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Organic - Organic food glossary Category: Food and Drink > Organic farming Date & country: 02/07/2014, UK Words: 30

Sustainable
Capable of being continued with minimal long-term effect on the environment, as with sustainable agriculture, which integrates three main goals: environmental stewardship, farm profitability, and prosperous farming communities. Sustainable development recognizes the need to work with living environments in a balanced manner.

Wild-Crafted
Also appears as

Soil Association Certification Ltd.
United Kingdoms' leading certifier. They certify up to 80% of Europe's organic food solld in that country. For more information, www.soilassociation.org

Persistent Toxic Chemicals
Detrimental materials that remain active for a long time after their application and can be found in the environment years, and even decades, after they were used.

Paraben-Free
Used to describe products that do not have parabens, which are chemical preservatives added to personal-care products for extending shelf life, and widely used in tens of thousand of types of cosmetic products today. They are suspected of presenting risks to the reproductive system. The four main parabens in use are methyl, ethyl, propyl, and butylparabens.

Organic Trade Association (OTA)
The Organic Trade Association is a membership-based business association that focuses on the organic business community in North America. The OTA's mission is to promote and protect the growth of organic trade to benefit the environment, farmers, the public, and the economy. The OTA is a member of IFOAM.

Organic Consumers Association (OCA)
A research and action center for the organic and fair trade movements that campaigns for what they refer to as health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA is a proponent of labeling for genetically engineered food.

Organic Farming
Agriculture that does not use chemicals, genetic modification, or irradiation, using only natural products. The term

Organic Matter
Any material that was recently living or produced by a living organism and is capable of being decomposed.

No Preservatives
A product that is not made with any of the ingredients nitrates, nitrites, BHT, and sulfites.

Natural
Natural foods do not contain additives or preservatives but ingredients may have been grown using conventional farming methods or genetically engineered grain. Because natural products are not regulated, it is important not to confuse them with organic!

National Organic Program (NOP)
In 1990, Congress passed the Organic Food Production Act, which called on the USDA to establish national standards for growing, processing, and marketing organic products. NOP was established to create a system of criteria for certifying organic food by the USDA.

Irradiation
Exposure to ionizing radiation. Food irradiation is a synthetic process that is not allowed in organic production.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)
The use of different techniques in combination to control pests, with an emphasis on methods that are least injurious to the environment and most specific to the particular pest. For example, pest-resistant plant varieties, regular monitoring for pests, pesticides, natural predators of the pest, and good stand management practices may be used singly or in combination to control or prevent particular pests.

Humus
The result of organic material being decomposed into a dark soil-like material that contains plant nutrients.

Heirloom
An antique variety of a plant popular in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth centuries, the seeds of which have been passed down from generation to generation.

Genetically Modified Organism (GMO)
A plant, animal, or microorganism that is transformed by genetic engineering. A product that is the result of genetic engineering is called a

Genetically Engineered (GE)
Genetically engineered foods have had foreign genes inserted into their genetic codes. Genetic engineering can be done with plants, animals, or microorganisms. GE practices are sometimes referred to as bioengineered or biotechnology.

Free Range
Of, relating to, or produced by animals, especially poultry, that have access to outside spaces and are permitted to graze or forage and range freely for food rather than being confined in an enclosure or feedlot as with free-range chickens. Sometimes referred to as free-roaming. Conditions for the animals are also typically less crowded.

Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA)
Established in 1996, the FQPA amendments changed the way the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates pesticides. The requirements included a new safety standard

Farmers
Farmers

Fair Trade
Items that bear a fair trade label are internationally produced and include banana, pineapple, coffee, and chocolate that typically come from developing countries where workers aren

Crop Rotation
A system of planting where crops vary from season to season; one crop is not grown each year as a new one replaces the one before.

Eco-conscious
Someone who is referred to as eco-conscious is conscious of the environment and the ecosystems that support it. People who are eco-conscious are aware of how our buying habits, living habits and eating habits impact the earth.

Composting
Compost is composed of organic matter that is recycled back into the earth. Organic matter may include lawn clippings, vegetable scraps from the kitchen, and untreated papers. These materials are combined and become a nutrient-rich mixture that enriches the soil.

Cover Cropping
A crop that provides temporary protection for delicate seedlings and/or provides a canopy for seasonal soil protection and improvement between normal crop-production periods. Except in orchards where permanent vegetative cover is maintained, cover crops are usually grown for one year or less. When plowed under and incorporated into the soil, cover crops are also referred to as green manure crops.

Certifying Agent
Certifying agents are associated with independent organizations who visit organic farms to ensure that USDA NOP standards are upheld.

Certified Naturally Grown
A non-profit organization that supports smaller local farmers that cannot afford to participate in the national organic certification program.

Certified Organic
There are four organic classifications for organic food that meet strict standards set forth by the USDA National Organic Program (NOP). For more information, see our Label Guide.

Biodynamic
Made popular by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner, biodynamic farming combines organic methods, including crop rotation and composting with special plant, animal, and mineral preparations and the rhythmic influences of the sun, moon, planets, and stars.