What You Need to Know About Organic Product Lines

The United States Department of Agriculture has a catchy slogan to describe the latest in organic product lines: "nature's growth industry." And this is so true, as the organic product industry has boomed over the last few years. Just a short time ago, organic product lines were relegated to the bottom shelf in the nutrition section of the grocery store. But now, consumers may find an organic beauty product front and center at the supermarket, sitting beside an organic baby product and perhaps even an organic cleaning product. And that doesn’t even begin to focus on the many organic food product lines you’ll encounter while shopping.

Today there is a huge selection of modern organic product lines. This gives rise to the question of how a consumer can be certain that an organic product claiming to be organic, truly is organic. The answer to this is a bit complicated because there are several different certifying agencies, including the USDA, Oregon Tilth, and organizations from many other countries, such as Japan, Australia and Greece.

What do these agencies do and why are they necessary? To answer the last question first,
in the early days of the organic movement, most growers were small farms and they would sell their goods directly to the consumer at farmer’s markets or other outlets. Consumers could talk to the growers about their organic food product lines and learn how they were grown. Now, however, organic products are much more popular and are more often sold at large supermarkets. This removes the consumer’s direct contact with the farmer.

It is clear that these regulatory agencies have grown up in order to protect the consumer, and they do. However, they also cause a fair amount of confusion over different standards and guidelines. So, as with most everything, it is still up to the consumer to educate himself about organic natural product lines.

Your best bet is to learn as much about organic products as possible. Read up on the various regulatory agencies and decide which one has requirements that most meet your organic food goals. Some are more stringent than others. Once you’ve learned the difference between the various seals, you can begin looking for organic product lines certified by those specific agencies. The internet is a great source of information for this. It can also be very educational to visit a local farmer’s market. Talk to organic farmers and find out which regulatory agencies they are certified by. Organic food growers are eager to spread the word about the joys of eating organic and they will be happy to talk to you.

It really is not difficult to turn to eating organic food and using organic beauty products. While you might be a little confused at first, once you get used to the wide variety of organic product lines that are available, you’ll soon be buying organic with confidence.