Introduction to Organic Food

Organic certification is a process claim, not a product claim. In other words, organic standards regulate the practices and materials used to produce an agricultural product. It does not make any claims about the end product such as nutritional value or food safety (these claims are regulated by the Food Safety and Inspection Service and Food and Drug Administration). However, organic producers have to follow the same strict guidelines at the local, state and federal level that all conventional food producers must
follow.

Organic food production promotes biodiversity, biological cycles and biological activity. Organic farmers aim to manage food production as an integrated, whole system that is, as Fred Kirschenmann, former NOSB Livestock Chair describes, an "organism" whose individual parts mesh together into one whole production system. For example, in livestock production, the organic farmer relies on biological processes to integrate the management of individual parts including nutrient inputs, the animals themselves, the environment in which they live and the waste that is produced. These individual parts are connected, each component depending on every other component. When these parts are balanced within the production system, the system can be considered sustainable-one of the goals of organic production.

Organic food production encourages the maintenance and sustainability of this system by restricting the introduction of harmful substances and practices that reduce, or alter the connectedness of the system's components. For instance, in terrestrial livestock, organic production standards now prohibit the use of
antibiotics. Instead, good health management practices such as taking steps to minimize stress, allowing freedom of movement, providing appropriate living conditions, and organic feed optimize the health of the animal and reduce the reliance on drugs, including antibiotics. Interestingly, organic livestock producers initially did not think this was possible, however with the development of new farming practices, they eventually decided they no longer needed to use antibiotics to successfully raise organic livestock. This "raising of the bar" has enabled organic livestock producers to clearly set their product apart from conventional terrestrial production and obtain a premium price for it.

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