Organic vs. Certified Organic

some organic logos

According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements, “Organic agri­cul­ture is a pro­duc­tion sys­tem that sus­tains the health of soils, ecosys­tems and peo­ple. It relies on eco­log­i­cal processes, bio­di­ver­sity and cycles adapted to local con­di­tions, rather than the use of inputs with adverse effects. Organic agri­cul­ture com­bines tra­di­tion, inno­va­tion and sci­ence to ben­e­fit the shared envi­ron­ment and pro­mote fair rela­tion­ships and a good qual­ity of life for all involved.”

The label ‘Certified Organic’ is defined by the Organic Trade Association as a label that “Means the item has been grown accord­ing to strict uni­form stan­dards that are ver­i­fied by inde­pen­dent state or pri­vate orga­ni­za­tions. Certification includes inspec­tions of farm fields and pro­cess­ing facil­i­ties, detailed record keep­ing, and peri­odic test­ing of soil and water to ensure that grow­ers and han­dlers are meet­ing the stan­dards which have been set.”

Both are good things, the prob­lems arise when the word ‘organic’ just becomes another buzz­word like ‘light’ or ‘fresh’. The only way to be sure is to read the labels, look for the approved logos, keep your­self edu­cated and be wary of prod­ucts whose very name is organic. ‘Organic Granola’ may just be a company’s renam­ing of ‘Crunchy Granola’.

Check out this video for some inter­est­ing news about Kashi

http://www.howdini.com/howdini-video-6697067.html

This arti­cle deci­phers all those labels, to let you know what you’re buying.

http://www.consumerinformation.ca/app/oca/ccig/consumerChallenge.do?consumerChallengeNo=761&language=eng