Organic vs. Natural

Definitions of organic and natural from Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:

ORGANIC: of, relating to, yielding, or involving the use of food produced with the use of feed or fertilizer of plant or animal origin without employment of chemically formulated fertilizers, growth stimulants, antibiotics, or pesticides



NATURAL: food that has undergone minimal processing and contains no preservatives or artificial additives



This week I was inspired to learn the true meanings of organic and natural. On some of the food I buy, the labels usually say "Certified Organic" or "All Natural." I figured that buying either natural or organic food was better than buying food that didn't have those words on their label. Plus, I have heard that eating foods without preservatives is healthier for you. Today, when I went to Aqua Vita Natural Foods, on 2801 N. Country Club Road, I talked to employee David De Lucia and he broke organic and natural (also known as conventional) down for me.

"It (organic) is based on certification. So anything you see anywhere advertised as organic -unless it is breaking the law- has to be certified organic by the United States Department of Agriculture," said De Lucia. "You also have to pay to be certified (organic)."

Being certified organic also entails more ecological practices like taking care of the land, rotating crops, trying to ship or pack in a non-toxic or recyclable way, according to De Lucia.

My next question was if food or products labeled natural had to go through a certification process, like organic.

"I don't think the word natural involves any sort of law," said De Lucia. "You can kind of just throw the word around."

It was interesting to learn that foods or products labeled natural really don't have any guidelines to abide by. There could be UN-natural subsistences going into natural products. You don't know what you are getting when you go natural, but when you go organic, the product must meet certain guidelines provided by the USDA.

To see guidelines, click here.

This isn't always the case though, according to De Lucia. Smaller farms that can't afford organic certification use the word natural on their product and they are really organic. He also pointed out that the only non-organic produce found in Aqua Vita are the hydroponic tomatoes, which are genetically modified organisms (GMO's).

Beside my pursuit to define organic and natural at Aqua Vita, I had come across glass-bottled milk, the kind my mom would buy when I was little, with the cream on top. Although it cost more than your average gallon of milk from Safeway, it was organic and delicious.


For more information about organic food go to the Organic Trade Association.