Put simply, organic farming is an agricultural system that seeks to provide you, the consumer, with fresh, tasty and authentic beverages and foods while respecting natural life-cycle systems.
To achieve this, organic farming relies on a number of objectives and principles, as well as common practices designed to minimise the human impact on the environment, while ensuring the agricultural system operates as naturally as possible.
Every time you buy an organic product, you can be sure they were produced according to strict rules aimed at respecting the environment and animals.
Typical organic farming practices include:
- Excluding or strictly limiting the use of chemical synthetic pesticide and synthetic fertiliser, livestock antibiotics, food additives and processing aids and other inputs
- Absolute prohibition of the use of genetically modified organisms
- Wide crop rotation as a prerequisite for an efficient use of on-site resources
- Taking advantage of on-site resources, such as livestock manure for fertiliser or feed produced on the farm
- Choosing plant and animal species that are resistant to disease and adapted to local conditions
- Raising livestock in free-range, open-air systems and providing them with organic feed
Organic farming is also part of a larger supply chain, which encompasses food processing, distribution and retailing sectors and, ultimately, you.