Processed organic goods are generally made up of only natural ingredients. When non-organic ingredients are present, regulation laws ensure that at least a pre-determined percentage of the food's total plant and animal constituents must be organic (95% in the United States, Canada, and Australia), and that any non-organically produced ingredients abide by various agricultural requirements. For a product to be labelled organic, it must be void of artificial food preservatives as well as be processed with fewer synthetic methods, materials and conditions, such as food irradiation, chemical ripening, and genetically modified components. These organic products are allowed to be treated only with natural pesticides.
In the past, people looking to purchase organic goods would personally scan food products for specific qualities such as "freshness", "minimal processing" and "chemical free guarantee". These early consumers dealt directly with farmers and growers, developing the mentality "Know your farmer, know your food". Because of this, individual definitions of what comprised the word "organic" were constructed via personal interactions and experiences; by talking to farmers, observing farming environments, and understating farming processes. Therefore, under the scrutinizing eye of the individual consumer, small farms raised livestock and cultivated vegetables using organic farming practices, with or without certification. The firsthand trade between consumer and farmer was replaced by impersonal distribution through mass channels like the supermarkets as demand for organic foods continued to rise. In today’s agricultural world there are many organic farms and a wide range of land sizes dedicated to the practice. Conscious of this consumer trend, many large corporate farms even have a division reserved only for organic farming. Nevertheless, because of the separation between consumer and farmer, regular monitoring of food production is not available to the average person and individuals who purchase their goods at the supermarket must now rely on product labelling such as "certified organic". As a result of this new approach to organic goods, the consumer market depends in the government, its regulations, and third-party inspectors to safe-guard the legitimacy of the organic labels on food products.
The United States Department of Agriculture performs routine assessments of farms that produce USDA Organic labelled foods. After an audit, 15 of the 30 third-party inspectors have been placed under probation. On April 20th, 2010, following an evaluation that revealed important gaps in federal oversight of the organic food industry, and in regards to measures taken to strengthen their methods, the USDA declared that it would begin to implement stricter rules requiring the spot testing of organically cultivated foods for traces of pesticides.
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