What is Organic Farming?

What is organic farming? The short answer would be that it is farming that is done without the use of additional pesticides and without the use of any type of chemical or hormonal enhancement. The promise of organic farming means that you and your family are provided with totally natural vegetables, dairy, and meat products that have been shipped to the grocery store or Farmer's Market in the state that nature would have created them in the wild. However, there are degrees of organic and understanding these degrees helps you make right choices for you and your family.

Today's organic farming trends have hit supermarkets and small town markets with some serious gusto. In fact, some of the most incredible turn around in the farming industry is a direct result of the organic farming trend. With an increase in illness and disease, and increase in obesity and relatively oversized children, and with an increased understanding of what chemical enhancement can do to a human body, organic farming is the proven key hero in farming solutions.

When you are wandering the aisles of the grocery store and you come across the organic section, take a minute and pause. Does some of the food look different, smell different, and taste different? Some people believe that it does while others believe that it doesn't. Only you can determine whether organic farming makes a big difference in the taste, texture, size, or quality of your favorite foods. Some people swear that they can taste a more natural flavor of the food while others swear that it doesn't alter the taste at all but it feels good eating totally unenhanced foods.

However, not all organic products are unenhanced. The organic farming industry has been granted a little leeway when it comes to producing unenhanced foods. The term "organic" that appears on many of the packages that are most commonly purchased implies that the food is unenhanced with any type of chemical or hormone. That generally is not the case, however. The word "organic" can be labeled to any food that meets a 75% standard of organic ingredients. There are specific chemicals and hormones that can never be added in any quantity to organic foods but the list is rather small and somewhat fluid.

Anything in your grocery store or Farmer's Market that has been labeled as 100% organic is actually between 98 and 99% organic. But this is still a far cry from the 75% consumers are receiving when it comes to their organic products. The farming techniques that are used almost always require at least a small amount of mostly natural pesticides, otherwise the insects will happily enjoy the organic foods that were originally meant for you. Simply knowing the difference between organic and 100% organic will help you make better choices for your family based on your needs. And the next time your kids get interested in their food and want to know what is organic farming, you'll have an industry secret to share with them.

Subscribe to:

STILLWATER — John’s Farm represents four generations of farming history which have taken pride in organic farming techniques. Located in Fairview, owners John and Kris Gosney are both descendants of Oklahoma farming pioneers and maintain family Oklahoma Centennial Farms.

Stearns County: Minnesota's organic farming capital | Stories

Stearns County: Minnesota's organic farming capital Courtesy of Mary Degiovanni Jim Degiovanni raises organic produce on his 15-acre farm in St. Joseph, Minn., one of 58 organic farms in Stearns County. By Cristeta Boarini and Kyle Richard Sando | Friday, Jan. 13, 2012 Jim Degiovanni has been a lawyer for more than 20 years. Spending most of his days in an office, Degiovanni saw myriad cases ...

Alternative farming methods appeal to a new kind of farmer

It was a different crowd at Grey Bruce Farmers Week's ecological day as Mennonites, young farmers and many women filed in to hear the latest news about alternative farming methods.[...]

DPRK Farms Introduce Advanced Production System

Pyongyang, January 13 (KCNA) -- Cooperative farms in the DPRK are now paying efforts to introducing the cyclic production system and the organic farming method in response to the call of the joint New Year editorial.

Hershey Expands Responsible Cocoa Community Programs in West Africa

The Hershey Company :