What is Organic?

Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Organic foods do not use several processing procedures that industrial agricuture uses such as irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives. The organic food industry is heavily regulated. In order for a farmer or seller to label a product organic they must be certified organic by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). In the United States, in order to be labelled USDA Organic a products contents must be at least 95% organic. Organic products can also be labelled 100% Organic, if and only if, it contains 100% organic ingredients. For more information on USDA Organic regulations and to learn more about how our farmers become organically certified or how to do it yourself click here.

Organic standards...nothing artificial.
Current USDA regulations allow food products that contain 95-100% certified organic ingredients to use the USDA Organic seal.  These regulations:

Prohibit the use of chemical fertilizers, various synthetic substances, irradiation, sewage sludge, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in organic production.

Prohibit antibiotic and synthetic hormone use in organic meat and poultry.

Require 100% organic feed for organic livestock.

When the product is labeled “100% organic,” “organic,” or just “made with organic ingredients,” then even the non-organic ingredients cannot be produced from GMOs. For example, products labeled as “made with organic ingredients” only require 70% of the ingredients to be organic, but 100% must be non-GMO.