Food manufacturing in the United States is all about convenience, product availability, taste and of course price. The more people have moved away from the traditional family garden and kitchen cooking, the more food manufacturers have moved in and developed a very profitable niche market for their products.

Processed foods are no longer limited to products such as flour and sugar on the country store shelf, but have moved on up to include a variety of upmarket locations such as grocery stores, super markets and convenience stores.

As the popularity of processed foods have increased throughout the world, health problems such as obesity and diabetes have also become very common to the point that “1 in 3 American people have an Insulin Resistance, a pre-diabetic condition”.

Parents today are becoming more aware of the nutritional value of foods and are giving more consideration to feeding their children organic and natural foods. As gifts and snacks are increasingly being given with these types of foods, traditional movers and carriers of the food industry have added in more organic snacks and foods to their inventory.

As preservatives become more and more difficult to find and acquire, traditional food manufactures are moving towards more sustainable production processes. The products are coming off their supply chain and being packaged much faster than they were ever stored in traditional systems.

The speed and quality of production is what is determining the popularity of a product and the businesses that are changing the way traditional foods are made. The products are clearly becoming very popular, but the companies that are changing the products and how they are made are changing the future of food and are revolutionizing the business.

More and more organic foods are being created each day, and the demand for organic foods products is on the rise. The benefits of organic foods are natural, fresh, organic, and more importantly very healthy for you.

The benefits of organic food as compared to the foods that are conventional are;

Organic foods are grown without the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs), irradiation, and the use of bioengineered fertilizers and pesticides. This type of food is harvested by hand and it is not chemically modified. The taste, color, and texture of organic food is superior as it is unprocessed.

One option when you are deciding on organic food is to adopt organic food processing methods that involve no ionizing radiation or thermal processing. This is a natural option, but will significantly increase the cost of the food to produce.

Think about organic food processing for your organic lifestyle

In order to be certified organic, food must be processed organically. This means that all ingredients, starting from the soil and water, to the hay and other by-products, must be changed from conventional processing methods to organic processing methods. This also includes the packaging, preservation, and even the thorough cooking of the food.

The biggest question to ask is;

“Is conventional processed food production environmentally sustainable?”

The short answer to this question is;

“Yes”

The next question to ask is;

“When was this process started?”

The answer to this question will help you understand the process of organic food production. Organic food processing was started in history long after people first started to settle down and plant garden grapes, fields were so much less than they are today. The reliance on these crops spread throughout the world quickly. Because of the ease of growing crops, and the long distance farmers had to travel to get to a market, cities were not populous. Just like today, food processing is an art, and a business that makes a living.

The Art of Food Making

Unlike the past, when you are looking at organic food items, you will discover that there are 3 distinct categories of organic foods.

1) Fruits and Vegetables – These are the raw fruits and vegetables. They will probably have been picked at their peak and processed locally. The major Raw Foods Act of 70, was passed in 1990 and since then there has been a major growth in the organic food market. The main controversy with the organic food industry is that too much attention has been given to prime meats and dairy products.

2) Processed Foods – These foods have been heated and fried, contain high amounts of preservatives and additives and have a high price to pay for the quality. In general, the process makes the food last for longer. However, the issue is going to be with the meals that we are preparing, because as we know, food does not age us as it adds more years to our life.

3) Made With Organic Ingredients – These meals have an organic feel to them. Many people will not use the word organic on the label of a product if they were not involved in making the meal. The reason they do this is because they are safety.