I was out food shopping with a friend for Baby J and her boyfriend Baby M. We saw many products labeled organic and natural and wondered what the real difference was. After some research on the USDA site Baby M's mom discovered the following and I thought I would pass it along.

1. To be organic a grower cannot use any inorganic materials in any part of their operation. To certify this they must go through a scrutinizing process that costs tons of money. The produce grown this way may have higher nutritional value by trace amounts but it may also contain high levels of organic toxins including mercury. Most of the "benefits" of organic foods have not been researched or proven by the USDA, they are just claims by the growers.

2. Many small growers cannot afford organic certification so they grow organically but label all natural because they also meet this criteria.

3. All natural labeling is worthless on anything except produce and meat. It's a marketing ploy on anything outside these two categories.

4. Although organic sites say there is no governing body for all natural labeling, there is. It is done through the USDA-the same agency that certifies things organic.

5. All natural labeling must tell why or how to be valid. So because the chicken said "no hormones, etc" it is a valid claim. The difference between organic and all natural meat is the possibility that the all natural meat may have been fed grain grown using mass farming methods or pesticides.

6. Both all natural and organic foods have some form of pesticides used (organic is just animal crap and rotten things instead of chemicals). All fruits and veggies no matter what have trace amounts of pesticides on the OUTSIDE of them so since we wash with soap and water before giving to the babies I would think we should be fine.

7. There is actually no definition of "traditional" farming so even if a product is not labeled as all natural or organic it could still be grown as such. The farmers may have just opted not to pay the extra money for certification.

8. Organic encompasses a number of things besides just food safety. The land has to be turned accordingly and farming has strict limitations. It is not just about feeding a safer product.

So it seems that it all boils down to how crazy you want to go and how much you want to pay to get there. Any thoughts?