Organic Produce & Farming

For most of history, farming was organic simply because of the available materials used in agriculture. Only during the middle to late 20th and early 21st centuries, with the advent of synthetic chemicals, was a new process for fertilizing and preserving foods available. This more recent style of production is referred to as "conventional," though organic production has been the convention for a much greater period of time. With organic methods, the use of chemical pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals is not only restricted, but regulated. There may be times, however, when certain non-organic products are still used when necessary. If livestock are involved, they must be reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones, and generally fed a healthy diet (Stokstad, 2002). While controversial, in most countries around the world, produce labeled as "organic" may not be genetically modified...
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