Aero Garden - What does organic mean?

With the Aero Garden becoming more popular, the word organic is being tossed around. But, what does organic mean?

According to Wikipedia, organic foods are produced according to certain production standards. For crops, it means they were grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.

Now, organic foods are becoming much more widely available — organic food sales within the United States have grown by 17 to 20 percent a year for the past few years[3] while sales of conventional food have grown at only about 2 to 3 percent a year. Read more...

Organic produce is still quite expensive compared to non-organic produce in the stores. One way to combat the high prices and still enjoy organic produce is to grow your own using the Aero Garden.

Is the Aero Garden organic?

The Aero Garden nutrient tablets consist of mineral salts and seaweed. These provide the 13 nutrients that all plants require, plus 65 additional micro-nutrients for additional vigor, in just the right proportions for each seed kit type. The tablets also contain a pH buffer, which enables you to grow using water straight from your tap, and a pharmaceutical grade binder to hold the tablets together.

Is the Aero Garden organic?
What most people really care about when they ask this question is “is my food free from chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides,” which the Aero Garden produce definitely is. The Aero Garden cannot, however, claim to be certified organic by the USDA because their current definition of organics does not include hydroponics nor does it include nutrients based on mineral salts. Interestingly, in Europe, the Aero Garden is considered organic.