Organic Food Fight

　Organic food has traditionally been associated with a certain subculture: granola, health food and Birkenstocks. But lately organic foods have been moving more into the mainstream.
　Organic farming developed in response to the industrialization of agriculture, beginning in the early 20th century. In 2002, the U.S. Department of Agriculture first defined national standards for foods labeled as "USDA Organic." They could contain only organic ingredients, meaning grown without any synthetic chemicals, including pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers.
　These strict standards made growing organic crops labor-intensive and expensive. Relaxing the rules would allow for more widespread adoption of organic methods, which in the long run will mean more organic production overall, they argue.
　In 2002, the National Organic Standards Board allowed certain synthetic substances to be included in foods labeled organic.
　Those substances included harmless non-organic ingredients such as baking soda and powder, a naturally occurring mineral that is processed into a white powder for baking, or pectin, a natural gelling agent found in some fruits.