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2 Identifying organic food 3 Organic food & preservatives 4 Is organic food "better"? 5 Radical organic 6 Facts & Statistics 7 External links |
Organic food, like food in general, can be grouped into two categories, fresh and processed, based on production methods, availability and consumer perception.
Fresh food is seasonal and highly perishable. Fresh produce - vegetables and fruits - is the most available type of organic food, and closely associated with organic farming. It is often purchased directly from the growers, at farmers' markets, from on-farm stands, through specialty food stores, and through community supported agriculture (CSA) projects.
Unprocessed animal products - organic meat, eggs, dairy - are less common. Prices are significantly higher than for conventional food, and availability is lower. They are still premium priced items.
To qualify as "organic", the standards for fresh food are similar to those of organic farming:
Types of organic food
Processed food accounts for most of the items in a supermarket. Little of it is organic, and organic prices are often high, however, organic processed products are now primarily purchased from supermarkets. The majority of processed organics comes from large food conglomerates, as producing and marketing products like frozen entress and other convenience foods is beyond the scope of the original small organic producers.
For processed organic food, the general definition is:
Definitions of organic food vary. Organics can be difficult to fully explain in the modern world, where empirical measurements and "scientific fact" are widely used as the basis for both individual choices and government policies. Organics is an "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" proposition, concerned in large part with what NOT to do in agriculture, rather than in devising precise formulas to identify organics. When organic food is defined by rules that include "exceptions" and "approved inputs and practices" based on scientific arguments and regulatory power, the line between organic and conventional food can become blurry.
Early organic consumers, looking for, essentially, chemical-free, fresh or minimally processed food, had to buy direct from growers: Know your farmer, know your food was a practical reality. Individual ideas of what exactly constituted "organic" could be developed and verified through talking to farmers and actually observing farm conditions and farming activities.
As consumer demand for organic foods increases, high volume sales through mass outlets, typically, supermarkets, is rapidly replacing the direct farmer connection. For supermarket consumers, food production is not easily observable. Product labelling, like "certified organic", is relied on. Government regulations and third-party inspectors are looked to for assurance.
With widespread distribution of organic food, the processed food category has also become domininant, confusing the issue further. Organic food at first comprised mainly fresh vegetables. Small farms can grow vegetables (and raise livestock) using organic farming practices, with or without certification, and this is more or less something a consumer can understand and monitor. Certification acted as an additional confirmation or assurance for direct consumers.
Processed foods are more difficult to understand non-technically. Commercial preparation methods, food additives, packaging and the like are outside the direct experience of most people (including organic farmers). Traditional and minimally processed products, like flour and rice, baked goods, and canned, frozen and pickled fruits and vegetables, are easier for consumers to understand by comparison with home preparation methods, although these are quite from mass-production techniques. And convenience foods, like frozen prepared dishes, many breakfast cereals, margarine, ingredients and methods are quite a mystery. A "certified organic" label is usually the only way for consumers to trust that a processed product is "organic".
Unfortunately, there are no natural models for preserving food the way it's found in supermarkets.
Preserving food has always been a central agricultural challenge. Today, food with a long shelf life is the cornerstone of the food industry, providing most of the revenue and profits. In wealthier locales, an impressive array of technologies is used to make food "last" longer: home refrigerators and freezers at the consumer end, and industrial and chemical practices applied along the food production chain, from seed to field to fridge or table.
In general, organic standards cover in detail this entire process, specifying what is an "organic" ingredient or practice. However, since there is little natural reference for preparing, for example, a precooked, frozen entree, a "certified organic" label on such an item may be hard to understand. The main ingredients are one thing, the processes and additives used to assemble and store them are quite another.
This leads to a possibility that may seem startling and impossible to apply in developed nations: most of what's found in supermarkets today can never be called "organic". The idea is not new, and whole foods have long been part of the health food diet. However, should this idea become widespread, it poses a serious threat to today's agribusiness. Therefore, there is de facto agribusiness interest in controlling the definition of "organic food", by including production practices that would facilitate food preservation.
The bottom line consumer question is: "Is organic food significantly 'better' than regular supermarket food?" If not, less attention need be paid to understanding organic vs. conventional food. If so, consumers have to educate themselves, or risk being mislead. This area is a hotbed of controversy, and there are no conclusive answers.
The basic claims for the superiority of organic food are:
Faced with inconclusive research, conflicting marketing messages, and an overall avalanche of information, some food producers and consumers who want to act now are implementing radical approaches to defining and buying organic food.
Community supported agriculture (CSA) is one such approach, that cuts out all the middlemen by having consumers partner with local farmers. CSA members prepurchase "shares" in a season's harvest, and pick up their weekly portions from distribution sites. Thus, consumers provide direct financing for farms, participate in the risks and rewards of annual growing conditions, and participate with farmers in distribution networks.
Various alternative organic standards are also emerging. They generally bypass formal certification, and provide their own definition of organic food. One such, the Authentic Food standard, proposed by leading US organic farmer Eliot Coleman, includes criteria that are incompatible with current agribusiness:
While organics account for 1-2% of total food sales, the organic food market is growing rapidly worldwide, both in developed and developing nations.
Organic food & preservatives
Is organic food "better"?
None of these claims are widely accepted as scientific fact. There are research reports, expert opinions, and anecdotal evidence both supporting and refuting them. Learning more about these debates leads to clearer understanding organic food, and its potential value.
Radical organic
Particularly in developed nations, it is difficult to imagine not having the majority of products found in today's supermarkets. On the other hand, most of those products didn't exist 100 years ago, and many of them are only a few decades old.
Facts & Statistics
External links