organic label

Grocery stores are full of food with labels like organic, cage-free or fair trade that appeal to a consumer's ideals. But there's often a gap between what they seem to promise and what they deliver.

Why Food Reformers Have Mixed Feelings About Eco-Labels

6:06pm June 12, 2019

by Dan Charles

Grocery stores are full of food with labels like organic, cage-free or fair trade that appeal to a consumer's ideals. But there's often a gap between what they seem to promise and what they deliver.

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Fluid-fed organic tomatoes grow in a greenhouse owned by Wholesum Harvest in the Mexican state of Sonora, about 30 miles from the U.S. border.

Hydroponic Veggies Are Taking Over Organic, And A Move To Ban Them Fails

2:29pm November 02, 2017

by Dan Charles

Many organic tomatoes or peppers are grown in greenhouses, where they get nutrients from water. Critics say that violates the spirit of "organic." A bid to strip them of the label failed this week.

Organic produce for sale at a supermarket in Quincy, Mass.

National

Why Going Organic Just Got Easier For Farmers

5:35pm January 11, 2017

by Dan Charles

Farmers have to follow organic rules for three years before they can sell their food as certified organic. That transition period can mean much lower profits. But a new certification may change that.

Baby basil are planted in PVC piping through which nutrient-infused water flows at regular intervals at a hydroponics farm in Nevada. This week, the National Organic Standards Board is set to vote on whether foods grown hydroponically can be sold as "cert

National

Some Growers Say Organic Label Will Be Watered Down If It Extends To Hydroponic

3:31pm November 16, 2016

by Rebecca Sananes

The National Organic Standards Board this week plans to decide if hydroponically grown foods – a water-based model of cultivation – can be sold under the label "certified organic."

Organic Gatorade? The artificial colors may be gone, but it's still loaded with sugar.

Health & Safety

Organic Gatorade: It's Still Loaded With Sugar, Folks

5:50pm September 01, 2016

by Allison Aubrey

A beverage created in the laboratory now has a better-for-you organic version. But nutrition experts point out, this sports drink is still loaded with sugar and calories.

Non-GMO eggs. (this photo is for promo only, not for the page)

National

Organic Food Fights Back Against 'Non-GMO' Rival

4:30pm August 03, 2016

by Dan Charles

Sales of food labeled "non-GMO" are booming, and it's starting to annoy organic food companies. They see the non-GMO label as cut-rate competition that doesn't deliver what shoppers imagine.

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Produce is often accompanied by signs like this one at a King Soopers grocery store in Fort Collins, Colo. But customers are often confused by their meaning, which is one reason the Organic Trade Association is trying to raise money for a "checkoff" to pa

National

Farmers, Trade Association Debate Merits Of Organic Marketing Fund

7:12pm April 10, 2015

by Luke Runyon

The fast-growing organic sector has no succinct motto like "Got milk?" A trade group wants growers to help pay for one, but the idea is splitting farmers, processors and marketers into factions.

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At Troutdale Farm in Missouri, farmhand Vince Orcutt pulls out rainbow trout ready to harvest.

How Fish Could Change What It Means For Food To Be Organic

2:58pm February 03, 2015

by Kristofor Husted

The USDA is considering a set of rules for certifying farmed fish as organic. But some consumer groups say the recommendations don't go far enough to meet the strict standards of other organic foods.

Investigators at the U.S. Department of Agriculture have discovered cases of organic fraud abroad as well as in the U.S. In 2013, 19 farmers or food companies were fined a total of $87,000 for misusing the organic label.

World News

Can You Trust That Organic Label On Imported Food?

6:12am July 28, 2014

by Dan Charles

A new book claims the organic label can't be trusted, especially on food that's imported. Yet there is a global system for verifying the authenticity of organic food, and it mostly seems to work.

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