Organic

Shew-wee I've been busy! One of my best friends in the whole world had her second son just this last Friday.  Welcome to the world baby B! After peering through the hospital nursery glass at the cutest tiniest person I have seen in  a really long time, Michael and I hit the road to visit my parents.  We had a relaxing weekend.  I stayed in my PJs until about 2:00 on Saturday afternoon. Saturday night we celebrated Michael's birthday with my family and some (shout out to Tara, who couldn't make it) friends.  Don't worry you haven't missed his birthday, its on Saturday- just a heads up! Sunday evening we journeyed back to Fayetteville, great time of year to make the drive.  Monday our dear friends Dean and Cherry, who have been overseas since January came home for the holidays.  We had a big welcome home party for them.  

I am now 2 weeks away from the big race day, in preparation I ran 11 miles today.  It hurts.  Everywhere really.  But, darn it! I will not give up!

Ok, now the title of my post.  "organic"

I won't spend long on this, just starting with the basics. (my info is coming from the usda by the way, no copyright infringement here)

"organic" by definition (I'm borrowing from webster right now) is:

noting or pertaining to a class of chemical compounds that formerly comprised only those existing in or derived from plants or animals, but that now includes all other compoundsof carbon.

Anything food certified as organic by the usda means that it has no non-organic chemicals (see definition above) , which pertains to many commonly used synthesized pesticides and fertilizers, prohibits the use of genetic engineering,and ionizing radiation (cover that later), in growth and handling.  In meat it means that the animals were fed organic food, and had access to pasture, they were not given hormones or antibiotics.  

All of this is thanks to the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. I know most of you may not care about this kind of thing, but before this- anyone could label their food organic, without it being so. Thank you, USDA.