Many people prefer to consume organic food as part of a health conscience lifestyle. Others do it because of the positive impact on the environment. But does the label on your food really matter? Many consumers of organic products buy organic foods to avoid pesticides altogether, but contrary to common belief, the term organic does not always mean pesticide free. The truth is that farmers may still use pesticides or fungicides to protect their crops as long as they are not synthetic. Current studies have determined that some natural pesticides are not any safer than synthetic ones. Some natural pesticides have even been found to have potentially serious health risks including the ones widely used in organic farming.

Not all organic foods are completely organic. When it comes down to the label you read on your groceries, if the label; on a product simply says organic, it must contain 95 percent or more organic ingredients. If the label reads “made with organic ingredients,” the product may only contain 70 percent organic ingredients. If it reads “containing organic ingredients,” it may only contain 50 percent organic ingredients. On top of this, to label a product “free-range”, farms only have to have evidence of animals having access to the outdoors for a minimum of five minutes per day. Although many organic farming practices such as crop rotation and mixed farming keep the soil healthy, organic crop yield is 25 percent lower than the yields of commercial crops. This causes organic agricultural industries to occupy more land in order to obtain enough crop to profit off of the harvest. Although it is a growing trend in healthy living, produce labeled organic may not be as beneficial as it sounds.