What Makes Organic Food Different and Superior To Ordinary Food

Consumers have the desire to become much more educated about the quality of their food, and the nature of the food supply.

As such, in the last 10 or so years, there has been a big media push and public awareness regarding organic foods. Organic foods have actually been sold for many years. They were primarily regulated to being sold in what used to be called 'health food stores'.

Now, with the public so focused on taking control of their health and diet, mainstream grocery stores carry many of the products that were only found in small, exotic, privately owned stores that catered people of healthier lifestyles.

The reason organic food has become so popular recently is the way it is sourced and produced. The methods used to make it a healthier option in the minds of shoppers, as opposed to traditional mass-marketed foods.

For example, when people think of organic, they think of food that is farmed without using pesticides. Mass-marketed produce is sent to the stores with profit margins in mind.

The more products that a farmer can send to the store, the more money that he, the stores, and the corporations make.

Therefore, pesticides are used to keep vermin from literally eating away at their profit margins.

On the other hand, while organic food companies certainly are in business to make money, they understand that caring about their consumers is what will make their bottom line.

Many consumers don't want to consume food products that were in their minds, blasted with poisons.

Even if the amount of pesticide residue left on the product isn't enough to kill humans, the residue can be introduced into the bloodstream. This can lead to many health complications that can create damage in the short-term, and in the long run.

It's not just fruits and vegetables that are exposed to pesticides. Animals farmed for meat and milk consumption are exposed to pesticides as well.

They become exposed when they eat contaminated grass or feed. If the animal consumes food laced with pesticides, those chemicals can be introduced into the food chain of humans.

Organic foods are certified to either not have been treated with pesticides, or the animals weren't exposed to any foods that were treated with pesticides.

Another reason that organic foods are different, is their lack of hormonal treatment. Animals that are farmed for meat, milk, or eggs are often fed feed that is treated with growth hormones.

Again, farmers who are concerned with mass-marketing profits feed this enriched food to their animals to bulk them up or make them produce more milk and eggs. The problem with this is the same as the pesticide issue.

When humans eat these animals, and the products from the animals, humans are exposed to these hormones. One popular complication from this hormone exposure is the increase of estrogen dominance in humans.

Estrogen dominance has been found to be a factor in cancer development in humans. Furthermore, human children are experiencing puberty at alarmingly earlier ages. Some people believe this condition is tied into the mother's exposure to these hormones in her bloodstream, as she is carrying her child.

The bottom line is that organic food is labelled as such when farmers and other food producers keep the food chain as pure as possible. This applies to meats, vegetables, grains, and fruit.

In addition, this label applies to prepared products such as soups or mixes that are prepared with organically sourced food products. In the UK, food is labelled as organic when it was produced organically or contains 95% of an organically sourced food product.

In the U.S., food is labelled organic when the animals weren't treated with hormones or antibiotics. The land must not have been treated with pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, or sewage sludge.

In short, organic food production ensures that food is served to humans a lot more closely in line with the way nature intended. The third aspect that separates organically produced foods
are the way the animals are treated during the farming process.

Organic producers believe in farming their animals as cruelty-free as possible. Animals were meant to roam freely, not to be housed and caged in cramped, filthy conditions. They were meant to eat grass, not to be fed treated hay, and feed made out of corn.

Organic farmers believe that animals raised with respect to their natural habitat are healthier animals. These animals grow as they should. When these animals eat the types of foods that they are supposed to, the quality of their meat, milk, and eggs taste better, and are healthier for human consumption.