What is Organic?

I just read to chapters from the book The Omnivores Dilemma by Michael Pollan. In these chapters he discusses organic agriculture and other forms of sustainable agriculture. He explains how organic is a label that still leaves a lot of questions and how they may not truly be better at all.

I being from a ag family background and knowing quite a bit of the inter workings of farms know allot about this topic and how the system really works. I just want to clarify a few things with in these two chapters and how they really work.

To be completely fair and honest the label organic is a complete joke and a waste of money on consumers parts. It has know real regulations in place yet and really all it means is that you have been certified which does not constitute a whole lot of regulation. This means farmers can change a few things about their farms which costs them a very small amount and make money off consumers that are willing to buy a bag of carrots thats organic for three times more when the process really does not change. One of my professors explained in class that almost two thirds of organic vegetables are actually not at all organic(contain pesticides).

This also brings me to the subject of "organic milk". Organic Milk and Regular Milk chemically have no difference it has been studied and researched and the FDA has found absolutely no growth hormones in regular milk, it just does not happen.

The real labels that you should look for in animal products is "grass fed" or "free range" because this means a difference in meat usually containing different fats and a much different taste. Personally I dislike the flavor but some people will sacrifice that for the better fat.

So this in closing brings up the question for me What is the price of a label?

Is Organic really worth it? Is it actually healthier for you? And is it more sustainable?

All these questions can be easily debated and I will try to clear them up in a future post.