I agree that the standards for organic certification let through some things they shouldn’t. However, they do prohibit many of the most dangerous chemicals and some of the most environmentally damaging farming practices. Certified organic food is likely to be safer and more nutritious than typical supermarket food.

To improve your soil, consider sheet mulching. My brother had great success in just one year and he did not use ANY chemicals. I don’t have as much yard or time, but last fall I covered my flowerbeds a foot deep in dead leaves, and when I took them off in the spring there was a HUGE improvement in the soil: It looks better, smells better, has gobs of earthworms, and my flowers have looked better this year than ever before.

My family has been buying a share in the Kretschmann Farm every summer for ten years. While we still do have to trust that they’re not dousing the plants in DDT in the middle of the night and lying about it, we feel pretty confident in their practices. If you click “newsletters” on their site you can read what they’ve sent to the customers each week in the past few years; they give a lot of detail about their farming practices. It’s delicious food and a lot for the money.