Let's talk about "Organic"

"Hey honey. I'm at the grocery store. Need anything?"

Yeah. I only needed one thing. Honey. I've been using it A LOT lately (tea, sweetener, face scrubs, moisturizers--I should blog on the many splenders of this stuff man. I'll tell you what..  So I chit chat while he tries to find the aisle.  Then, he asks what kind.

"Organic" (duh?)

And I might as well had told him I just bought a Ford. Gloves are on and the bells a-ringing.  That word, "organic" never fails to leave the two of us in aggravated debate. He says it's all a gimmick and costs more for no reason, I say it's saving brain cells.

"ALL HONEY IS ORGANIC, it's made by bees. You really want me to pay $3 more for half the size, because of a stupid sticker?

"I'd rather use honey from free happy bees than ones slaved in honey factories!"

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I'm buying the regular kind"

So I hung up on him....and then obviously googled it. What cleat defines "organic" and who regulates it?  So I researched. Here's my findings.  If I'm spending easily twice as much on certain food products, lets make sure I have the facts (an ammunition for our next grocery aisle battle).    Some of which I knew, some I did not. If you're trying to eat As consciously as possible, you should know too.

First let's define "organic".
The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) determines what can and cannot be eligible. They also define the terms is eligibility. Here are the agriculture regulations.
"Organic" food items must contain:

• No synthetic fertilizers
• No synthetic growth or breeding hormones
• No antibiotics
• No GMO (Genetically modified organisms)
• All pesticides must be natural
• A 3 year waiting period for any inorganic farm choosing to switch over to organicproduce (for soil to purify and regenerate)

However, only a minimum of 95% of the food must be chemical/hormone free. They take into consideration ingredients that are "too difficult to source". This includes spices, meat casing, food dye, and fish oil. 

Speaking of fish, the USDA does not test any seafood or ocean products. So if you see "organic salmon" or fancy organic caviar, be wary of who actually stamped that one. It's not the USDA. they only deal with food that comes from dirt. Not water. 

Likewise, organic meat and poultry are simply organic if they are chemical virgins. USDA does not have regulations for environment. (Organic eggs do not mean "cage free") your steak didn't come from the happiest cows in California.  

So now that everyone seems to be jumping on the "organic" wagon (it's pretty simple, most of us will pay the extra buck to make sure we're not eating bug spray) the super markets seem to be exploding with more and more options. So what's what? Consider your popular organic brands, and who owns them...

Bear Naked, Kashi and Morningstar farms? They are all owned by Kellogg. Naked juice? Pepsi. Campbell Soup Conpany just purchased Bolthouse Farms for a measly 1.55 BILLION. Not to mention, Larabar and Cascadian Farms are both owned by the big chief, General Mills. 

It's expensive to buy organic, but more expensive to GROW organic. Big corporations have their fingers in the pie here too. Someone has to fund it. But organic groceries do not mean concious shopping.  Like the rest of our imported goods, America receives a majority of its organic food products from other countries. The most popular organic importing country? China. Obviously. 

When I purchase food, my goal is for it to be as chemical free as possible. But this is not the most important goal! I am also looking for food that has been cultivated (meat or produce) in a natural and free environment. I want my farmers to let their pigs roll in mud, not caged in their own waste immobile their whole lives until slaughter. I also want to support businesses that spend their profits in the most positive way, benefiting produce, purchaser and nature. Not just share holders. 

We are what we eat! I am from the school of thoight that all things in nature have energy. I also believe energy can be absorbed and felt from one being's feild to the next. If food has been cultivated by unnatural and negative means, the food holds that energy signature.  A slice of tender veal, might taste yummy, but if that baby cow has been kept immobile in a small shed for its entire young life, in order to keep its meat tender....chances are he's not going to have the most positive energetic field. I choose not to digest that negative enslaved feeling into my own physical body, nor my field. I'd rather support Ol'McDonald around the corner who's cattle roam free, next to his off road produce stand. 

With such overwhelming odds and a grim outlook on the "organic" label, we might as well all start a garden. But before you do, you'll still need to be a picky shopper when it comes to buying SEEDS! Seeds can be non-organically created and harvested. There are four major agrochemical corporations that own 50% of all seed companies. Do your research before you buy. Or your "homegrown" may be tainted before it even hits the soil...

So if the USDA organic label means "chemical free" what things on my grocery list must be organic, and what can I get away with regular non-organic store brand to help balance my budget?  If pesticides are sprayed on the outer skins of produce, what about the produce that's peeled before eaten? What about veggies that grow virtually bug-less anyway?

 The following is a list of "must haves", and "why nots?"

ORGANIC MUST HAVES:

• Apples
• Celery
• Strawberries
• Cucumbers
• Domestic blueberries
• Spinach
• Bell peppers
• Potatoes
• Lettuce
• Peaches
• Imported nectarines
• Grapes
• Green beans
• Collard greens (kale)

Think of it this way, anything soft and fleshy will absorb pesticides and hormones. It grows into them. (So no, you can't just buy regular and "wash them off".  Won't work, Jack)

SAFE REGULAR PRODUCE 

• Avacado
• Bananas
• Pineapple
• Onion
• Eggplant
• Kiwi
• Sweet corn
• Cantaloupe
• Mango
• Mushrooms

These guys are more likely to be bug free during growth, so they need less pesticide spray. In the off chance they do get the "treatments" you'll peel the outer tough layer before consuming. These skins are far less absorbent. 

So what about the honey? After all that, I also researched honey. Bee factories are imaginary after all. All bees are free (yes, he was right. Ugh). So how exactly does honey achieve the organic standard?? This ones quite amusing to me. 

A bee will fly up to 10kilometers from its hive in any direction in order to pollinate flowers. In theory, if a bee hive is located in a remote location on an organically approved farm, the bee should never come into co tact with pesticides. In THEORY. But, if you've ever spent a few moments watching a bee dance from flower to flower (an activity I highly endorse...) you will undoubtedly note it's very un-calculated and nongeometric flight pattern.  If you e ever contained a bee (an activity I do NOT encourage...) you will also notice how uncontrollable and feisty this little creature truly is.  Bees fly where they please. 

Although the hive may be located on an organic farm, the plants they pollonate are likely to come from within and beyond the farm acreage.  Their fuzzy little bodies allow chemicals to stick to them and travel back to the hive.  The honey comb itself bonds with and to anything it comes in contact with. Making it virtually impossible to keep pure and controlled. The same is true for honey labeled "clover honey" or "sunflower honey". A farmer may keep the hive near a sunflower or clover patch, but there is a 100% guarentee that 100% of the honey has not derived from only a single species pollination. A majority of it will consist of the farm's specialty, but not solely. 

When you're shopping, don't just grab a label and assume its the best option. Overall, organic is undoubtedly safer from a chemical sense. But organic does not mean the same as "natural". Organic does not mean 100%.  If you are attempting to eat and shop consciously, the same rules apply. Try to find products that are closest to the natural Source. Buy locally. Small farms are likely to grow in organic traditional methods. However they may not have the funding for the sticker. If they don't, chances are they lack funds for genetically modified hormones and chemical pesticides too. The less processing, the more nutritious. Period. 

Alas, Honey is honey. And my honey was right after all.. 

However, he still came home with organic honey. Which was an even sweeter act than the stuff itself.  :) happy shopping. 

Xo