Read 'n' Seed 3: Second quarter of Omnivore's Dilemma

This section of the book is titled Grass. It covers chapters 8-14 and pages 123-262.  This section begins by explaining how organic food is produced and why it is becoming more popular.  The author suggests that it is because it "gratifies some of our deepest, oldest longings, not merely for safe food, but for a connection to the earth and to the handful of domesticated creatures we've long depended on." I thought that quote was very interesting.  The next chapter goes on to explain what standards products have to meet to be considered organic.  Eventually, the author documents a weeks time he spent on an organic farm.

Terminology


"organic" according to the USDA

• 100% Organic- means that every ingredient in the product was raised and harvested in an organic environment as approved and certified by the USDA.
• Organic- means that 70 to 95 percent of all the ingredients have been raised in a USDA approved manner
• Any product containing ingredients with less than a 70 percent organic content can separately list each ingredient that falls into the USDA organic category, but the product may not display a label claiming the product as organic.

Interesting Facts:


Today it takes between seven and ten calories of fossil fuel to deliver one calorie of food energy to an American plate.

Growing food organically uses about a third less fossil fuel than growing it conventionally.

Implications:
The information in this section was very interesting and I think it is very important for consumers.  If you want to know what you are buying you need to know how it is made and whether or not you are buying a brand name or a quality product.  After reading this I realized that the amount of work farmers put into their crop in order to produce organic products it worth the extra price of organic foods.