"Organic" simply means something contains the element carbon. How then has it been corrupted by farmers?

Question

The term "organic" has been corrupted to mean a specific process of farming. How did this corruption occur?

Answer 1

The publicity provided by the main stream media has corrupted the term more than the farmers.  Farmers may be capitalizing on the publicity.  After all many of the banned substances are purely organic such as DDT, 2-4 d, Herbicides such as Eptam, Aldrin, etc.  There isn't anything much more organic than mycotoxins or strychnine.

Answer 2

"Organic" has different meanings in different areas of science. There is no corruption, just another use of the word. Chemistry and agriculture are different areas, so they have different terminology.

Answer 3

I don't think "corrupted" is quiet the right word.  Had a new meaning added to the word....that I'll buy.

Back in the olden days "cool" use to mean something that was cool in temperature, like the weather outside.  Now it means something that is neat-o, awsome, terrific.

Organic just has a new meaning tacked on.

Also, it wasn't the FARMERS who did this.  It was the middle men.  The people who actually marketed the foods the farmers produced.  

The middle men were grossly miss-using the word.  For a while, everything was getting the lable "organic" slapped on it.  Then the Government stepped in, and guidlines were developed for what "organic" actually ment.

Any farmer who has $10,000 a year or under in sales is freely allowed to use the word.  Any farmer who has over $10,000 a year in sales must now be certified by the Government in order to be able to put that lable on the foods they produce.

Companies that make things like apple cider must also meet guidlines, and be inspected by the Government in order to use that lable on their product.

So the "corruption" occured when all the middle men started to slap the lable "organic" on just about every food product.  Then the Government stepped in, and made guidlines.  Now the "corruption" comes in the form of the giant agra business companies, like Monsanto, who get the guidlines on "organic" changed to fit their growing practices.

If you want truely "organic" food, buy it from the small farmer, who can't afford the Government fees to be labled organic.  Just ask small farmers how they grow their foods, and if they use chemicals on it.  

I'm a permaculture farmer.  I'm very nearly organic, but I'll never pay the Government to be allowed to use a word I can find in the dictionary.  I'll also never be fully organic.  I'd rather buy stuff like grain to feed my chickens LOCALLY (grown within   25-50 miles of my farm) than buy an "organic" grain for my chickens that was trasported hundreds, even thousands of miles to get to my farm.  Besides my chickens free range, and get 95% of their food needs all by themselves.  Yet if I feed them just 5% of their diet, and it is not certified "organic" I'm not an "organic" farm.  

I firmly believe in doing things as naturally as possible.  I also firmly believe in dealing with reality, and can easily figure out that it does not make sence to transport "organic" feeds for my livestock long distances.

~Garnet

Permaculture homesteading/farming over 20 years

Completely chemical free

Never completely organic.

Answer 4

Not corrupted; just re-used in a different manner.  No different than many other words in the English language.  The beauty of English is that we have the ability to be almost infinitely creative, making it one of the most expressive languages on the planet.  I can think of worse transgressions pertaining to the use or abuse of certain words, and English in general.  I'm more concerned with people who simply can't use proper grammar or spelling.

Other words that once meant something very different (some of them ages ago):

g*y

taboo

bad

hot

terrific

awesome

Answer 5

You have the wrong definition of, organic. Diamond is 100% carbon, it certainly is not organic. In terms of agriculture, farmers who claim to be in this category  are supposed to be using natural forms of fertilizer as opposed to the use of pesticides and chemical boosters.

Answer 6

organic material is anything that has carbon and has hydrogen. without it, it is not organic, like CO2. organic in farming is use of organic fertilizers; nowadays, there are chemical fertilizers available.