The United States Department of Agriculture (1)
for organic food products. The requirements come more than
(2) after Congress ordered the development of such
rules. Currently, different state and (3)
establish organic food requirements in the United States. Each group
uses its own rules to decide what products may be called organic.
Organic food is one of (4) in American agriculture. The
Agriculture Department estimates that American farmers sold (5)
worth of organic food last year. Farmers who grow
organic food (6) to increase their crops or to control
insects and disease. Many people believe that eating organic food is
(7) than eating food produced with chemicals. Some people
(8) pay more for such food products.
(9) says there are more than (10) in the
United States who grow food organically. Most of them produce only (11)
food. Yet, the number of organic farmers is (12) of
about 12 percent each year. The new requirements set rules for
what food products (13) . For example, at least 95 percent
of (14) called organic must be organic. (15)
will be permitted to (16) "made with organic
ingredients" if at least 70 percent of their materials are organic.
In addition, a state or private agency approved by the Agriculture
Department must document which farms or businesses (17)
organic foods. The rules bar the use of genetic
engineering, the process of changing the genes of living things. They bar the
use of waste products to (18) to fertilize organic food. They
also bar treatments with radiation to kill bacteria on food products.
Farmers and food companies have 18 months to start obeying (19)
. Americans will begin to see the effect of the rules in their local
stores by the summer of 2001. Agriculture Secretary Dan
Glickman (20) . He called them the strongest and most
complete organic food rules in the world.