Organic Agriculture

Over the last little while, I've been doing lots of reading and research on organics. I started a couple of years ago, reading a bit here and there. But the last few months it's been really important to me to get as much information as I can.

A good website to check out is the website run by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). There is a lot of information to read there, including links to organic producers. And this is an international group, so it has information for many different countries which is great!

Being located where I am, it's difficult to choose what food to eat. Ideally, local organically grown food would be available as it's important to me to support local producers as well as eating food that is grown/raised without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. During the winter months, it's next to impossible to find fresh local food, so when I can I usually choose certified organic food, even though it's grown in the US or another foreign country. However, if I can choose between an organic item grown in a different country and one that isn't certified organic but grown in my own province, which should I choose? I waffle back and forth on that issue every time I go grocery shopping :(

Luckily, one of the vendors (East Coast Family Market) at our local farmers market will have certified organic vegetables this year (I'm so looking forward to our opening day - June 6!). ECFM also has meat available, but I'm not sure if the meat is certified organic or not. But I do know that the animals are humanely raised, and even though I haven't asked them yet, I'm sure that if they feel it's important to grow certified organic veggies that they will also be raising their animals in an organic way.

On the organic topic, I've decided that I'm going to produce a line of organic soaps. I have on hand certified organic carrier oils and essential oils that are either certified organic or organically grown but not certified. I hope to have this line ready for market no later than September. The soaps themselves will not be certified organic, as I am not certified. But all of the plants provided the oils I use will have been grown organically so I know that I'm helping to support organic agriculture, which helps keep our Earth healthy.

Is organic agriculture important to you? Why or why not? How do you ensure that you are buying food that is healthy for both your family and the Earth? I'd love to hear what other people think!

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