Whats the difference between natural and organic?
Erica asked:
I have always wondered this??? I know organic means no chemicals were used to grow or sprayed on products. But what is the difference between an apple right from the tree and an organic apple?
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I have always wondered this??? I know organic means no chemicals were used to grow or sprayed on products. But what is the difference between an apple right from the tree and an organic apple?
March 22nd, 2010 at 9:59 pm
Hi Erica (Beautiful name btw) -
In most cases it means they weren’t treated with any chemicals or growth hormones. This goes for meats, too.
Also, a lot of our food products are bio-engineered strains that originate in a laboratory. So what we’re eating is not the same strains that humans were eating 20, 40, 60 years ago and so on. There’s a lot of controversy on this subject.
But in general it means that whatever you’re eating doesn’t contain, or hasn’t been treated with anything external.
Hope this helps! Amanda
March 23rd, 2010 at 4:58 am
Not long ago, organic would have been defined as those things derived from plant or living materials. Today there are strict standards in many countries about what foods can be labeled organic. The terms organic and natural can be confusing ones because they may imply things that are made from nature, but aren’t necessarily the same.
Foods can be labeled organic and natural, which means they tend to lack chemically produced substances, but when a food is called organic, this takes the matter one step further. It means that the producer of the food has created the food under strict and regulated circumstances. Government organizations like the US Department of Agriculture create standards, which foods must meet in order to be considered organic and carry an organic label. These foods tend to be free of hormones, are only treated with pesticides considered “organic,” and the food is produced in a region where organic food production is possible. It can take several years for a farm to convert to the standards required to consistently get that organic label.
Sometimes the line between organic and natural is confused because it would make sense to think of foods that are minimally processed as containing no pesticides. One of the main differences between organic and natural is the way the government defines these terms. When you buy organic foods they must meet certain defined standards.
At present most governments do not have an official definition of natural. They may go so far as to describe natural as not chemically produced, but there is little to no certification for “natural foods” or things called “all-natural.” When a food is natural, that really doesn’t tell you much about it, nor does the description guarantee a certain purity or safety of the product. A natural food, unless otherwise labeled, is not an organic food.
It’s important to understand the main differences between organic and natural then as regulatory and referring to foods that may have minimal processing. Some natural foods can be defined as foods left in close to original form. This is not always the case, as for instance with terms like natural flavoring. Natural flavors can be made in laboratories and contain things we wouldn’t ordinarily think of as food sources like certain oils or meat byproducts. These flavors do have to be made of foods, but they are foods that have no nutritive value in a product, and may or may not have been produced organically. Nick
March 24th, 2010 at 8:17 pm
It is nice you asked Erica, although many people may view both words similairly. I assure you they have different intended meanings.
Natural -
is naturally occurring. Nature normally produces or occurs whatever it is. Not to say man doesn’t enhance natural occurrences for their benefit. (Like agriculture)
Example: A tree is natural.
Organic -
can mean food stock grown without any fertilizers yes. The word organic can be used to also refer to healthy or living. You could refer to eggs as organic because of lack of pesticides, But also your lifestyle because you eat and live in a healthy manor.
Ex: This brocolli is organic. =D
(Keep in mind because brocolli is a normal occurance, this special brocolli would be both natural and organic.)
The Difference Between Them -
is that natural is indicating something is normal and part of nature.
While organic “”Does Not”" mean normal, it essentially means healthy, not drenched with pesticides, or nature oriented. Devvvon
March 26th, 2010 at 12:29 am
Organic means no hormones, chemicals, and no genetic modifications have been used. Anyone can put “natural” on their food labels but to be able to out “organic” on their labels and/or be labeled as organic by the USDA, they have very strict guidelines and rules. If you want to learn more about it, you should see the movie Food Inc. It shows how food is grown and packaged in the US. It’s disgusting how animals are treated on the gigantic farms. They are all crowded together. They can’t even turn around. They are fed foods they wouldn’t normal eat in the wild and they are fed antibiotics and given hormones to make them grow larger, faster. Feces is everywhere. Caked into their fur/feathers. When they send the meat to the packaging plant, they cut the meat and the feces gets into the meat. Some plants wash the meats with ammonia I could go on all day about it but all I can tell you from my own personal standpoint is that I refuse to eat anything that is not organic. ▐▀▀✿▀▀▌ LIL BEAR ▐▄▄✿▄▄▌
March 29th, 2010 at 3:39 am
“Organic” means the food meets certain criteria- no chemical pesticides used on produce, no hormones or antibiotics given to animals, and the food may not be irradiated.
“Natural” is not defined by any regulatory body, and may be used without regard to standards. ☮Jen D☮