Being raised organic, you would think I bring some bias to the table. But to be honest, there is part of me that resists all things organic as one of those things my mom was waaaaay too into as a kid. And to be even more honest, the organic movement wasn’t as big in the 80s and 90s as it is today and there is a much broader variety of organic convenience foods on the market now; I never imagined that I’d ever truly enjoy the taste of an organic cookie for instance … but I have to say that I have changed my mind about that.

There is much criticism about what is allowed to be labeled as “organic” as the USDA has relaxed its guidelines and regulations over the past few years, but there are a few principles I have chosen to stick by in choosing my own organic or “natural” items from foods to cleaners. In order of significance to me:

1. Biodegradable
2. Local
3. Pesticide-free
4. Non-bleached
5. Recycled or post-consumer content
6. Minimal packaging
7. Cheap

Now, it’s hard to know whether or not the fruit I get is actually pesticide-free, but I hope that the “organic” label hasn’t stooped that low and that the local farmers have some sort of spine. I also sometimes slip on the non-bleached items as I haven’t yet found an affordable recycled toilet paper that is soft to my liking, but I buy unbleached flour and sugar for example. And I just know you’re scoffing at “cheap.” I have yet to find cheapness in comparison with CVS or RichFood brands, but for items that I don’t want to settle for I compare the price to other similar products. Whole Foods has a brand called 365 that is fairly cheap compared with other organic labels. And speaking of labels, there is a growing market of branding like “Karena’s Organics” and while the products don’t contain a single organic ingredient they open up a whole new customer base of consumers who think they are buying organic - so read the ingredients if you’re concerned about what you’re getting.

Local is the big one that a lot of people seem to forget about. You could buy an organic product that had to be shipped from California to Pennsylvania - and how much fuel did that use? The fact that the item is organic may be important, but so is the process that got it to the shelf in the first place. Now some things just aren’t made locally. I have yet to see orange trees yielding local consumer crops in Pennsylvania. However, it’s one more thing to consider for some items that may have a local venue.

After reading an article from Common Dreams titled “An Organic Recipe for Development” I am even more convinced that organic is the right thing to do. Not only does it empower consumer choice, not only does it benefit the environment, but it partakes in the circle of life and gives back to the earth what we take from it and destroy. It may also be the closest thing to bridging the world hunger gap that keeps growing despite our production capacity and technological advances.

Highlights from the article:

In a 23-year side-by-side comparison, the carbon levels of organic soils increased 15 to 28 percent while there was little change in the non-organic systems, according to the Rodale Institute Farming Systems Trials conducted in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.

If just 10,000 medium-sized farms in the U.S. converted to organic production, they would store so much carbon in the soil that it would be equivalent to taking 1,174,400 cars off the road, Rodale reported in 2003.

The problem of global hunger is not about food production — it is about poverty and food distribution, since the world already produces enough food…

Links:
Common Dreams Article
Biodiversity
Pesticides in produce