What Is Organic Food Exactly?

If you are concerned about the scare stories that always seem to be in the news regarding the quality of our food then you may be wondering about the fuss surrounding what is organic food

What is organic food: How is it produced?

The process in most cases starts with organically grown crops so a quick explanation:

Organic farming produces crops and rears cattle without the use of chemicals and artificial additives.

It is farming the natural way and concentrates on producing a fertile soil.

Animals reared on organic farms are housed properly they have room to move about and behave like animals.

They are fed healthy food sources and not those laden with drugs and other chemicals.

So in summary the answer to what is organic food is.…crops and animals produced and fed with natural food and without the use of chemical additives.

What is organic food: How can it benefit me?

The most common benefit is that of taste. The example I always remember is that of comparing conventionally grown sweetcorn to the organically produced version.

The taste of the organic version was amazing and re-awoke memories of how it used to taste when I was a child. It seems the taste has been leeched out of conventional sweetcorn, along with the quality of its nutrients presumably.

Besides the obvious benefit of taste there are also environmental aspects such as fewer chemicals in the soil leading to less erosion of the countryside and pollution of our rivers with nitrates.

Besides the pleasurable benefits to your senses there are also environmental reasons to finding out what is organic food. There are also benefits to the animals and people who live and work on the farms.

Organic farms grow a mix of crops and therefore encourage a balanced Ecosystem.

Pest reducing insects are encouraged back to farms and help to protect crops.

Worms and other micro-organisms thrive in the naturally fertilized soil that can be otherwise sterile on intensive, chemically enhanced farms.

I hope that we have answered your question as to what is organic food and that you are encouraged to try some for yourself.