What the Heck is Organic Food, Anyway?

"Organic" has of late become such a catchphrase that it has entered the vernacular of the everyday American to almost everyday use. It's a word of which many people believe they know the meaning, but few do. A few seconds of hard contemplation produces a myriad of questions: What is unique about organic food as opposed to the garden-variety supermarket wares? And what about organic baby food? Is it significantly different or superior? What are the benefits? Can I trust the labels? Below run some frequently asked questions and brief answers.

Q: What is unique about organic food as opposed to the garden-variety supermarket wares?

A: Essentially the differences on your plate take place in two spheres: additives and preservatives. The former can mean anything that changes the quality of the food in color, consistency, taste and characteristics. The latter is anything that keeps food fresh for longer amounts of time and is typically some sort of sodium product.

Many additives, particularly food dyes, have been attacked as toxins. A handful of dyes have been made illegal on the American market due to reasons of human health. As the American diet is already dangerously high in sodium, there is no need for the consumption of further salts as preservatives.

On the farm level, the differences become even more dramatic. Organic food contains no genetically modified organisms, has no trace of poisonous pesticides and in grown in environmentally safe soil free of chemicals.

Q: And what about organic baby food? Is it significantly different or superior?

Organic baby food boasts all the same advantages as regular organic food listed above. Since baby's body is much more sensitive to toxins than is an adult's, the benefits of avoiding additives increase substantially. The elimination of additives and preservatives in organic baby food also quite simply means that there are fewer ingredients to which baby may develop allergies and that digestion of organic baby food is easier.