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Submitted by Carmenza Montague on Mon, 08/03/2009 - 19:11
"If people really understood the connection of environmental damage to their own lives, they would be much more motivated to preserve and protect the environment." --Dr. Eric Chivian, director of Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment, in Veterinary World, Spring 1999.
Organic, per the chemistry book, refers to chemical compounds that contain carbon. Organic farming, however, was a term coined by Lord Northbourne in his book Look to the Land, published in 1940 as he saw the “farm as an organism,” “a living whole”.
The organic movement was born in the early 1900s as a response to the introduction of industrial agriculture and the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides. In 1972, the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM) was created in Versailles, France as an umbrella and a guide for member organizations, nowadays representing 108 countries.
Since 2002, the National Organic Program (NOP) under the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) develops, implements, and administers national production, handling, and labeling standards for organic agricultural products. It also accredits the certifying agents (foreign and domestic) who inspect organic production and handling operations to certify that they meet USDA standards.
For more details, visit:
http://www.cleangreenguy.com/thought-leadership/logs/carmenzamontague/what%E2%80%99s-confusion-organic