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Home › Articles › Nutrition and Your Health › Eating Organic

Eating Organic

Is It Healthier?

By Johnathon Allen

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pepper Many supermarkets and natural food stores around the country proudly feature slightly higher priced products on their shelves bearing the label "organic." Shoppers often speculate whether or not these products are indeed better for the body and therefore worth the associated extra cost or whether the organic label is just another marketing ploy.

According to Katherine DiMatteo, executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA) based in Greenfield, Mass., organic foods are not only healthier for the body, they are better for society and actually cheaper in the long run.

What is Organic?
The term "organic" refers specifically to how something is grown or produced. Organic farmers refrain from using chemical pesticides or fertilizers, and their crops are minimally processed to maintain product integrity without using artificial ingredients, preservatives or irradiation. Organic meat and dairy products are derived from animals that are fed only organic grain and are not given antibiotics, hormones or supplemental medications.

The official certification system involves an extensive inspection process that includes detailed record keeping and periodic testing of soil and water quality to ensure that growers are meeting standards set by a governing body. Currently, any substance bearing the label "Certified Organic" is verified to be so by an independent government or private organization.

The federal government set out to create a national standard for organic food certification in 1990 with the Organic Food Production Act. Though the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) was established as a result, there is still no single industry-wide standard for organic production. Today, more than 6,000 farmers and 800 handlers are certified by one of 33 private or 11 state agencies, and more than 2.5 million American families regularly choose to buy organic products.

Is Organic Really Better?
"Organic foods are not only better for you, they are better for the environment, and they're actually not more expensive," says DiMatteo. "The shelf price of organic products may be a bit higher because farmers must deal with the same costs of conventional food production such as harvesting, transportation and storage but they also have to adhere to stricter handling and production standards. In the end, if you add up the indirect costs of conventional agribusiness, like cleaning up sludge, replenishing depleted soils and the expense of health care for workers exposed to toxic pesticides, organic foods are considerably cheaper."

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