"Organic" has some quite specific legal definitions in most developed
countries.
In the U.S, all farms or products claiming to be "certified organic"
must be guaranteed by a USDA-approved independent agency to be meeting
the following guidelines:
* Sound records kept of all operations
* No use of antibiotics or hormones in livestock
* No use of genetically modified organisms
* No irradiation
* Use sound soil conservation and crop rotation practice
* And most im****tantly, that there has been no useage of prohibited
materials within 3 years prior to certification, or at any time during
certification.
The USDA defines 'prohibited materials' as synthetic fertilizers,
pesticides and sewage sludge. It is also a requirement that there is
no cross-contamination during processing, which means organic wheat
for example cannot be ground in a flour factory that also handles non-
organic material.
Produce grown organically certainly tastes better than the usual
supermarket stock. It also contains higher levels of nutrients and far
lower residual pesticides. You can read all the latest Organic Food
articles and research at http://www.ge-free.com/
In general food grown free of pesticides, herbicides and genetically
modified organisms (GMO) is organic to some extent. Certified organic
food is that
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