Certified Organic Farming: Preserving Nature’s Bounty

The newest trend in food right now has to be organic farming and the organic food this produces. In this article we’ll discuss what organic farming is, why it’s important, and how to make sure the products that say they’re ‘organic’ really are.

Written by Andrea Lewis

What Is Certified Organic Farming?

Before we get in to discussing organic farming, it’s important to know what the word ‘organic’ really means. Simply put, the word organic just means that a substance is made of carbon, the building blocks of all living things. So the word organic means that a product is made of natural living things, such as plants or animals, not synthetic ingredients which are created in a lab.

When applied to agriculture, organic has come to mean the production of food and products through the use of natural, sustainable farming practices. Sustainable agriculture is a process in which good are produced using techniques that ensure that we will be able to enjoy these products for years to come.

For example, it might be easier in the short-term to use chemical pesticides on crops, but sustainable farmers think about the long-term consequences of using these pesticides (both health consequences for us the consumers as well as things like what effect the pesticides could have on their long-term soil quality or how these pesticides might diminish a plant’s natural defenses and thereby leave it susceptible to future pests and diseases) and make their decisions based on what’s best when looking at the big picture.

Why Is Certified Organic Farming Important?, Part One

Due to this ‘big picture’ mentality, organic farmers are committed on using farming methods which are the best investment in the consumers’ health and the health of the environment. In the United States, all farmers who wish to be certified as organic producers must adhere to a strict set of regulations that dictates what they can and cannot do in terms of producing certified organic crops.

The 1990 Organic Foods Production Act helped to set national standards for organic food production and how organic products should be labeled. According to this act, any product that bears the USDA certified organic label must adhere to laws that limit the use of chemical pesticides, chemical fertilizers, ensure biodiversity (which is important because rotating different crops on individual plots of land helps to make sure soil doesn’t become drained of nutrients), and ensure that if a product claims to be organic it truly is. If farmers disregard any of these practices and still use the USDA certified organic label on their products they can be fined up to $11,000 for each offense.

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