Can genetically altered fruit still be organic?

Question

According to Wikipedia their definition of organic is this: Organic foods are grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.

I have read a site that stated that USDA approved organic food cannot be genetically altered, is this true? If so can you send me a link. I looked on the USDA website but cannot find anything to that effect.

Also even if a fruit was genetically altered can it still abide by the organic guidelines of no additives etc. would it still containg the same amino acids, proteins etc.

Basically these naysayers are trying to tell me that eating organic food is a waste of time and money. What are your opinions.

Answer 1

GMO are prohibited from being certified organic by the USDA and all other organic programs world-wide. The USDA organic program is at http://ams.usda.gov/nop.

It is unknown if genetically altered foods do have the same amino acids, proteins, etc.. They probably do not as they have altered DNA and we don't really have a handle on what all the DNA in our genes does so removing some and replacing it with foreign DNA changes everything

Answer 2

No I don't think so.

Answer 3

Well, there have been some studies that SOME fruits/veggies have SLIGHTLY higher vitamin content as opposed to conventionally grown. This makes once you consider the food can only be as nutritious as what goes into it. However, the benefits are negligible for the increased cost.

That being said I still enjoy buying organic whenever possible because I feel that not only am i doing my part for the environment but some foods taste a bit better. It may just be in my head though.