Are organic foods produced without the use of pesticides?
The short answer is “no.” However, it’s a good deal more complicated than this simple answer implies. The National Organic Standards require that farmers must use three levels of pest management. Pests include insects, pathogens, and even weeds. To be able to sell a product as organic, a farmer must use levels one and two before resorting to level three. The first level is designed to prevent a problem from ever occurring. A producer might, for example, select cultivars (varieties) of a crop that are disease-resistant. The second level is to use cultural practices to help prevent and control any problem that does arise. This could include things like releasing beneficial insects to help control insects that are pests. The third level is to apply some sort of active agent to control the pest. This is allowed if the first two levels of protection and control fail. Most of these agents are natural substances that act as pesticides. One example is to use Bacillus thuringiensis or “BT.” Thi
