You may have seen this word written on foods in grocers and supermarkets or hopefully, on foods that you have in your kitchen.

Most people who are interested in good health, good tasting food and a healthy environment are also interested in foods and other things that can be described
with this word, so let's find out what it means.
adjective
1. Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.
2. Of, relating to, or affecting a bodily organ: an organic disease.
3.
    a. Of, marked by, or involving the use of fertilizers or pesticides that are strictly of animal or         vegetable origin: organic vegetables; an organic farm.
    b. Raised or conducted without the use of drugs, hormones, or synthetic chemicals: organic chicken;         organic cattle farming.
    c. Serving organic food: an organic restaurant.
    d. Simple, healthful, and close to nature: an organic lifestyle.
4.
    a. Having properties associated with living organisms.
    b. Resembling a living organism in organization or development; interconnected: society as an         organic whole.
5. Constituting an integral part of a whole; fundamental.
6. Law. Denoting or relating to the fundamental or constitutional laws and precepts of a government or     an organization.
7. Chemistry. Of or designating carbon compounds.

noun
1. A substance, especially a fertilizer or pesticide, of animal or vegetable origin.
2. Chemistry. An organic compound.

Organic foods are grown without using synthetic (or man made) chemical:
fertilizers (plant food),
pesticides (insect killers),
herbicides (weed killers),
or fungicides (fungus or mould killers).
Instead, organic farmers use things that nature makes.

Worms are very imprtant in an organic farm, they eat old plant parts and their poo, or 'castings' is very good fertilizer for growing healthy plants, in fact the poo of all plant eating animals (herbivores) makes good fertilizer. Organic farmers also use plants that make the soil better just by growing in it.
 
In any garden or farm there are many different insects, some do good things for the plants, like butterflies and bees which carry the pollen that plants need to send to each other to make seeds, and ladybirds which eat some of the unhelpful insects. And some do bad things, like whitefly and aphids which eat the plants and make them sick
and sometimes die. Organic farmers can buy helpful insects to live on their farms, they also use special plants that make the helpful insects want to come and live on their farms. Organic farmers sometimes use other plants like hot chillies mixed with water which they spray on the plants to kill unhelpful insects like whitefly
 
Organic farmers control weeds on their farms using special machinery that pulls the weeds out, they also do it by hand or with tools like hoes. Mulch (a layer of straw or other organic matter on the ground) makes it difficult for the weeds to grow through to the fresh air and sunlight and they usually die. Fire is also sometimes used to control weeds.
 
Organic farmers use different ways to control fungus on their farms. They use simple, natural products like milk mixed with water, this works well on powdery mildew, which is a fungus that attacks plants like zucchinis and cucumbers, and also crop rotation (planting crops in different parts of the farm each season). Crop rotation is a very important part of organic farming, it can help to control a lot of the problems that can damage plants .