. If you do not have proper arrangement of water for the purpose of irrigation then you require depending largely on the rain water. If you are concluding the process of organic farming at your home then irrigation is not a big issue but even at a small scale proper arrangement of water is very essential. If you do not have a huge budget with you then it can be a difficult work for you. You require investing a good amount on purchase of seeds, irrigation, fertilizers, harvesting, etc.

There is much debate till now on the use of unnatural pesticides in the process of organic farming. Several environmentalists and consumer protection organization have claimed that the use of unnatural pesticides not only damage the environment but also have an adverse impact on the quality of food. For killing the insects and pests these pesticides are used but they are not considered helpful after sometime. It is so because these insects as well as the pests easily get adapted to the effects of the chemicals involved in them and so these pesticides looses their worth. Sooner or later it damages the health of the final consumer who without knowing consumes a large amount of lethal chemicals and synthesized materials along with the natural food. Thus it is injurious for the health of the human being as well.

Thus there are several ways by which you can have your favorite vegetables as well as fruits and that too with the help of inorganic as well as organic farming. As there are several pros as well as cons of both it is up to you to decide the one that is best for you. You can make use of organic farming to turn your dreams into reality and the best part is it is already benefiting millions of people so you are not at all required to worry for it as well.

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Organic Coffee with Great Taste Produced with Eco Safe Farming Techniques

What is Organic Coffee and how is it Grown

Organic is a new word used in the context of coffee, tea, cocoa and other food materials in recent times around local shops and super markets. Every year the word is being used by buying public more than the previous year and its use is growing year after year resulting in higher sale proportion of tea or coffee marked as 100% organically grown.

What is organically grown?

To simply put it, organic farming methods leave least or no harmful impact on the surrounding environment. Organic agricultural production systems are mostly traditional methods evolved through learning from nature. In the organic farming methods no synthetic chemical fertilizer or pesticide is used. So that organic production means natural, pure and healthy.

How coffee grows in nature

The coffee plant does not need much direct sun light and so it grows under the shade of large trees. The ground is never sprayed with any chemical insecticide or fertilizer and so the ground water remains pure and uncontaminated. From the canopy of trees leaves fall steadily and the ground is covered by fallen leaves layer on layer. The layers of fallen leaves work as a blanket and protect the moisture of the ground. The moisture in turn help the process of compost to turn the bottom layers of leaves into natural manure to nourish the land.

The thick foliage of shade trees over the coffee bushes house many varieties of birds and also attracts the migratory birds. The birds live on small insects and pests. So they work as natural pest controllers and keep the coffee plants healthy.

The coffee that grows in the shade of other local trees become original and pure in taste and flavor Organic Coffee.

The proposed plantation site is selected carefully. And if the site was being used to grow some other crop using chemical fertilizer or chemical insecticides, then a minimum period of three years are given as conversion years for the proposed site to get over the effects of the harmful chemicals.

After the conversion years coffee bushes are planted along with local shade trees. Care is given equally to the coffee bushes and shade trees and effort is put in to leave bird population to grow undisturbed.

The fallen leaves are left undisturbed to convert into manure to nourish the land and keep it fertile. The bird population effectively controls the pests and harmful insect and protects the coffee bushes. And finally for decaffeinating, approved processes are employed including the Swiss Water process. The coffee thus produced is organic coffee.

Organic vs. commercial production

Organic production methods along with producing coffee intend to protect environment. In this process of growing coffee, more and more trees are grown due to that local biodiversity is achieved. In this method, soil fertility and nutrients are sustained. No chemical pollution is created to harm the human health.

In contrast in commercial profit oriented method of growing coffee, the trees are felled and the cumulative effect is deforestation. Deforestation leads to soil erosion and severe depletion. The commercial grower cuts trees to allow direct sun light which increases production. As there are no birds to control pests and due to the absence of trees and its natural manure, farmers are forced to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides severely harming the environment.

Organic coffee - lifeline of future

Organic production process is eco friendly and helps to repair the environment spoilt by the greedy profit oriented approach of commercial growers of coffee through growing more and more shade trees.

Protecting environment locally helps to enhance the eco system. Rejuvenation and eco system alone can help the planet from disaster and help to sustain life on this planet.

Organic coffee is our responsibility, almost a human duty and life line to healthy future of mankind.

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How Do I Know If My Product is Organic

What is organic food? The term is becoming more popular. In the United States for a product to claim that it is 100% organic is has to produced following legally regulated guidelines and be subject to strict testing. Typically to because of the detail involve to get the ultra healthy organic food it costs more than the fertilizer and pesticide rich alternatives.

The term organic means that the food was produced without the use of conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers or sewage, and that no artificial additives to included in the process. When the term organic relates to animals like beef, the animals are free of antibiotics and growth hormones given typically to make the animals bigger.

In the beginning the only place to get organic food was from your local farmers market. Not any more. Now, family run farms are being over taken by commercial operations that produce still 100% organic food faster and meet the new demand for the products. The United States has grown by 17-20% in organic food sales in the last few years. You can now get organic products from online retailers to Wal-Mart.

In the United States, companies have to pass tough testing and regulations to call their products organic. The term certified organic means that the USDA has certified that the product in question is actually 100% organic. A farmer commercial or family run must apply for their certification. Not all organic food is certified. Food products can be organic and just not have gone through the approval process to be certified.

With the every increasing demand for organic products, more and more products are finding their way into becoming organic. Now, coffee, ice cream, and ketchup can all be found with organic labels and ingredients. There is now an overwhelming change from the overly processed foods that line our grocery stores to more all natural products.

The term all natural is not govern, so the only way to know a product is organic is to get it from a trusted source or grown it yourself. The ladder probably isn't going to happen for most of us. All natural products are not necessarily bad. They are just not going through the certification process to be considered 100% organic.

Looks for the organic label from your trusted places you buy your products. You will have to make the decision on the products that might be 70% or 35% organic. For some products that is as good as it gets for the time being. With the demand high more and more products will start becoming organic. They have to.

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Organic Baby Clothes - Cute Infant Playing

Greater Green Living by Shopping Online

United States of America (Press Release) August 9, 2008 -- Our addiction to oil has two major issues. First, with the ever increasing rise in gas prices people are having trouble having enough money for basic living expenses. Second, car emissions send tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, which is one of the leading causes of global warming. A new unlikely people are fighting back is by doing their shopping online.

Natures Organic Market has found that many of their customers are now shopping online due to the energy crunch. As people want to live more "Green," they are looking for all ways that they can cut back on the energy their require for daily activities. Shopping online makes it convenient to get the things you want. It is better on greenhouse gases for one delivery truck drive carrying 500 packages, then 500 separate people all get in their cars and go to the store.

The best part is that shopping online also saves money. Products are typically cheaper online as they don't have to pay for brick and motor stores. So, before we go any farther you will typically save money just shopping online. Second, if you have been watching your money at the pump melt away, then you understand the total savings in dollars and sense for getting your purchases delivered to you.

As more people are going to Green Living it only makes sense to get your organic products online. The carbon footprint of hosting a webpage pails in comparison to the energy required to keep a large store open for 12 hours a day.

Overall shopping online saves money, lowers greenhouse emissions, and lowers the total carbon footprint of purchasing items.

For more information:

Visit our website: http://www.naturesorganicmarket.com

The Diaspora of Food

Stephen Brooks is the co-founder of Kopali Organics and a correspondent for Planet Green’s G Word .

Isn’t it crazy to think that everything we eat or use that comes from plants at one time grew completely wild? That’s right, rice, corn, beans, cotton, oranges, tomatoes… everything came from somewhere on the earth and grew there wild. It’s somewhat hard to believe.

Then, in the past several thousand years, humans selected the ones they liked best and found most useful and began selecting the best varieties of each. For example, I have this friend down in Costa Rica that recently planted 2000 rambutan trees (they are like a hairy lychee). He waited for four years until they all began to bear fruit and tasted the fruit from all of them. He selected the five trees he thought had the best fruit and then cut down 1,995 of them. He then grafted from those five best trees and refilled the plantation with the selected varieties. This type of plant selection went on all over the world and civilizations improved their favorite foods and plants. These different varieties of plants were selected for many reasons, ranging from the fewest seeds to the sweetest pulp, from the fluffiest cotton bunches to the brightest colored oranges. Varieties were selected for a whole range of reasons. Today, unfortunately, one of the most important traits plant growers strive for is shelf life, which is often more important than even taste.

The word diaspora means the dispersion or migration from a country or region and usually refers to the leaving of an ethnic group from their homeland. Here we are talking about different plants, their geographical origins and how and why they moved around the world. The most common movements happened as cultures began spreading to different areas of the world, during which time they often brought their favorite plants with them. Its interesting as well as fun to go on plant walks in port towns where it is evident that sailors from all over the world have briefly stopped in and spread seeds of their favorite foods. Let’s follow a few great examples of this movement.

The ancient Polynesians over 1000 years ago would set sail out into the open ocean on their long canoes seeking out new lands. Along with the necessities needed on the journey, such as food and fresh water, they would always pack shoots, roots, cuttings and seeds of plants for food, cordage, medicine, fabric, containers and all of life's vital needs. This included food bearing plants such as taro, banana, coconut and breadfruit, bamboo for building, turmeric and noni for healing, and kava kava for recreational use. Their relationship with these plants was deep. Bringing them along made inhabiting these far away lands more hospitable.

Another interesting example of plant diaspora is in the many plants that moved with the African slaves into the Caribbean Islands and eastern coast of Central America. In Costa Rica, for example, as you descend into the Caribbean lowlands from San Jose, the people are mostly descendants of Jamaica and Barbados and the plants and markets are full of foods brought with the slave trade from Africa via the Caribbean and then brought them to Costa Rica. These plants include such delights as breadfruit, ackee and tropical yams. They are rarely seen in other parts of Costa Rica outside of this region. Captain William Bligh, on his famous voyage of the “Bounty”, brought many of these foods to the Caribbean islands, with the intent of being able to feed slaves cheapily and easily.

Ackee.JPG

Like the fascinating movement of people and cultures around the world and their indoctrination into new lands, foods also go through trials in their new locales. Some have thrived and spread quickly into the landscape, and others would perish and not survive in these new conditions. It is a fun exercise to follow plants back to their origin and learn about their journeys and introductions into new lands. You can start with coffee and its birthplace in……….. Ethiopia. ☺


Stephen Brooks is a jungle tropical fruit farmer in Costa Rica, the co-founder of Kopali Organics and is the Food Field Reporter on Planet Green's G Word.