“ the word ORGANIC has proved to be one of the most powerful words in the supermarket: without any help from government, farmers and consumers working together … have built a $11 billion industry that is now the fastest growing sector of the food economy “ Michael Pollan Omnivore’s Dilemma (www.otacnet.com.au book reviews)
By reading the label. - It should say that the produce is certified organic or certified biodynamic. Look for the logo and name of one of the accredited organic certifiers. If it is not certified, you cannot be sure that the produce is organic.
There is a paper audit trail from the retailer right back to the producer. All produce from organic & biodynamic farms has to have the farm and their certification number. If you are unsure ask the retailer, they are often really pleased to reassure you they have bought produce from a reputable source.
A good organic retailer will always have their fresh produce labelled. It can be confusing and misleading when produce that is not certified is described as being “low chemical” “organic but not certified” “chemical free” they are usually labelled as conventional with the certified organic produce simply labelled as: -
CERTIFIED ORGANIC, BIODYNAMIC
Certified organic means a farm has fully converted to organic. This farm has been farmed organically, usually for a minimum of three years - inspected and regulated by the certifier. When you buy produce from a farm that is certified organic, you are supporting many years of hard work, patience and care for the environment.
CERTIFIED IN CONVERSION
The ‘in conversion’ produce is from a farm, which practises to the same standard as CERTIFIED , but has perhaps only been doing that for a year or two. When you buy these products you are supporting that farmer in the best practice polices whilst assisting them in remaining organic for many years to come.
Certified Organic & Biodynamic Processed Foods
If a product is fully certified there is an audit trail from farm to packaging. This includes the growers, transporters, and storage providers manufacturing processing labelling and marketing of all the certified organic & biodynamic ingredients.
A fully certified product contains min 95% certified ingredients (of other 5% none of prohibited ingredients can be used) on the label there should be a certifiers logo and number. When ingredients are certified by more than one certifier it may not show all the logos but refer to “certified”.
Conventional foods today have many preservatives, additives and colourings which are prohibited under organic standards. So when company is processing or manufacturing non organic products as well as organic there has to be clearly separated process to prevent contamination
Who are the Certifiers?
All certified organic and biodynamic produce has been approved by an independent body known as an organic certifier, such as the ACO (Australian Certified Organic), OGA,(Organic Growers Australia) BDRI (Bio-Dynamic Research Institute ), SFQ (Safe Food Queensland ), TOPS (Tasmanian Organic-Dynamic Producers ), OFC (The Organic Food Chain ), NASAA (National Association for Sustainable Agriculture ) and Aus-Qual.
In turn, these certifiers are monitored by an independent auditor from AQIS, the federal government's Quarantine and Inspection Service. Other countries have the right to investigate AQIS’s auditing of any certifier and their inspection procedures. (And they have done) AQIS will hand this responsibility to another organization once the Standards Australia process has been completed.
HOW DO I KNOW IT IS ORGANIC IF IT IS IMPORTED?
Around the world there are a diverse range of over 400 organic & biodynamic certifiers providing auditing and other services for organic growers and manufacturers. The European Union (EU organic standard number), United States (USDA mark) and Japan (JAS) each have government recognised standards protected by legislation and identified with marks/ logos/ numbers that protect the name ‘organic’. A good ‘organic’ retailer knows how to help you read the label, so that you can be confident that what you are buying is certified organic.
The group that works at harmonising these domestic standards to meet international standards is IFOAM – International Federation of Agricultural Movements. This is the peak representative body for certification suppliers around the world. www.ifoam.org they have been very successful with the food standards.
In 2009 IFOAM is working with the leading certifiers across the world to harmonise the Body Care products. Australia was one of the 1st countries in the world to have a national standard that includes body care, fabrics and fibres