2. What Exactly Is Organically-Grown Food?

Organic gardening has been traditional in European countries for many years, but, by the 1940s, farmers and gardeners in the United States had gotten farther and farther away from earlier growing methods, and chemicalization had begun to prevail. About that time, a significant organic-gardening movement was pioneered by J. I. Rodale, of Emmaus, Pennsylvania, founder of Organic Gardening and Farming magazine. Since then, many of his followers have produced fruits and vegetables of extraordinary quality.

J.I. Rodale worked on many public projects in opposition to pesticides and drug cartels, made a significant contribution to agricultural sciences, and helped establish "organic" as a household word.

The Rodale organization formulated a scientifically-sound definition of organically-grown food which is today accepted as bona fide by most leaders of the natural, organic movement, and by officials of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The following is the official definition: Organically-grown food is food grown without pesticides; grown without artificial fertilizers; grown in soil whose humus content is increased with applications of natural mineral fertilizers; and has not been treated with preservatives, hormones, antibiotics, etc.