What does USDA Organic mean?
I have many customer ask me about what does USDA Organic mean?
They also are interested in finding out what processes are required to get the seal on a product.
First USDA stands for United States Dept. of Agriculture, this is a government body created by Abraham Lincoln himself, He called it the peoples dept. (1)
Since that time many farmers started spraying their crops with pesticides that are known as dangerous for consumption.
These same farmers have vegetables and fruits that are genetically engineered to grow larger and stronger, this can lead to reduced health properties.
Farmers also started using a technique called ionization, which is basically using free ions to ensure there are no dangerous microbial growth on the outside of the produce. However this can lead to issues down the line of destroying the various chemical bonds that hold the nutrients together within a fruit or vegetable.
In my opinion the most damning thing that these farmers started doing is purchasing the cheapest possible fertilizer, a little thing calles sewage sludge.... When various organizations send their sewage to a water treatment plant, the plant will remove as many toxins and waste from the liquid as possible and then filter it to water. I have no problem with that, I am glad we are producing our own water and recycling. Where I do have a problem is when farmers take the excess "sludge" and fertilize thier crops with it! This is a very common solution now, Just grow it in toxic sludge. According to the Food Safty Network this sludge commonly have flame retardents, pharmaceuticals, heavy metals, dioxins, and a host of other chemicals and organisms (2)
After many of these problems started getting some national attention the " Organic movement" began. Now there are two sectors of what the USDAA Organic seal means. The seal eaither covers the farms, or the production facility that did the packaging or manufacturing.
For Farms this equates to the produce was grown organically meaning; The farms were certified Organic showing that they do not use sewage sludge, Growth enhancment, or chemical fertilizers, etc... A farmer will hire a representative from the USDA to come and review their farm, they will then review to ensure they are up to all of the standards to be USDA Organic. If they pass then that farmer gets to pay the bill... which can range from $600 to $150,000 per year(3)
For Manufacturing plants this means that they went through and audit and it was found they do not add any kind of chemicals or "in organic" material to a product during the course of production. This is a very easy certification to achieve as a facility can deliniate half of their plant to operate as organic and the other half to operate as "conventional". The costs are similar and this should ensure a facility is organic right?
This is the great confusion of the industry, If a plant that was grown in toxic sludge arrives to be processed by an organic facility, the end product can still have the organic seal on it....
However if a plant grown organically goes to a non organic facility, the end product cannot be organic.
STRANGE? Yes in deed, in the end the USDA seal will only guarantee one thing, whatever you are buying will be as much as three times more expensive than a similar product without the seal.
(1) https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/2201
(2) http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/10/sewage-sludge-as-fertilizer-safe/#.VUyxGzt4pmk
(3) http://recipes.howstuffworks.com/organic-certification3.htm
