Although these terms are often used interchangeably, they have different meanings.
Organic foods are grown without artificial
pesticides, fertilizers, or herbicides.
Organic meat, eggs, and dairy products are obtained from animals that are fed natural feed and not given hormones or
antibiotics.
Natural foods are free of synthetic or artificial ingredients or additives.
"Health foods" is a general term that may be applied to natural or organic foods, or to regular foods that have undergone less processing than usual, such as stone-ground
whole-grain flours.
You may have heard claims that organic foods have a higher concentration of some nutrients, but the evidence is mixed. The nutritional content of foods also varies greatly according to when the food was harvested and how it has been stored or processed.
Unless they are fresher, there is also no evidence that organic, natural, or health foods taste better than regular foods. However, taste is determined by plant genetics, rather than by whether the crop is organically or conventionally grown. Harvesting and handling also affect taste. A peach or tomato that is picked when it is too green will never develop the full taste of fruit that is allowed to ripen on the tree or the vine.
Although the type of fertilizer may not affect taste or
nutrition, it does have an effect on the
environment. Many people prefer to pay premium prices for organic foods because their production does not cause environmental damage from pesticides and herbicides, and composted fertilizers help restore soil and are not as damaging to the environment as artificial fertilizers. However, simply stating "organic" does not protect the food from being contaminated from field to market.