How organic is that?

Forgetting the sometimes misguided backlash against organic foods, it helps to know what organic is all about besides a word. There are 3 regulated terms that deal with organic foods: "100% organic", "organic" and "made with organic ingredients". Of course these are only applicable to packaged goods as organic produce is organic produce. 100% organic means what it sounds like. Organic means that a food contains 95% organic ingredients with the other 5% made up from a list of permitted non-organic ingredients (not anything can be swapped out in that 5% but some of what can might surprise you). Made with organic ingredients means that a product must be made with 70% organic ingredients. The ingredients that can make up the 30% non-organic list is not regulated like the term "organic".

The concept of a food being "organic" has certain defined FDA properties but more practically it means different things to different people. Particularly in these summer months, it can be important to keep in mind why you value organic products so that you can seek out and enjoy products that may be not technically be "organic" but still possess what you're looking for. For instance, organic berries cannot be grown with artificial pesticides. Yet the berries you'd find at Chicago's Green City Market are not raised with artificial pesticides. They are not organic, but they have that benefit which is of most importance to me. Similarly, organic milk cannot be from cows who were given rBGH or other hormone injections. Yet you can find cheese, milk and yogurt most any grocery store today that is rBGH-free (Oberweis, for example). If that is your primary concern then you're covered. (Oberweis also claims to pay its suppliers a premium, indicating that the higher price of its milk is passed on down the line -- an important claim in an industry where many farmers struggle to break even and farmhands make an average of $10,000 a year.)

Of course, if you care about other aspects of the "organic" concept or the USDA regulated term you may only seek out authentic certified organic products. But I think there is something beneficial to understanding why you value organic products, and then to vote with your dollars for anything that picks up those elements. It is often extremely expensive and cumbersome for a farmer to go truly organic. And at the end of the day, it is often just a label with watered down standards. The entire system is lifted up when we are more knowledgeable about our purchases and realistic about when we do or don't care if something actually carries one of the three regulated terms discussed above.