Question
Do you think organic farms should have to be certified to be sold as organic? Would you like this act to be changed to where farms aren't required to be certified to be sold as organic?


Answer
Organic farms should be "certified organic" in order for the food they grow to be sold as organic, otherwise there would be no regulations on what they could put on their crops, and we would never know which foods were organic.

The restrictions to become organically certified are strict and most importantly toxic chemicals can not be put into the soil, or on the plants. These chemicals eventually work their way down through the soil into our water tables and wells, rivers and streams, not to mention our own body cells when we consume them.

You cannot just wash off chemicals, they are in every cell of the plant if the soil they were grown in had chemicals in it.  It is their food.  Then it becomes your food.

Foods grown with chemicals are not as resistant to insect attacks, thus the need for pesticides.  Chemicals weaken the plant's immune system and insects attack the weakened plants.  Nature is forced out of a natural balance.

Chemical pesticides that kill pests kill beneficial insects at the same time.  The insects are eaten by birds, birds are eaten by animals, and we eat the animals. Toxic chemicals are into locked into the food chain. We are poisoning wildlife, and ourselves, at the same time.

A well-balanced organic soil will produce a healthy plant.  A healthy plant will be able to resist insect attacks and produce a healthier crop, and the environment is not poisoned by any toxic chemicals.

Organic growing is sustainable growing. Sustainability is a process whereby a chain of events supports the entire growing system, it is renewable, and not chemically dependent.   

It is only sustainability that will enable us, in the long run, to survive on this planet.

That is why it is important to grow organically, why it needs to be regulated by certification, and why we need to buy organic food and support organic farmers.

For more information, visit our website: http://www.avant-gardening.com