When I have a choice, I choose certified organic food for all these reasons and more!

Non-GMO Project verifies that a product doesn't contain GMO ingredients. While that is good, it's not the whole story about what the product contains, how it was produced, and where it came from.

It's key to remember:

Organic food is non-GMO, but non-GMO food isn't necessarily organic.

Let's break it down…

• USDA Organic regulations prohibit any GMO ingredients in a certified organic product. (1)

• Organic crops cannot be grown with synthetic pesticides. Non-GMO crops can be grown the same as conventional crops and can still be laden with toxic pesticide residue. (1)

• Glyphosate (Roundup) is prohibited on organic crops. Non-GMO crops (such as non-organic wheat and non-organic oats) can be sprayed pre-harvest with Roundup (1) This herbicide accumulates in your body the more you are exposed to it and is linked to cancer. (2)

• Organic ingredients aren't processed with the neurotoxin hexane. Hexane is used in the processing of many conventional oils (soybean oil, canola oil, sunflower oil) and also some additives such as soy lecithin, soy protein, and textured vegetable protein. Testing has found hexane residues in some of these ingredients, even if they're not GMO. (1)

• Organic crops are prohibited from being fertilized with sewage sludge (biosolids) which is literally the treated waste that's flushed down the toilet, and waste from hospitals and industry. This waste can be contaminated with heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, pathogens, pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and dioxins – it's basically a toxic chemical soup! (1)