Organic Madness

I see organic labels being slapped onto produce and meat products like wildfire. It seems like the food industry is meandering toward this ethic, one that people have shown they desired through their intensified desire for Whole Foods and farm-to-table restaurants. An old saying applies here: ‘If you can’t beat them, join them.”

But what does it mean to be organic? What does the certification encompass? Does it mean that, from start to finish, from the beginning of the food’s growth to its placement on the supermarket shelf, is everything left untouched and natural processes are what guided it?

As a consumer, it certainly must confusing to see this label and all the questions it comes with. But surely, not all of them are bad questions, skewed toward negativity. Maybe we want insight on practices our fruits and vegetables undertake as they mature. Are they left alone while they sprout from the ground or from the tree? When they are packaged, are they left out in the sun for days, enabling the plastics in the packaging to diffuse onto the surface? Or are they pre-frozen before being stocked?

We ask these questions to alleviate the confusion around what it means to be organic. We may never know for sure, but at the very least we can inquire. Developing this ethic will allow us to understand the food practices that keep us alive.