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In agriculture, this means that crops were grown without the use of conventional
pesticides, artificial fertilizers or sewage sludge, and that they were
processed without food additives (like chemical preservatives).

When it comes to animals, they must be reared without the routine use of
antibiotics and growth hormones and fed a diet of organic foods. In most
countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified.

organic food sales in the United States have grown by 17 to 20 percent a year for the past
few years, while sales of conventional food have grown more slowly, at about
2 to 3 percent a year.

bigger companies, like Wal-Mart, to get into the organic food business and
change the way that organics are perceived and, to a certain extent, the way
they're produced.

In order to be "certified," organic food -- and the farm it was grown on -- must
apply for certification, pass a rigorous series of tests, and pay a fee for the
process.

there are some widely
agreed-upon benefits of organic farming, including things like: organic
farms do not release synthetic pesticides into the environment, some of which
have the potential to harm local wildlife; organic farms are better than
conventional farms at sustaining diverse ecosystems, i.e., populations of plants
and insects, as well as animals; and when calculated either per unit area or per
unit of yield, organic farms use less energy and produce less waste, e.g., waste
such as packaging materials for chemicals.

organic food isn't going to have as much nasty residue on it, and that is a
very good thing.

Prices tend to be higher because organic produce is produced on a smaller scale,
and may need to be milled or processed separately; some of the price premium is
likely to decrease as organic produce continues to scale up. Organic foods also
tend to include more of the environmental costs that conventional agriculture
tends to externalize.