Before going to the supermarket to purchase organic foods, it is essential that buyers learn certain things about these products. The first thing that they need to learn is the difference between organic food products and the conventional food products. The primary difference is in the manner that the two varieties are farmed. Conventional farming involves the utilization of chemicals to hasten the growth and increase production of the vegetables. Ammonium Nitrate is commonly used to increase the quantities of food products that are grown on the farm. Insecticides are used to destroy the pests that hamper the growth of farm produce. In fact, even the livestock on a farm are given growth hormones to increase their size. However, organic food does away with all these chemicals and grows the fruits and vegetables through natural means. Seeds, manure and plant materials are used to prevent the growth of bugs and weeds that could hamper the development of the produce.

There are actually different kinds of organic food items. Some are completely organic. There are other food products which are mostly organic and vary in their levels like ninety percent organic or seventy percent organic. Then there are conventional food products that have organic ingredients in them. According to research done by the Environmental Working Group, which is a non-profit organization based in the United States, there are twelve food items which have the maximum amount of chemicals in them. The list includes many commonly eaten items like lettuce, grapes, strawberries, apples and carrots. The study says that if possible people should buy organic products for these twelve items since they will be a lot healthier.

In case many people are thinking that organic farming is some kind of modern hip concept then they are totally wrong. This is actually one of the oldest concepts known to man. Prior to the 1940s, all farming was done through organic means. It was only after the development of fertilizers and pesticides that farmers began to abandon the ancient ways and take to modern methods. They found that by using chemicals they could grow much bigger crops in a faster way. So in a sense by eating organic food mankind is actually going back to its roots. These kinds of food products are beneficial for pregnant women as studies have shown that foetuses could get harmed even with low level exposure to pesticides and other chemicals.