I strongly considered signing up for a share or half a share of an organic CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) last spring. I couldn't find a friend to split a share with me and wasn't up for driving to pick up my weekly box of fresh vegetables organically grown 30 minutes away on a CSA farm selling shares to the public. While I plant a small, organic vegetable garden which yields terrific tomatoes, broccoli, spring lettuce, cucumbers, pumpkins and herbs, it's not big enough to provide a wider variety of the veggies we also love -- carrots, beans, potatoes, peppers, and the like.

But after reading Julie's Health Blog this morning on the declining nutrient values in food, I picked up the phone and bought half of a CSA share from a farm much closer, only 15 minutes away. Julie reported on Brian Halweil's analysis of a British study that measured the nutrient value of foods between 1940 to 1991 -- Halweil is a senior researcher at The Worldwatch Institute. In the quest for a higher yielding food supply, nutrients in the U.S. and U.K. food supply are eroding. Here are a few facts Halweil cited from the British study:

• It took three apples in 1991 to equal the iron content of an apple from 1940.
• Potassium in spinach dropped 53 percent, phosphorus by 70 percent, iron by 60 percent and copper by 96 percent.
• Iron content in meat dropped an average of 53 percent. Less nutrient-dense feed grains/forages are part of the problem.
• The higher the yield of corn/wheat/soybeans, the lower the protein/oil, same goes for vitamin C, lycopene and betacarotene in tomatoes.
• Farming strategies to increase yields are good at fostering bigger, faster growing plants, but they do not absorb as many nutrients from the soil.

However Julie raises the big question -- aside from fewer pesticides and nitrates, does organic food have higher nutrient values? According to a scientific review by The Institute of Food Technologists, it's too soon to say.

Other than organic milk, our family does not purchase organic fruits and vegetables at the grocery store -- the main obstacle is price. But I'm excited about our half CSA share. The farm is just up the road and costs $200 for an every-other-week box of just-picked veggies June-November. No genetically modified veggies, no pesticides, no major fossil fuels burned to transport the food thousands of miles either. My CSA requests half-shareholders invest ten hours of work on the farm during the season, and I can bring the kids -- we love digging in the dirt! And as a novice vegetable gardener, I'm looking forward to hanging out with local organic gardening experts. If you'd like to check out a CSA near you, search here.

Source

What exactly does "organic" mean? Technically, organic foods are those made without the use of external products (like pesticides or hormones, for instance). However, that's not necessarily what the "organic" label means on the products you purchase. Those labels are certified by the USDA, and their definition of "organic" has loopholes that allow companies to misrepresent their products.

It's mostly due to a clause in USDA rules that allows for manufacturers to use nonorganic ingredients if organic versions are not "commercially available." But because this language is vague, and because the organizations enforcing this rule are ineffective, big companies have easily found their way around this barrier.

In response, the USDA is trying to create a specific list of nonorganic ingredients that will be allowed in USDA-certified organic products. While this would make the distinction between organic and nonorganic more cut and dry, the USDA has proposed a list of 38 ingredients -- thus allowing for a wide variety nonorganic products to carry the coveted label.

This is a huge setback for consumers, who will now have no way to determine which products are actually organic, and which are simply labeled that way.

Source

The USDA has proposed changes to the standards that qualify food items as USDA Organic. The proposed changes would add 38 ingredients to the list of synthetic and non-organic substances that are allowed. The new ingredients include non-organic versions of intestines for sausage casings, hops for beer, fish-oil, gelatin, coloring agents, and produce coating agents. The USDA maintains that these exceptions are necessary as the ingredients in question are not commercially available in organic form.

The Organic Consumers Association has issued a reply objecting to a number of the proposed additions to the allowable list. If you don't want non-organic casings on your organic sausage or non-organic hops in your organic beer, you can sign a petition. The USDA is accepting public comments until May 22, 2007.

Source

As organic foods become more mainstream, you may be wondering if its time for you to switch. Or you may worry (as I sometimes do) that you're doing a disservice to your family because you can't afford to switch. It's true that organic foods are usually significantly more expensive than conventionally grown food and not everyone has access to them. So how do you decide whether to go organic or not? This article helps to shed some light on the issue.

So what does organic really mean? It means that the food is grown with no pesticides and on land that has been pesticide free for at least three years. It means that irradiation is not used to preserve the food and that no chemical fertilizers or sewage sludge were applied to feed the crops. Organic farmers often use compost or manure instead. Current regulations allow for a 5% tolerance of pesticides, so some organic crops may contain minute amounts.

The pros of eating organic food are that you're limiting your exposure to pesticides and that your food dollars are going to support organic farming methods. Organic farmers use methods that promotes the health of the plots they tend and never use practices that damage the earth. Some communities believe organic foods are more nutritious, but there have been no conclusive studies to that effect. The cons of choosing organic are the price. Because organic farming is more labor intensive, the prices are usually higher.

Source