What is organic food? The term ‘organic food’ comes from organic farming which sustains the health of soil, ecosystem, and people. The key features of organic farming are to cycle resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity and at the same time avoid using any sort of synthetic chemicals. The fertilizers of organic origin such as compost manure, green manure, and bone meal are used for organic farming and the pests and weeds are also controlled in a natural and traditional manner, such as, by crop rotation, hand weeding, mulching, and naturally-derived pesticides. The same rule goes for organic livestock farming’s when domesticated animals raised for eggs, meat, and dairy products are fed all-organic and hormone-free foods. The regulations of organic farming may vary from country to county. In the USA, for instance, it’s mandatory to grow organic crops without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, or bioengineered genes (GMOs). History of organic agriculture The origin of organic agriculture is as ancient as the origin of agriculture itself. The first practice of agriculture is believed to have originated 10000 years ago and the traditional method of farming consisted of all the components of organic farming as we call it today. The whole concept of agriculture had seen a revolutionary change as a result of the industrial revolution. In the early 1900s, Sir Albert Howard, F.H. King, and Rudolf Steiner are some of the names who believed that the notion of organic agriculture with proper use of animal manures, cover crops, crop rotation, and biologically organized pest controls would result in a better farming system. Sir Alber Howard was highly inspired by the traditional farming practices he observed in India during his time as an agricultural researcher and He was convinced to implement their adoption in the West. F.H. King’s book Farmers of forty centuries played a pivotal role in reinforcing his ideas of soil fertility and the need for effective recycling of waste materials. In the early days of the organic movement which originated after the publications of books like The Living Soil (1943) and Farming and Gardening for Health or Disease (1945), people began to develop the idea of organic food being better and healthier than conventionally produced food. In the 1960s, the environmental damage caused by insecticides were highlighted in the publication of Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson which triggered the …
Aiming to be a healthy planet
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