Nutrition facts: The truth on buying organic

A lot of varying images spring to mind when people hear the word organic. Expensive prices, healthier food, eco-friendly farming, happy animals, green sunny fields and hippies are some of those images.
But what does it take for a food or a farm to earn the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) certified Organic title? And what does that title mean?

The National Organic Program (NOP) designed by the USDA regulates the standards for any farming operation that wants to sell a product as certified organic.
The restriction list that farmers need to accommodate in order to receive the certification is extensive and includes standards such as avoiding synthetic chemical inputs like pesticides and food additives, excluding the use of genetically modified organisms and food seed strains, maintenance of farmland that has been free of chemicals for three plus years, and agreement to occasional inspection from the NOP.

The USDA organic labeling seal is given in one of three ways. First, if the product is made from entirely organic ingredients, then it receives the “100 percent Organic” certification. Products made of 95 percent organic ingredients are deemed “USDA Organic,” and the final category belongs to products with a minimum of 70 percent organic ingredients and can be labeled, “made with organic ingredients.”

It is important to realize that not all farms can afford the certification process, which includes an annual fee of between $400 and $2,000. However, these farmers may still be using organic methods to grow their products. These farms typically, but not always, include your local family owned farms.

A surefire way to know if your produce is organic is to ask your farmer. This may be impossible if your potato comes from Idaho and your orange traveled from somewhere in Florida, but if you buy your produce from Michigan farms, you can ask the local farmers that participate in the community farmer’s market.
Nutrient of the month: Thiamin

Thiamin, one of the B vitamins, is a water-soluble vitamin found in meats like pork chops, sunflower seeds, salmon and varieties of beans.
Thiamin acts primarily to help facilitate the release of energy from carbohydrates that we consume. It is so vital that a deficiency of the vitamin causes a condition known as beriberi, which causes extreme wasting of the body, enlargement of the heart, and paralysis.

No single food will supply your daily requirement of thiamin which is about 1.2mg per day, but luckily it is found in a variety of foods and is easy to incorporate into any diet.

Short URL: http://www.westernherald.com/?p=3862

Posted by HeraldAdmin on Feb 10 2009. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry

Cody Kimball
Web Manager: I'm a Communication Student at WMU, a SCUBA Diver, Boater, Ordained Minister, Notary Public, Web Designer, Film Maker, DJ, and of course a Journalist. Born and raised in Port Huron, MI and a graduate of SC4. http://www.codykimball.com