What do the terms organic, natural, free-range, and other labels really mean? Well, in the U.S. and Canada, some of these labels may be misleading:

Natural or All-Natural
This label is meaningless because there has been no standard or accepted definition set for what natural or all-natural represents.

Free Range
This label is often found on eggs or poultry and meat. I assumed that this meant the animals were free to roam outside. Instead, what it means is that the animals are offered access to the outdoors for an ‘undetermined time period” which could literally be just a few minutes!

Organic
Products are at least 95% organic, meaning that up to 5% of the product may contain synthetic/artificial ingredients.

100% Organic
This product is completely organic. Nothing synthetic has been added to the ingredients. Redbook Magazine (September 2007 issue, pg. 108) reported any food products labeled ‘organic’ must meet the standards regulated by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

This means crops are grown without:
- synthetic pesticides
- artificial fertilizers
- irradiation (a form of radiation used to kill bacteria)
- biotechnology

And animals on organic farms:
- must eat organically grown feed
- must not be confined 100 percent of the time
- and should be raised without antibiotics or synthetic growth hormones

Although it does cost more to eat organically, there are long-term savings such as:

Health benefits: avoiding products laced with pesticides, blasted with radiation, and injected with hormones and other chemicals and agents sounds like a good thing to me! Studies have found that the nutritional value of non-organic foods (foods treated with pesticides and other agents) is much lower than those foods grown organically.

Environmental benefits: organic farming reduces pollutants in our groundwater. Plus, according to the Redbook article, organic farming uses 50 percent less energy than conventional farming methods.

Culinary benefits: have you tasted the difference between an organic strawberry and a conventional one, or even a tomato??? I didn’t even like tomatoes until we started growing our own organic ones a few summers ago. Now I can’t get enough.

If you are finding it costly to eat 100% organic, you may just want to focus on specific foods, which are known to have high toxin content. Spend the extra money when it comes to what the Environmental Working Group (check out the 'Related Links' below) calls the "dirty dozen": peaches, strawberries, nectarines, apples, spinach, celery, pears, sweet bell peppers, cherries, potatoes, lettuce, and imported grapes. These fruits and vegetables often require more pesticides to protect them from pests.

Want to learn more about labeling and organics? Check out these other articles from BellaOnline (see related links below):