USDA Organic Certification

USDA Organic Certification

When you are checking out your local grocery store or menus, you have probably noticed some items that are labeled "organic." The rise of organic products has been swift over the last few years, as sustainable and humane consumption has grown significantly. While you may have noticed one big difference in the organic items--the price tag--you may not understand exactly what that means and if going organic is the right choice for you. There are so many things to consider with your diet, from health issues to morality to cost and taste, that we have gathered up all the facts on the USDA Organic Certification to help you understand what going organic really means for you and your family. Keep reading to decide if the organic certification will be an important factor for your next meal!

Who Is the USDA?

This is a great place to start. The USDA is one of those organizations we hear about just often enough to know they are big and important, but not often enough to truly delve deeper into who they are. The USDA stands for the United States Department of Agriculture, and they are responsible, at a basic level, for maintaining anything that has to do with farming and agricultural production in the United States. They govern all laws regarding farming and ranching and protect all facets when it comes to food production: the producers, the consumers, and the food itself.

So What Is Organic?

USDA Organic Certification _ Bobs Red Mill With the goal of protecting consumers as well as protecting the earth and creating sustainable agriculture, the USDA has become more concerned with farmers and ranchers creating a healthy environment for their products. Thus, the Organic Certification was born. For those of us who may not want to consume certain products or chemicals, the organic certification is the simplest way to tell which foods contain those products and which foods do not. The organic label means that the food has undergone a series of inspections and tests to determine that no potentially harmful or unnatural products went into its creation. According to the USDA blog, organic producers "rely on natural substances and physical, mechanical, or biologically based farming methods to the fullest extent possible." This means that your organically certified foods will contain no additives or pesticides, and everything involved in their production, from feed to soil to water, will not contain them either and will be as natural as is possible.

Differing Guidelines

The certification guidelines are slightly different for different types of food. For instance, produce needs to have been grown on soil that did not contain any of the prohibited chemicals or additives for at least three years. The grower must not use any synthetic fertilizers and must stick to biologically based substances or other organic products in order to maintain organic status. On the other hand, organic meats are a little different. The animals must be fed with 100% organic feed, as well as no hormones or antibiotics, and most importantly, the animals must be raised in natural circumstances. This basically means that the owners must stick to behaviors similar to what the animals would have in the wild, such as the availability of grazing space. You have probably heard of free-range meat, so this guideline is what that is referring to. Any products that are not raw have similar guidelines as well. To receive a USDA organic certification, a manufactured product must contain 95% certified organic ingredients, and the extra 5%, while not required to be organic, must not contain any ingredients that are prohibited. This 5% allows for a few non-natural ingredients like enzymes in yogurt, but only ingredients that have been fully tested and studied for human safety are allowed.

Other USDA Organic Labels

The certified organic labels apply as we explained above, but there are a few other labels you may see in stores or on menus as well. There is a label for "Made with Organic __" which means that 70% or more of the ingredients are organic. In this case, the other 30% are still not allowed to include certain additives on the prohibited list, so you will be 100% free from those with all USDA Organic foods and products. Another label is the 100% Organic label. This means that 100% of the ingredients are certified organic, not only 95%. Pay attention to the seal that you see, as only USDA certifications are guaranteed to meet these standards, and you may get sketchy quality if you choose products with other labels. Violations of the USDA organic label can incur fines of $11,000 or more, so these are monitored fairly closely.

Should I Buy Organic?

This is a great question! The whole "point," it seems, of the organic food movement is that it should be better for you in some way. So is it, really? The answer is definitely somewhat nuanced. The latest major study concluded that organic foods have no significant vitamin or mineral increase over non-organic foods. While this is not the best information, it actually is claimed nowhere in the mission statement of the USDA organic program that a goal of organics is to be more nutrient-rich than other foods. So while it would be nice if organic foods were more nutrient-rich, if that is your only concern then you should be fine with conventional foods. However, you cannot deny that the prevalence of pesticides and antibiotics may be a concern for some people. The guidelines for USDA organic certification being what they are, organic fruits and vegetables, as well as organic meats, definitely have lower exposure to pesticides and antibiotics, so you may be safer from bacteria that is immune to antibiotics. Processing Processing is another common concern these days, and organics get a win in this category. Organic foods are all naturally processed, if at all, so you can ensure that you will be consuming fewer processed ingredients and will be getting the full nutrient profile of each ingredient you eat, whereas processing often strips foods of their natural nutrients. Taste There is little scientific evidence in either direction on the taste debate. You will definitely find claims that organic food tastes fresher and better, but there have been no major studies done to determine if there is any truth to this claim. This will be a matter of preference only! Environmental Impact Beyond personal health, the global health of organic foods is the number one argument for consuming them over conventionally grown foods. One of the main goals of the organic movement is to encourage sustainable and safe growth and production in the food industry. Without using pesticides, irradiation, additives, or antibiotics, organic food products are likely to provide less of an environmental impact, although there are too few of them to do an exact side-by-side study at this point. However, if you have concerns about any of the products or processes that the USDA certification process prohibits, then eating organic will definitely be a good option for you and your family, as it is the simplest way to avoid these products. Organic certification forbids any sort of genetic engineering in your foods, so you will not be subject to any of the potentially negative effects of GMOs. Because GMOs have not been fully tested for their long-term effects on humans, many people prefer to avoid these altogether than to risk any negative side effects. If you are avoiding GMOs, then buying organic can help you, as the USDA does not certify any organic products that are shown to contain GMOs of any kind. Organic farming often supports more local farmers and producers, thus encouraging more sustainability in your local communities. If this is an important factor to you, buying organic can help support farmers or ranchers in your area. Those who grow organically are often smaller organizations and not massive corporate farms, so an organic purchase can be a statement in support of small business as well. These are just a few of the questions that the organic vs. conventional debate brings up, and there is not a definite right or wrong answer, so you will need to take all of the sides of this debate into account when deciding about going organic. Overall, the USDA Organic Certification is a way to ensure that consumers have full knowledge of what they are consuming at all times. The process to become certified is somewhat rigorous and has strict guidelines that farmers and ranchers must adhere to. The benefit to consumers is that you know any certified organic foods do not contain any GMOs, pesticides, antibiotics, additives, or unnatural processing, just to name a few. In general, any labeled foods at your local grocery store will be natural, healthy, and as good for you as possible straight from production. Keep an eye on all of your foods and ingredient labels to make sure that you are making the right choices for your specific concerns or dietary restraints when you shop!
Bob's Red Mill
December 19 2017

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