Why 'organic'? 'Organic' is a rather odd name since all food is organic, meaning that it's made from living things. But it seems to have stuck. Organic farming is called 'biological farming' in some countries.Then there's biodynamic farming... and permaculture. All these slightly different types or farming are sustainable which is the most important thing to remember. Confusing, isn't it!

What's so great about organic food? It looks much the same as ordinary food produced by modern farming. But there are differences.

• When you buy organic food, you support farming which is sustainable. Because no hazardous chemicals are used, farmers don't get contaminated and nor do their families
• Organic farming is friendly to our planet and the wonderful diversity of living things on it (often called biodiversity)
• Organic foods should be free of pesticide (or other synthetic chemical) residues. Nobody knows what the long term effects of eating slightly contaminated food might be. High levels of pesticide residues can kill or poison people. Lower levels of residues may cause cancers. And some, in much smaller amounts (just a few parts per trillion – 1,000,000,000,000!) can cause damage to a developing child's intelligence [1]
  
• There seem to be real differences in minor nutrients with organic fruit and vegetables being better. Although this is obviously very important, hardly anyone has done any serious work on just how much more nutritious organic food might be [2].
• Organic produce does not contain genetically modified organisms
  
• Many people claim that organic food tastes better
• A study from Washington State University (US) shows that organic food makes better business sense as well as being better tasting and kinder to the planet [3]
  

Here's some useful links which tell you much more about why sustainable organic farming is a method whose time has come:

The Soil Association: Benefits of Organic Farming
Centre for Environment and Society: Sustainable Agriculture
Union of Concerned Scientists: Sustainable Agriculture
Rodale's Organic Gardening: What does it mean to garden organically?
Ten top reasons to buy organic foods: Soil Association information sheet, Localfoodworks

1. New Internationalist, interview with Dr Theo Colborn, WWF Global Toxics Initiative, May 2000, 17
2. Is Agribusiness Making Food Less Nutritious? Today's non-organic fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products apparently contain fewer vitamins and nutrients than in the past
3. New Scientist, 21/4/01, 15