From a technical standpoint, the word organic refers to food that are grown without synthetic fertilizers, or pesticides or hormones (Princeton). When you walk into a grocery store and you see the organic food section, you are supposedly viewing a selection of wholesome, healthy, “whole” foods. These foods are the choosy consumers’ alternative to normal supermarket products. Organic foods are rhetorical because they are a sort of symbol for a business style. Classic organic foods reject food processing, mass production and the creation of food for purposes anything other than sustenance. Organic foods carry the image of being nature friendly. Organic companies present themselves as a group of people who work cooperatively with the environment to create a wide selection of natural, healthy, whole foods. The problem with this image; however, is that it is the ideal portrayal of organic food companies. Modern organic foods are more than a breath away from the principles the Organic Movement established when it first began. The term organic is not only symbolic of the ideal view of organic foods, it is also symbolic of the morphed form of organic food that exists today, organic company’s departure from its vision. Modern organic food companies have been forced to abandon some of the principles upon which they were founded. A good example is the example from my presentation today, or rather yesterday since it’s late. This was the example of additives. It is now legal, under Federal standard, for organic foods to contain additives such as xantham gum. These additives are necessary for preserving the food when it is being shipped long distances.
