Source: UC Davis; Certified Organic Farm

Every time you step foot in a supermarket, you're bombarded with organic options. But there's a lot about organic food that most folks never hear. Here are seven fascinating facts about organic food.

1. It's a global game

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has certified around 25,000 farms and businesses worldwide. USDA certification isn't just important for American corporations - it's important for any company that wants to market its product as organic to an American audience. To date, farms and companies in over 100 countries have received the USDA's stamp of organic approval.

2. Certification is expensive

Unless you sell less than $5,000 worth of produce per year, you're required to hire a third-party certifier to call your product organic. The classification has received significant pushback from some small-scale farmers, who tout the title as unaffordable. While exact costs vary by farm type and size, the USDA has recognized that certification doesn't come cheap. It'll reimburse up to $750 per certification, and the new 2014 Farm Bill doubles certification cost-share funding to $57.5 million.

3. Unexpected inputs

Farmers are an innovative bunch, and over the years they've adapted their inputs to use what the rest of us might consider useless. While sewage sludge is on the input lists for some farmers, the USDA has nixed that from organic farmers' armory of ingredients. But black-and-white newspaper, soap, and liquid fish products (it's exactly what it sounds like) all got the go-ahead from the USDA.

4. Organic vodka?

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7 Surprising Facts About Your Organic Food