Organic & Certified Organic
Understanding the difference between organic and certified organic helps you make informed choices about the products you bring into your home.
What is the difference between organic and certified organic?
Organic has a precise meaning under the USDA's organic program. Certified Organic means that the ingredients in a product have been grown or raised according to the relevant organic standards and production rules.
What does Australian Certified Organic mean?
Australian Certified Organic (ACO) is Australia's largest certifier for organic and biodynamic produce and has over 1,500 operators within its certification system.
Certification ensures compliance with national production standards and allows products to be traced back to their origin.
Certified organic food is produced through farming systems that avoid the use of man-made fertilisers, pesticides, growth regulators and livestock feed additives. Irradiation and genetically modified organisms (GMOs), or products produced from or by GMOs, are generally prohibited by organic legislation.
Certified Organic vs Non-Organic
Explore the nutritional comparison highlighted in the information provided.
What is Bio-Dynamic?
Organic and biodynamic are closely connected
Organic and biodynamic are very similar, both are grown without chemicals and GMOs, with powerful rich dense soil. However, biodynamic goes one step further. It is a holistic practice where all things are considered living interrelated systems – animals, plants and the solar system. Biodynamic practices create healthier plants and heal the earth by replenishing the soil and adding vitality to the plant, soil and/or livestock.
A holistic approach to the farm
Biodynamic farming methods enliven the soil through careful observation of nature’s rhythms. The main difference between organic and biodynamic is that biodynamic farming uses different principles that add vitality to the plant, soil and/or livestock, whereas traditional farming typically deteriorates the soil. Biodynamic agriculture uses specifically prepared preparations made from minerals and herbs – very similar to homeopathy.
These preparations are used to enhance the compost applied to the fields and intensify the sunlight permeated into the plant.
Working with the rhythms of nature
Biodynamic agriculture also incorporates astrological influences. Rudolf Steiner, the founder of biodynamics, believed that much like the moon affects the tides, so does it affect the growing phases of planting and harvesting. Complex stellar calendars chart the influences of the moon and other planets for gardeners and farmers to follow.
