Re: Organic definitions
i could tell you what it used to be, but this is getting undermined left and right by you know who.
certified organic is food that has been given a guarantee of certain standards as outlined in the certification. this is paid for by the grower, on site inspections are made, and this independent certifier is staking its reputation that the food meets the certification requirements.
enter the government. just like any other agency of the most high, they must justify their lame existence by setting certain standards for(clearing throat loudly) "our protection". the feds get first crack at it and set the minimums. i believe these have recently been lowered. next are the states which have to at least meet the feds requirements and can add to them. then there are the certifying agenies themselves who have to meet the governing authority in the area where they are doing the certifying but can add to them also, i believe.
so you can have certified according to fed reg or some state reg or as prescribed by the agency doing the certifying. certified organic can mean many things. check the package and see who is doing the certifying and/or who's standards are being used in the certification process, and then find out what those standards are.
organically grown is by self definition. not being certified, they probably are still bound by governing authorities, but who knows if those authorities police(a good question). my guess is that it is self policing and inquiry would have to be made by the producer or vendor to determine just what that means. a concientious minimum of the word, imho, would be no chemical fertilizers and no chemical pesticides.
when i buy at the city market here in KC, an independent grower might say organically grown. i ask them what that means. but even if they dont advertise that, i might ask and find that they are using organic methods of farming or they might say they have to spray lightly at the beginning of the season but never after the bloom or fruit is on and i can compare that to other products available. when you are face to face with the grower you are much better off. it is hard to be a fly-by-night farmer.
some organic standards are very strict. for example, the plant producing the food must be grown from a seed from a certified organic plant. or the plants may be being grown organically and meet all other criteria but because the ground they are grown in was once chemically farmed, a certain number of seasons must pass before the produce from that particular field can then be certified. this requires inspection and monitoring of non organic crops which dont command a higher price yet cost as much as organic to grow until certification can finally be issued. there would be a lot more organic food already if it were not for this initial transitionary investment.
it is starting to look like more and more that MH is right about all this. if it is alive and raw it is organic in his book. i still cannot abide the fluoride used as pesticides and fumigants and vermicides. unfortunately it is the feds who have relaxed some of these restrictions. they like stupid people and look for every opportunity to dumb us down with this concentration camp staple. i still think there is some benefit to certification, even if it is that the food itself is not grown using chemical fertilizers. better out than in, even with food. at least you have a chance of washing the food after you get it, but you cant change the substance thereof.
i like a mix of MH and
Edgar Cayce when at all possible. eat in season. eat raw. eat as fresh as possible. eat as local to where you live as possible. know the grower. grow it yourself. these things are better than any stranger can certify to you, for you can control them yourself, and it is your own stamp of approval that determines your health, good or bad.