Organic foods | Wikipedia audio article

Organic food is food produced by methods that
comply with the standards of organic farming. Standards vary worldwide, but organic farming
in general features practices that strive to cycle resources, promote ecological balance,
and conserve biodiversity. Organizations regulating organic products
may restrict the use of certain pesticides and fertilizers in farming. In general, organic foods are also usually
not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents or synthetic food additives.Currently,
the European Union, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Japan, and many other countries require
producers to obtain special certification in order to market food as organic within
their borders.

In the context of these regulations, organic
food is produced in a way that complies with organic standards set by regional organizations,
national governments and international organizations. Although the produce of kitchen gardens may
be organic, selling food with an organic label is regulated by governmental food safety authorities,
such as the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) or European Commission (EC).Fertilizing and
the use of pesticides in conventional farming has caused, and is causing, enormous damage
worldwide to local ecosystems, biodiversity, groundwater and drinking water supplies, and
sometimes farmer health and fertility. These environmental, economic and health issues
are intended to be minimized or avoided in organic farming. From a consumers perspective, there is not
sufficient evidence in scientific and medical literature to support claims that organic
food is safer or healthier to eat than conventionally grown food.

While there may be some differences in the
nutrient and antinutrient contents of organically- and conventionally-produced food, the variable
nature of food production and handling makes it difficult to generalize results. Claims that organic food tastes better are
generally not supported by tests. == Meaning and origin of the term == For the vast majority of its history, agriculture
can be described as having been organic; only during the 20th century was a large supply
of new products, generally deemed not organic, introduced into food production. The organic farming movement arose in the
1940s in response to the industrialization of agriculture.In 1939, Lord Northbourne coined
the term organic farming in his book Look to the Land (1940), out of his conception
of "the farm as organism," to describe a holistic, ecologically balanced approach to farming—in
contrast to what he called chemical farming, which relied on "imported fertility" and "cannot
be self-sufficient nor an organic whole." Early soil scientists also described the differences
in soil composition when animal manures were used as "organic", because they contain carbon
compounds where superphosphates and haber process nitrogen do not.

Their respective use affects humus content
of soil. This is different from the scientific use
of the term "organic" in chemistry, which refers to a class of molecules that contain
carbon, especially those involved in the chemistry of life. This class of molecules includes everything
likely to be considered edible, and include most pesticides and toxins too, therefore
the term "organic" and, especially, the term "inorganic" (sometimes wrongly used as a contrast
by the popular press) as they apply to organic chemistry is an equivocation fallacy when
applied to farming, the production of food, and to foodstuffs themselves. Properly used in this agricultural science
context, "organic" refers to the methods grown and processed, not necessarily the chemical
composition of the food.

Ideas that organic food could be healthier
and better for the environment originated in the early days of the organic movement
as a result of publications like the 1943 book The Living Soil and Farming and Gardening
for Health or Disease (1945).In the industrial era, organic gardening reached a modest level
of popularity in the United States in the 1950s. In the 1960s, environmentalists and the counterculture
championed organic food, but it was only in the 1970s that a national marketplace for
organic foods developed.Early consumers interested in organic food would look for non-chemically
treated, non-use of unapproved pesticides, fresh or minimally processed food. They mostly had to buy directly from growers.

Later, "Know your farmer, know your food"
became the motto of a new initiative instituted by the USDA in September 2009. Personal definitions of what constituted "organic"
were developed through firsthand experience: by talking to farmers, seeing farm conditions,
and farming activities. Small farms grew vegetables (and raised livestock)
using organic farming practices, with or without certification, and the individual consumer
monitored. Small specialty health food stores and co-operatives
were instrumental to bringing organic food to a wider audience. As demand for organic foods continued to increase,
high volume sales through mass outlets such as supermarkets rapidly replaced the direct
farmer connection. Today, many large corporate farms have an
organic division.

However, for supermarket consumers, food production
is not easily observable, and product labeling, like "certified organic," is relied upon. Government regulations and third-party inspectors
are looked to for assurance.In the 1970s, interest in organic food grew with the publication
of Silent Spring and the rise of the environmental movement, and was also spurred by food-related
health scares like the concerns about Alar that arose in the mid-1980s. ===
Legal definition === Organic food production is a self-regulated
industry with government oversight in some countries, distinct from private gardening. Currently, the European Union, the United
States, Canada, Japan, and many other countries require producers to obtain special certification
based on government-defined standards in order to market food as organic within their borders. In the context of these regulations, foods
marketed as organic are produced in a way that complies with organic standards set by
national governments and international organic industry trade organizations.

In the United States, organic production is
managed in accordance with the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990 (OFPA) and regulations
in Title 7, Part 205 of the Code of Federal Regulations to respond to site-specific conditions
by integrating cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources,
promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. If livestock are involved, the livestock must
be reared with regular access to pasture and without the routine use of antibiotics or
growth hormones.Processed organic food usually contains only organic ingredients. If non-organic ingredients are present, at
least a certain percentage of the food's total plant and animal ingredients must be organic
(95% in the United States, Canada, and Australia).

Foods claiming to be organic must be free
of artificial food additives, and are often processed with fewer artificial methods, materials
and conditions, such as chemical ripening, food irradiation, and genetically modified
ingredients. Pesticides are allowed as long as they are
not synthetic. However, under US federal organic standards,
if pests and weeds are not controllable through management practices, nor via organic pesticides
and herbicides, "a substance included on the National List of synthetic substances allowed
for use in organic crop production may be applied to prevent, suppress, or control pests,
weeds, or diseases." Several groups have called for organic standards
to prohibit nanotechnology on the basis of the precautionary principle in light of unknown
risks of nanotechnology.

The use of nanotechnology-based products in
the production of organic food is prohibited in some jurisdictions (Canada, the UK, and
Australia) and is unregulated in others.To be certified organic, products must be grown
and manufactured in a manner that adheres to standards set by the country they are sold
in: Australia: NASAA Organic Standard
Canada: European Union: EU-Eco-regulation
Sweden: KRAV United Kingdom: DEFRA
Poland: Association of Polish Ecology Norway: Debio Organic certification
India: National Program for Organic Production (NPOP)
Indonesia: BIOCert, run by Agricultural Ministry of Indonesia. Japan: JAS Standards
Mexico: Consejo Nacional de Producción Orgánica, department of Sagarpa
New Zealand: there are three bodies; BioGro, AsureQuality, and OFNZ
United States: National Organic Program (NOP) StandardsIn the United States, there are four
different levels or categories for organic labeling. 1)�?100%’ Organic: This means
that all ingredients are produced organically.

It also may have the USDA seal. 2)�?Organic’: At least 95% or more of the
ingredients are organic. 3)’Made With Organic Ingredients': Contains
at least 70% organic ingredients. 4)�?Less Than 70% Organic Ingredients’:
Three of the organic ingredients must be listed under the ingredient section of the label. In the U.S., the food label "natural" or "all
natural" does not mean that the food was produced and processed organically. == Public perception ==
There is widespread public belief that organic food is safer, more nutritious, and better
tasting than conventional food, which has largely contributed to the development of
an organic food culture. Consumers purchase organic foods for different
reasons, including concerns about the effects of conventional farming practices on the environment,
human health, and animal welfare.The most important reason for purchasing organic foods
seems to be beliefs about the products' health-giving properties and higher nutritional value.

These beliefs are promoted by the organic
food industry, and have fueled increased demand for organic food despite higher prices and
difficulty in confirming these claimed benefits scientifically. Organic labels also stimulate the consumer
to view the product as having more positive nutritional value.Psychological effects such
as the “halo” effect, which are related to the choice and consumption of organic food,
are also important motivating factors in the purchase of organic food. The perception that organic food is low-calorie
food or health food appears to be common.In China the increasing demand for organic products
of all kinds, and in particular milk, baby food and infant formula, has been "spurred
by a series of food scares, the worst being the death of six children who had consumed
baby formula laced with melamine" in 2009 and the 2008 Chinese milk scandal, making
the Chinese market for organic milk the largest in the world as of 2014.

A Pew Research Centre survey in 2012 indicated
that 41% of Chinese consumers thought of food safety as a very big problem, up by three
times from 12% in 2008. === Taste ===
There is no good evidence that organic food tastes better than its non-organic counterparts. There is evidence that some organic fruit
is drier than conventionally grown fruit; a slightly drier fruit may also have a more
intense flavor due to the higher concentration of flavoring substances.Some foods, such as
bananas, are picked when unripe, are cooled to prevent ripening while they are shipped
to market, and then are induced to ripen quickly by exposing them to propylene or ethylene,
chemicals produced by plants to induce their own ripening; as flavor and texture changes
during ripening, this process may affect those qualities of the treated fruit.

== Chemical composition == With respect to chemical differences in the
composition of organically grown food compared with conventionally grown food, studies have
examined differences in nutrients, antinutrients, and pesticide residues. These studies generally suffer from confounding
variables, and are difficult to generalize due to differences in the tests that were
done, the methods of testing, and because the vagaries of agriculture affect the chemical
composition of food; these variables include variations in weather (season to season as
well as place to place); crop treatments (fertilizer, pesticide, etc.); soil composition; the cultivar
used, and in the case of meat and dairy products, the parallel variables in animal production. Treatment of the foodstuffs after initial
gathering (whether milk is pasteurized or raw), the length of time between harvest and
analysis, as well as conditions of transport and storage, also affect the chemical composition
of a given item of food.

Additionally, there is evidence that organic
produce is drier than conventionally grown produce; a higher content in any chemical
category may be explained by higher concentration rather than in absolute amounts. === Nutrients ===
Many people believe that organic foods have higher content of nutrients and thus are healthier
than conventionally produced foods. However, scientists have not been equally
convinced that this is the case as the research conducted in the field has not shown consistent
results. A 2009 systematic review found that organically
produced foodstuffs are not richer in vitamins and minerals than conventionally produced
foodstuffs. The results of the systematic review only
showed a lower nitrogen and higher phosphorus content in organic produced compared to conventionally
grown foodstuffs. Content of vitamin C, calcium, potassium,
total soluble solids, copper, iron, nitrates, manganese, and sodium did not differ between
the two categories.A 2012 survey of the scientific literature did not find significant differences
in the vitamin content of organic and conventional plant or animal products, and found that results
varied from study to study.

Produce studies reported on ascorbic acid
(vitamin C) (31 studies), beta-carotene (a precursor for vitamin A) (12 studies), and
alpha-tocopherol (a form of vitamin E) (5 studies) content; milk studies reported on
beta-carotene (4 studies) and alpha-tocopherol levels (4 studies). Few studies examined vitamin content in meats,
but these found no difference in beta-carotene in beef, alpha-tocopherol in pork or beef,
or vitamin A (retinol) in beef. The authors analyzed 11 other nutrients reported
in studies of produce. A 2011 literature review found that organic
foods had a higher micronutrient content overall than conventionally produced foods.Similarly,
organic chicken contained higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids than conventional chicken. The authors found no difference in the protein
or fat content of organic and conventional raw milk.A 2016 systematic review and meta-analysis
found that organic meat had comparable or slightly lower levels of saturated fat and
monounsaturated fat as conventional meat, but higher levels of both overall and n-3
polyunsaturated fatty acids. Another meta-analysis published the same year
found no significant differences in levels of saturated and monounsaturated fat between
organic and conventional milk, but significantly higher levels of overall and n-3 polyunsaturated
fatty acids in organic milk than in conventional milk.

=== Anti-nutrients ===
The amount of nitrogen content in certain vegetables, especially green leafy vegetables
and tubers, has been found to be lower when grown organically as compared to conventionally. When evaluating environmental toxins such
as heavy metals, the USDA has noted that organically raised chicken may have lower arsenic levels. Early literature reviews found no significant
evidence that levels of arsenic, cadmium or other heavy metals differed significantly
between organic and conventional food products. However, a 2014 review found lower concentrations
of cadmium, particularly in organically grown grains. === Phytochemicals ===
A 2014 meta-analysis of 343 studies on phytochemical composition found that organically grown crops
had lower cadmium and pesticide residues, and 17% higher concentrations of polyphenols
than conventionally grown crops. Concentrations of phenolic acids, flavanones,
stilbenes, flavones, flavonols, and anthocyanins were elevated, with flavanones being 69% higher.

Studies on phytochemical composition of organic
crops have numerous deficiencies, including absence of standardized measurements and poor
reporting on measures of variability, duplicate or selective reporting of data, publication
bias, lack of rigor in studies comparing pesticide residue levels in organic and conventional
crops, the geographical origin of samples, and inconsistency of farming and post-harvest
methods. === Pesticide residues === The amount of pesticides that remain in or
on food is called pesticide residue. In the United States, before a pesticide can
be used on a food crop, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency must determine whether that
pesticide can be used without posing a risk to human health.A 2012 meta-analysis determined
that detectable pesticide residues were found in 7% of organic produce samples and 38% of
conventional produce samples. This result was statistically heterogeneous,
potentially because of the variable level of detection used among these studies.

Only three studies reported the prevalence
of contamination exceeding maximum allowed limits; all were from the European Union. A 2014 meta-analysis found that conventionally
grown produce was four times more likely to have pesticide residue than organically grown
crops.The American Cancer Society has stated that no evidence exists that the small amount
of pesticide residue found on conventional foods will increase the risk of cancer, although
it recommends thoroughly washing fruits and vegetables. They have also stated that there is no research
to show that organic food reduces cancer risk compared to foods grown with conventional
farming methods.The Environmental Protection Agency maintains strict guidelines on the
regulation of pesticides by setting a tolerance on the amount of pesticide residue allowed
to be in or on any particular food.

Although some residue may remain at the time
of harvest, residue tend to decline as the pesticide breaks down over time. In addition, as the commodities are washed
and processed prior to sale, the residues often diminish further. === Bacterial contamination ===
A 2012 meta-analysis determined that prevalence of E. coli contamination was not statistically
significant (7% in organic produce and 6% in conventional produce). While bacterial contamination is common among
both organic and conventional animal products, differences in the prevalence of bacterial
contamination between organic and conventional animal products were also statistically insignificant. == Organic meat production requirements == ===
United States === Organic meat certification in the United States
requires farm animals to be raised according to USDA organic regulations throughout their
lives. These regulations require that livestock are
fed certified organic food that contains no animal byproducts. Further, organic farm animals can receive
no growth hormones or antibiotics, and they must be raised using techniques that protect
native species and other natural resources. Irradiation and genetic engineering are not
allowed with organic animal production. One of the major differences in organic animal
husbandry protocol is the "pasture rule": minimum requirements for time on pasture do
vary somewhat by species and between the certifying agencies, but the common theme is to require
as much time on pasture as possible and reasonable.

== Health and safety ==
There is little scientific evidence of benefit or harm to human health from a diet high in
organic food, and conducting any sort of rigorous experiment on the subject is very difficult. A 2012 meta-analysis noted that "there have
been no long-term studies of health outcomes of populations consuming predominantly organic
versus conventionally produced food controlling for socioeconomic factors; such studies would
be expensive to conduct." A 2009 meta-analysis noted that "most of the
included articles did not study direct human health outcomes. In ten of the included studies (83%), a primary
outcome was the change in antioxidant activity. Antioxidant status and activity are useful
biomarkers but do not directly equate to a health outcome. Of the remaining two articles, one recorded
proxy-reported measures of atopic manifestations as its primary health outcome, whereas the
other article examined the fatty acid composition of breast milk and implied possible health
benefits for infants from the consumption of different amounts of conjugated linoleic
acids from breast milk." In addition, as discussed above, difficulties
in accurately and meaningfully measuring chemical differences between organic and conventional
food make it difficult to extrapolate health recommendations based solely on chemical analysis.

As of 2012, the scientific consensus is that
while "consumers may choose to buy organic fruit, vegetables and meat because they believe
them to be more nutritious than other food…. the balance of current scientific evidence
does not support this view." The evidence of beneficial health effects
of organic food consumption is scarce, which has led researchers to call for more long-term
studies. In addition, studies that suggest that organic
foods may be healthier than conventional foods face significant methodological challenges,
such as the correlation between organic food consumption and factors known to promote a
healthy lifestyle.

When the American Academy of Pediatrics reviewed
the literature on organic foods in 2012, they found that "current evidence does not support
any meaningful nutritional benefits or deficits from eating organic compared with conventionally
grown foods, and there are no well-powered human studies that directly demonstrate health
benefits or disease protection as a result of consuming an organic diet." ===
Consumer safety === ====
Pesticide exposure ==== The main difference between organic and conventional
food products are the chemicals involved during production and processing. The residues of those chemicals in food products
have dubious effects on human health. All food products on the market including
those that contain residues of pesticides, antibiotics, growth hormones and other types
of chemicals that are used during production and processing are said to be safe.Claims
of improved safety of organic food has largely focused on pesticide residues.

These concerns are driven by the facts that
"(1) acute, massive exposure to pesticides can cause significant adverse health effects;
(2) food products have occasionally been contaminated with pesticides, which can result in acute
toxicity; and (3) most, if not all, commercially purchased food contains trace amounts of agricultural
pesticides." However, as is frequently noted in the scientific
literature: "What does not follow from this, however, is that chronic exposure to the trace
amounts of pesticides found in food results in demonstrable toxicity.

This possibility is practically impossible
to study and quantify;" therefore firm conclusions about the relative safety of organic foods
have been hampered by the difficulty in proper study design and relatively small number of
studies directly comparing organic food to conventional food. Additionally, the Carcinogenic Potency Project,
which is a part of the US EPA's Distributed Structure-Searchable Toxicity (DSSTox) Database
Network, has been systemically testing the carcinogenicity of chemicals, both natural
and synthetic, and building a publicly available database of the results for the past ~30 years.

Their work attempts to fill in the gaps in
our scientific knowledge of the carcinogenicity of all chemicals, both natural and synthetic,
as the scientists conducting the Project described in the journal, Science, in 1992: Toxicological
examination of synthetic chemicals, without similar examination of chemicals that occur
naturally, has resulted in an imbalance in both the data on and the perception of chemical
carcinogens. Three points that we have discussed indicate
that comparisons should be made with natural as well as synthetic chemicals.1) The vast
proportion of chemicals that humans are exposed to occur naturally. Nevertheless, the public tends to view chemicals
as only synthetic and to think of synthetic chemicals as toxic despite the fact that every
natural chemical is also toxic at some dose.

The daily average exposure of Americans to
burnt material in the diet is ~2000 mg, and exposure to natural pesticides (the chemicals
that plants produce to defend themselves) is ~1500 mg. In comparison, the total daily exposure to
all synthetic pesticide residues combined is ~0.09 mg. Thus, we estimate that 99.99% of the pesticides
humans ingest are natural. Despite this enormously greater exposure to
natural chemicals, 79% (378 out of 479) of the chemicals tested for carcinogenicity in
both rats and mice are synthetic (that is, do not occur naturally).

2) It has often been wrongly assumed that
humans have evolved defenses against the natural chemicals in our diet but not against the
synthetic chemicals. However, defenses that animals have evolved
are mostly general rather than specific for particular chemicals; moreover, defenses are
generally inducible and therefore protect well from low doses of both synthetic and
natural chemicals. 3) Because the toxicology of natural and synthetic
chemicals is similar, one expects (and finds) a similar positivity rate for carcinogenicity
among synthetic and natural chemicals. The positivity rate among chemicals tested
in rats and mice is ~50%. Therefore, because humans are exposed to so
many more natural than synthetic chemicals (by weight and by number), humans are exposed
to an enormous background of rodent carcinogens, as defined by high-dose tests on rodents. We have shown that even though only a tiny
proportion of natural pesticides in plant foods have been tested, the 29 that are rodent
carcinogens among the 57 tested, occur in more than 50 common plant foods.

It is probable that almost every fruit and
vegetable in the supermarket contains natural pesticides that are rodent carcinogens. While studies have shown via chemical analysis,
as discussed above, that organically grown fruits and vegetables have significantly lower
pesticide residue levels, the significance of this finding on actual health risk reduction
is debatable as both conventional foods and organic foods generally have pesticide levels
well below government established guidelines for what is considered safe. This view has been echoed by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture and the UK Food Standards Agency.A study published by the National Research Council
in 1993 determined that for infants and children, the major source of exposure to pesticides
is through diet. A study published in 2006 by Lu et al. measured
the levels of organophosphorus pesticide exposure in 23 school children before and after replacing
their diet with organic food.

In this study it was found that levels of
organophosphorus pesticide exposure dropped from negligible levels to undetectable levels
when the children switched to an organic diet, the authors presented this reduction as a
significant reduction in risk. The conclusions presented in Lu et al. were
criticized in the literature as a case of bad scientific communication.More specifically,
claims related to pesticide residue of increased risk of infertility or lower sperm counts
have not been supported by the evidence in the medical literature. Likewise the American Cancer Society (ACS)
has stated their official position that "whether organic foods carry a lower risk of cancer
because they are less likely to be contaminated by compounds that might cause cancer is largely
unknown." Reviews have noted that the risks from microbiological
sources or natural toxins are likely to be much more significant than short term or chronic
risks from pesticide residues. ==== Microbiological contamination ====
In looking at possible increased risk to safety from organic food consumption, reviews have
found that although there may be increased risk from microbiological contamination due
to increased manure use as fertilizer from organisms like E.

Coli O157:H7 during organic
produce production, there is little evidence of actual incidence of outbreaks which can
be positively blamed on organic food production. The 2011 Germany E. coli O104:H4 outbreak
was blamed on organic farming of bean sprouts. === Environmental safety ===
From an environmental and economical perspective, fertilizing, overproduction and the use of
pesticides in conventional farming has caused, and is causing, enormous damage worldwide
to local ecosystems, biodiversity, groundwater and drinking water supplies, and sometimes
farmer's health and fertility. == Economics ==
Demand for organic foods is primarily driven by concerns for personal health and for the
environment. Global sales for organic foods climbed by
more than 170 percent since 2002 reaching more than $63 billion in 2011 while certified
organic farmland remained relatively small at less than 2 percent of total farmland under
production, increasing in OECD and EU countries (which account for the majority of organic
production) by 35 percent for the same time period.

Organic products typically cost 10 to 40%
more than similar conventionally produced products, to several times the price. Processed organic foods vary in price when
compared to their conventional counterparts. While organic food accounts for 1–2% of
total food production worldwide, the organic food sales market is growing rapidly with
between 5 and 10 percent of the food market share in the United States according to the
Organic Trade Association, significantly outpacing sales growth volume in dollars of conventional
food products. World organic food sales jumped from US $23
billion in 2002 to $63 billion in 2011. === Asia ===
Production and consumption of organic products is rising rapidly in Asia, and both China
and India are becoming global producers of organic crops and a number of countries, particularly
China and Japan, also becoming large consumers of organic food and drink. The disparity between production and demand,
is leading to a two-tier organic food industry, typified by significant and growing imports
of primary organic products such as dairy and beef from Australia, Europe, New Zealand
and the United States. ChinaChina's organic food production was originally
for exportation in the early 2000s. Due to the food safety crisis since the late
2000s, China's domestic market outweighed the exportation market.

The organic food production in China involves
diverse players. Besides certified organic food production
mainly conducted by private organic food companies, there are also non-certified organic farming
practiced by entrepreneurs and civil society organizations. These initiatives have unique marketing channels
such as ecological farmers' markets and community-supported agriculture emerging in and around Chinese
major cities.China’s domestic organic market is the fourth largest in the world. The Chinese Organic Food Development Center
estimated domestic sales of organic food products to be around US$500 million per annum as of
2013. This is predicted to increase by 30 percent
to 50 percent in 2014. As of 2015, organic foods made up about 1%
of the total Chinese food market.China is the world’s biggest infant formula market
with $12.4 billion in sales annually; of this, organic infant formula and baby food accounted
for approximately 5.5 per cent of sales in 2011.

Australian organic infant formula and baby
food producer Bellamy's Organic have reported that their sales in this market grew 70 per
cent annually over the period 2008-2013, while Organic Dairy Farmers of Australia, reported
that exports of long-life organic milk to China had grown by 20 to 30 per cent per year
over the same period.Japan In 2010, the Japanese organic market was estimated
to be around $1.3 billion. === North America ===
United States In 2012 the total size of the organic food
market in the United States was about $30 billion (out of the total market for organic
and natural consumer products being about $81 billion)Organic food is the fastest growing
sector of the American food industry.Organic food sales have grown by 17 to 20 percent
a year in the early 2000s while sales of conventional food have grown only about 2 to 3 percent
a year. The US organic market grew 9.5% in 2011, breaking
the $30bn barrier for the first time, and continued to outpace sales of non-organic
food.In 2003 organic products were available in nearly 20,000 natural food stores and 73%
of conventional grocery stores.Organic products accounted for 3.7% of total food and beverage
sales, and 11.4% of all fruit and vegetable sales in the year 2009.As of 2003, two thirds
of organic milk and cream and half of organic cheese and yogurt are sold through conventional
supermarkets.As of 2012, most independent organic food processors in the USA had been
acquired by multinational firms.In order for a product to become USDA organic certified,
the farmer cannot plant genetically modified seeds and livestock cannot eat genetically
modified plants.

Farmers must provide substantial evidence
showing there was no genetic modification involved in the operation.Canada
Organic food sales surpassed $1 billion in 2006, accounting for 0.9% of food sales in
Canada. By 2012, Canadian organic food sales reached
$3 billion. Organic food sales by grocery stores were
28% higher in 2006 than in 2005. British Columbians account for 13% of the
Canadian population, but purchased 26% of the organic food sold in Canada in 2006. === Europe ===
Denmark In 2012, organic products accounted for 7.8%
of the total retail consumption market in Denmark, the highest national market share
in the world. Many public institutions have voluntarily
committed themselves to buy some organic food and in Copenhagen 75 % of all food served
in public institutions is organic. A governmental action plan initiated in 2012-2014
aims at 60 % organic food in all public institutions across the country before 2020. In 1987, the first Danish Action Plan was
implemented which was meant to support and stimulate farmers to switch from conventional
food production systems to organic ones . Since then Denmark has constantly worked on further
developing the market by promoting organic food and keeping prices low in comparison
to conventional food products by offering farmers subvention and extra support if they
choose to produce organic food.

Then and even today is the bench mark for
organic food policy and certification of organic food in the whole world. The new European Organic food label and organic
food policy was developed based on the 1987 Danish Model.Austria
In 2011, 7.4% of all food products sold in Austrian supermarkets (including discount
stores) were organic. In 2007, 8,000 different organic products
were available.Italy Since 2000, the use of some organic food is
compulsory in Italian schools and hospitals. A 2002 law of the Emilia Romagna region implemented
in 2005, explicitly requires that the food in nursery and primary schools (from 3 months
to 10 years) must be 100% organic, and the food in meals at schools, universities and
hospitals must be at least 35% organic.Poland In 2005 7 percent of Polish consumers buy
food that was produced according to the EU-Eco-regulation.

The value of the organic market is estimated
at 50 million euros (2006).Romania 70%–80% of the local organic production,
amounting to 100 million euros in 2010, is exported. The organic products market grew to 50 million
euros in 2010.Switzerland As of 2012, 11 per cent of Swiss farms are
organic. Bio Suisse, the Swiss organic producers' association,
provides guidelines for organic farmers.Ukraine In 2009 Ukraine was in 21st place in the world
by area under cultivation of organic food. Much of its production of organic food is
exported and not enough organic food is available on the national market to satisfy the rapidly
increasing demand. The size of the internal market demand for
organic products in Ukraine was estimated at over 5 billion euros in 2011, with rapid
growth projected for this segment in the future. Multiple surveys show that the majority of
the population of Ukraine is willing to pay more to buy organic food. On the other hand, many Ukrainians have traditionally
maintained their own garden plots, and this may result in underestimation of how much
organically produced food is actually consumed in Ukraine.The Law on Organic Production was
passed by Ukraine's parliament in April 2011, which in addition to traditional demands for
certified organic food also banned the use of GMOs or any products containing GMOs.

However, the law was not signed by the President
of Ukraine and in September 2011 it was repealed by the Verkhovna Rada itself. The new Organic Production Law was adopted
by Rada and signed by President Poroshenko in July 2018.United Kingdom
Organic food sales increased from just over £100 million in 1993/94 to £1.21 billion
in 2004 (an 11% increase on 2003). In 2010, the UK sales of organic products
fell 5.9% to £1.73 billion. 86% of households buy organic products, the
most popular categories being dairies (30.5% of sales) and fresh fruits and vegetables
(23.2% of sales). 4.2% of UK farmland is organically managed. === Latin America ===
Cuba After the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1991, agricultural inputs that had previously been purchased from Eastern bloc countries
were no longer available in Cuba, and many Cuban farms converted to organic methods out
of necessity.

Consequently, organic agriculture is a mainstream
practice in Cuba, while it remains an alternative practice in most other countries. Although some products called organic in Cuba
would not satisfy certification requirements in other countries (crops may be genetically
modified, for example), Cuba exports organic citrus and citrus juices to EU markets that
meet EU organic standards. Cuba's forced conversion to organic methods
may position the country to be a global supplier of organic products. == See also.

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