In the past decade and a half, organic products have
achieved almost mainstream status. Where organic produce
was a specialty item in a few upscale grocery stores in the
early 1990s, today's supermarkets commonly offer
organically produced items.

An upward spiral is happening: Organics have become more
available and more affordable. The result is that a larger
proportion of the population buys organics. This leads to
an increased general awareness of the benefits for people
and the environment of organic production.

Greater awareness of the benefits contributes to a greater
demand for organic products. Higher demand encourages
growers to an even larger production of organics. Increased
production results in organics being increasingly available
and affordable… and upward the trend goes.

During the 1990s, organic product sales dramatically
increased at the rate of more than 20 percent every year.
By the beginning of the 21st century, sales of organic
products passed the $9 billion mark. Today in 2006, the
majority of US consumers (7 out of 10) buy organic food at
least some of the time.

These statistics are encouraging indications that organic
production is here to stay. This is good news for the well-
being of people and the environment.

**What ORGANIC means**

Fifteen years ago, organic growers might have had to
explain to shoppers at a farmer's market what the label
"organic" means. Today, most people understand that for a
product to be labeled organic, it had to be grown without
using synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, or hormone
supplements.

But organic growing is a system, and is not just a matter
of substituting natural materials for synthetics. Whether
on the large scale of the market farmer or the small scale
of the backyard gardener, the underlying principles of an
organic system are to work within the boundaries of nature
to grow healthy food.

The system starts with a focus on healthy soil, which
supports healthy plants. When plants are strong, they are
naturally disease and pest resistant.

**Why ORGANIC is better**

Rather than apply chemicals to cure disease and control
pests as conventional growers must do, organic growers are
oriented toward prevention through continuous soil
improvements. It's a big difference in attitude: the
chemical quick-fix vs. long-term soil building.

The benefits of taking the long-term approach are
immediate. Rather than having to keep indoors during a "re-
entry interval," (after using poisonous chemical
pesticides, there is a required safety period when people
must avoid the area), organic gardeners never experience
exile from the location where they grow food.

Also, there is the difference in the effect on local water
sources. Organic gardeners don't contaminate ponds and
groundwater with synthetics.

In short, gardeners who live where they grow food have a
particular motivation and advantage in using an organic
system: personal health and safety. But everyone benefits
when organic methods are used because they are sustainable:
wholesome food is produced in a system that respects the
natural environment.

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