market for smaller, family-style farms. In the early
1980s this method of food production began to gain
popularity, especially in California, Oregon, and Wash-
ington. The first commercial organic crops were vege-
tables that were usually sold locally at farmers’ markets
and health food stores.
By the late 1980s interest in organic food had
reached a level of public awareness high enough that
the United States Congress took action and passed the
Organic Food Production Act of 1990. This act estab-
lished the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB)
under the United States Department of Agriculture
(USDA). NOSB has developed regulations and enforce-
ment procedures for the growing and handling of all
agricultural products that are labeled ‘‘organic.’’ These
regulations went into effect on October 21, 2002.
Since the 1990s, the market for organic food has
expanded from primarily fruits and vegetables to eggs,
dairy products, meat, poultry, and commercially proc-
essed frozen and canned foods. In 2000, for the first
time, more organic food was purchased in mainstream
supermarkets than in specialty food outlets. By 2005,
every state had some farmland that was certified
organic, and some supermarket chains had begun sell-
ing their own brand-name organic foods. The demand
for organic food is expected to continue to grow rap-
idly through at least 2010.
Organic certification is voluntary and applies to
anyone who sells more than $5,000 worth of organic
produce annually. (This exempts most small farmers
who sell organic produce from their own farm stands).
If a product carries the USDA Organic Seal indicating
that it is ‘‘certified organic’’ it must meet the following
conditions:
The product must be raised or produced under an
Organic Systems Plan that demonstrates and docu-
ments that the food meets the standards for growing,
harvesting, transporting, processing, and selling an
organic product.
The producer and/or processor are subject to audits
and evaluations by agents certified to enforce organic
standards.
The grower must have distinct boundaries between
organic crops and non-organic crops to prevent acci-
dental contamination with forbidden substances
through wind drift or water runoff.
No forbidden substances can have been applied to
the land organic food is raised on for three years
prior to organic certification.
Seed should be organic, when available, and never
genetically altered through bioengineering.
Good soil, crop, and animal management practices
must be followed to prevent contamination of
groundwater, contamination of the product by living
pathogens, heavy metals, or forbidden chemicals,
and to reduce soil erosion and environmental
pollution.
To meet these requirements, organic farmers use
natural fertilizers such as composted manure to add
nutrients to the soil. They control pests by crop rota-
tion and interplanting. Interplanting is growing sev-
eral different species of plants in an alternating pattern
in the same field to slow the spread of disease. Pest
control is also achieved by using natural insect preda-
tors, traps, and physical barriers. If these methods do
not control pests, organic farmers may apply certain
non-synthetic pesticides made from substances that
occur naturally in plants. Weed control is achieved
by mulching, hand or mechanical weeding, the use of
cover crops, and selective burning.
Animals products that are USDA certified
organic must come from animals that are fed only
organic feed, are not given growth hormones, anti-
biotics, or other drugs for the purpose of preventingPesticides in fruits and vegetablesHighest level Lowest level
Peaches Onions
Apples Avocados
Sweet bell peppers Corn, sweet, frozen
Celery Pineapples
Nectarines Mango
Strawberries Peas, sweet, frozen
Cherries Kiwi
Pears Bananas
Grapes, imported Cabbage
Spinach Broccoli
Lettuce Papaya
Potatoes Blueberries
SOURCE: Developed by the Environmental Working Group(Illustration by GGS Information Services/Thomson Gale.)
KEY TERMS
Biodiversity—The presence of many different spe-
cies of plants and animals within a limited geo-
graphical region.
Pathogen—An organism that causes a disease.
Toxin—A general term for something that harms or
poisons the body.Organic food