Organic farming is an agricultural method that aims to produce food using natural substances and processes. This means that organic farming tends to have a limited environmental impact as it encourages:

• the responsible use of energy and natural resources,
• the maintenance of biodiversity,
• preservation of regional ecological balances,
• enhancement of soil fertility,
• maintenance of water quality.

Additionally, organic farming rules encourage a high standard of animal welfare and require farmers to meet the specific behavioral needs of animals.

Read more on Organics at a glance

The main difference between conventional and organic farming is that conventional agriculture uses chemicals pesticides in agriculture and antibiotics in livestock. On the other side, organic farming does not use chemical pesticides and antibiotics in livestock. Conventional food products have more chemical residues and a deeper impact on the environment. Organic certified food has only natural elements.

Read more on Why Organic and watch our video The beautiful story of organic farming and food quality

This natural way of production can be certified with the help of dedicated experts.

Organic certification is a system that guarantees the conformity of products to the standards of organic farming. Inspection, control, and scientific verification are part of the certification process to check the quality of the soil and the absence of chemical additives, as well as the OGM element.

The whole certification process involves quality managers, inspectors, and auditors such as scientists, agronomists, biologists. All these professionals need to visit and verify that the performance of an operation is in accordance with a set of production or processing standards. The certification process is a sort of “environmental auditing” or “assessment” that ensures the quality of the food we consume to be organic and safe.

The European law establishes that a product to be certified as organic must contain minimum 95% of organic ingredients. This is also why some ingredients like salt cannot be certified as organic.

Every organic certified product has the European organic logo that is a leaf formed by 12 white stars on a green background. The organic logo can only be used on products that have been certified as organic by an authorized control agency or body. This means that they have fulfilled strict conditions on how they are produced, transported, and stored.

Yes, they are but, although conventional products receive ordinary controls to be checked before going in the market, they contain a higher percentage of chemical residues due to the fertilizers and chemical pesticides used during the production. No food can instantly kill someone, but these substances stay in our body producing long term negative effects.
Additionally, the substances used are not safer for farmers who work to produce our food.
One example is the debated use of glyphosate.

Yes, organic farming is better for the environment because it reduces the damages of conventional agriculture by avoiding the use of chemical pesticides and antibiotics for animals. The cropping system used in organic agriculture is more respectful for the natural environment because it respects biodiversity, enhances soil fertility, and reduce greenhouse emissions up to 40% comparing to conventional agriculture.

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Organic meat is better because it comes from organic livestock. Organic livestock respects the welfare of the animals by guaranteeing free movement. Additionally, the animals are not healed with antibiotics, so there are no residues of the antibiotics in the meat and dairy products from organic livestock.

To know more read: ORGANIC MEAT

Although there is not a common answer to this question from the academic world, according to specific studies, some organic products present better nutritionally characteristics regarding the number of vitamins, antioxidants, carotenoids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids.

To know more read: WHY ORGANIC PRODUCTS ARE BETTER

Organic certified products cost more because there is an accurate control at any step of their production. The certification process is a wise choice, but it also has a cost for the producer, especially at the beginning. This cost guarantees a trustful food safety chain process that is controlled by scientists, agronomists, biologists.
Organic cropping requires the use of organic fertilizers and organic techniques whose cost is higher than the chemical fertilizers used in conventional farming. On the other side, conventional farming contains the hidden cost of chemical residues although their cost is lower because they have become mainstream.

Organicity is a project co-funded by the European Commission that contributes to:
- increase competitiveness and consumption of EU organic products in target third countries: USA, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, and Thailand;
- promote the high quality of European organic certified food products by sharing information about the values of organic farming and organic certification.
The project aims at creating and developing links with buyers and food operators from the target third countries.
The staff of the Organicity project manages several promotional activities: participation in international food fairs, organization of organic week in selected point of sale, seminars, and networking dinner with a dedicated online communication.

To know more visit the Organicity Project

The Organicity project helps consumers to have more information on organic farming and the certification process provided by the European Union. If you are a consumer from one of the project’s target countries, you can also subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube to be updated regarding the events organized in your countries.

If you are a food operator, for example, an importer, retailer or distributor interested in import organic certified products in USA, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore, contact us at info@organicityeu.com

If you own an organic certified company in Europe - specifically from Italy and Poland - you can join our producers’ network. We select only high quality organic certified products from companies who want to export in the USA, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore.

Specifically, be part of the Organicity network gives the possibility to save money to promote your products abroad.

Read more on the section MARKETING INFORMATION of our blog.