Maybe you have noticed organic food in the supermarket and wondered what was so special about it. Organic health food is more expensive than conventional food but why is this? Does it taste different and is it better for you?

What is Organic Health Food?

Organic foods are grown and processed in a different way. Neither artificial fertilizers nor conventional pesticides are used, the foods are free from food additives, they have not been exposed to ionizing radiation and they are free from industrial and human waste products.

Organic livestock is reared without being given antibiotics or growth hormones. It is given a healthy diet. Organic livestock, such as chickens, are not genetically modified. These chickens will have been fed organic grains only, which were grown on a chemical and pesticide free farm.

Organic chickens are raised in a stress free environment, in a humane manner. They get daily access to fresh air and sunshine and are allowed to roam outside in a safe and clean area. They have lots of room to move. Do not confuse organic chickens with free-range chickens though. Although free-range chickens can roam outside, the conditions are not always clean, safe or stress free. They can be fed anything the farmer decides to give them and they can be administered antibiotics or drugs.

Is Organic Health Food Popular?

Organic food used to be available only in farmer's markets and small stores because the organic farms were small, family run ones. The production of organic food has increased about 20% a year since the early 1990s in both developing and developed nations.

In 2002, $9 billion worth of organic produce was sold in the United States. This was also the year that the National Organic Standards list was issued, which was a list containing guidelines that farmers had to follow in order to be allowed to label their produce as organic. Since April 2008, organic produce has accounted for between 1 and 2% of worldwide food sales. The British love organic health food and they import a lot of it because their farmers cannot keep up with the high level of demand.

How Does Organic Health Food Taste?

If you taste meat from an organic chicken and then meat from a battery chicken, the difference in flavor is obvious. There is some difference between organic chicken and free-range chicken but not so much.

Organic chickens can roam freely so they have used muscles, not wasted muscles. They have a better life, eat better food, and can grow at a natural rate, meaning they will taste richer and better. Organic food is more expensive because this method of farming is more labor intensive and the feed for the livestock costs more.

Just imagine creating a delicious boneless chicken recipe using rich and flavorful organic chicken pieces and healthy organic vegetables in an organic tomato based sauce. If you have never sampled organic vegetables, you really should because they are richer in flavor and they smell divine. A recipe like this one would be ideal for the whole family, especially if you have their good health in mind.