What is the Difference Between Organic and Inorganic Food?

Do you ever find yourself at your local supermarket staring at two apples for instance that look the same, however one is labeled with an USDA Organic sticker, and the other is not.  Which one is worthy of making its way into your grocery cart?  These apples are most likely not priced the same, which will you choose: The organic apple that is possibly only a few cents more, or the conventional apple?

Farmers who grow organic produce and meat do not use conventional methods to fertilize, control weeds, or prevent livestock disease. For example, rather than using chemical weedkillers, organic farmers may conduct more sophisticated crop rotations and spread mulch or manure to keep weeds at bay.  

Organically grown food denotes products that have been produced in accordance with the principles and practices of organic agriculture.  Organic agriculture and food processing practices are wide ranging and seek to develop a food production system that is socially, ecologically, and economically sustainable.  The key principle of organic food production is to inspire and enhance biological cycles within the farming system, to maintain and increase long term fertility of soil, minimize all forms of pollution, avoid the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers, maintain genetic diversity of the production system, consider the wider impact of food production and processing, and to produce food of high quality in plentiful quantity. (Quinn) 

An article from Colorado State University, Perryman Nutrition Column: Farmers’ Market Options acknowledges that the nutrients in food can vary depending on soil and climate conditions, and how it was handled and shipped.  Organic produce is likely to be lower in concentrations of pesticides and herbicides, however it may not be fully freed of them.  Organic and non-organic food has the possibility of being contaminated with food-borne pathogens during shipping and handling.