A great place to start for the organic newbie is understanding USDA organic labeling and learning what the word organic does and doesn’t mean. When you’re shopping in the store you will come across a lot of options for healthy, natural and organic foods. Especially these days where the organic market is growing in leaps and bounds. Big money companies are fighting for your dollar and as a result muddying the word “organic” with their marketing gimmicks. Being a savvy shopper will help you make educated purchases and be self-assured... 

The other day I posted the information that I had found regarding Wal-Mart “Organics” and one of my readers, thegreenmommy, posted this great comment: “…when articles tackle the subject of deceptive use of “organic,” it makes consumers doubt the entire organic food industry’s validity.” So, what does “Organic” stand for? Integrity Trust Community Health Sustainable Living Renewable Resources These are just a few words that define what”organic” means to me but for now, I want to talk about the formal... 

In our grocery stores we see such labels as natural, home-free, free-range and others but these terms don’t mean they are organic. These claims maybe true but they aren’t interchangeable with organic. So how do we know what is or isn’t organic? We start with looking for a label whether it’s a single-ingredient food such as fruits and vegetables or multiple-ingredient foods such as pasta sauce or bread. The label we are looking for is the USDA Organic Label, as shown bellow. This ensures that the product is at least 95-100% organic....