Define 'Organic'

"Buy your woollen yarn in quantities from some one in the country, whom you can trust. The thread-stores make profits upon it of course"

With a whole new isle in every supermarket devoted to it, an awesome campaign call for wearing it, and whole cleaning companies changing the color of their labels just to include one little word, it is worth a look; organic.

From a chemist stand-point, to be 'organic' simply means to be carbon based.
From a marketing stand-point, to be 'organic' means making so many people feel less guilty about their consumption because a large enough percentage of their product is carbon based that it can be labeled 'organic.'

Is the term confusing? Yes. Most often misleading. If you want to dig deeper into the subject, go ahead, and I suggest you look at the people who make the rules as to what now gets the privelage of being labeled 'organic' or not for the store.

For our purpose, Mrs Child's and I, let's stick more with the chemical standpoint. No, more specifically, the local standpoint. There are two main points here:
"Buy your woollen yarn in quantities from some one in the country, whom you can trust. The thread-stores make profits upon it of course"

Some one in the country: This is, in modern terms, go local. Mrs Child, a am assured, got 100% organic wool to knit with. She probably could have seen it come of the sheep her self. She didn't worry if the wool she got has been fluffed with some sort of syntetic thread, or put a filler in. She got it from the country and from someone she new.

whom you can trust: If perhaps Mrs Child had been disappointed with the quality of wool, she would have talked with provider. If she still felt disatisfied after her inspection, she would find another friend she could trust to give her the product.

Yes, we live in a different type of culture. No, the practice is not outdated. When buying products, if you want to be sure, buy from who you know. Perhaps you can't get it personally from a farmer (although the prevelance of Community Supported Agriculture in most all states now would give you a fantastic chance at doing so), you can still find a company that you can trust. In most cases, this means buying local.

Don't be fooled, this does not mean that you need to pay a higher price for your goods because they are domestic. The difference in price, if any, will be in the transporation of that mass produced product versus the small pick-it-up-yourself scale of products. Usually they balance themselves out. I find in house products of quality I can trust equal if not of less price to those produced by some fancy name company across the ocean. It is not as hard to find locally produced anything as you might think, once you tap into a few sources, they lead you to the rest. From my research and experience, most locals are happy to sheel out the name of some one they know who does something homemade and great (and with a bottomed out economy you will find more popping up too!). So do some research, find some friends you can trust to provide you with what you need. It is a dazzling experience and one you will be grateful for.