On Twitter? Most likely the competition is, too. Businesses and personal brands can easily get lost in a sea of tweets, but luckily life preservers are available. Twitter users call them hashtags, an easy way to categorize and sort through tweets.

To use a hashtag, simply type "#" before a word. This automatically creates a link that points to all other tweets containing the same phrase. For example, "#organic" or "#nyc". Anyone searching for these terms will see all the hashtagged tweets show up in real time.

Here are our 18 favorite organic and natural Twitter hashtags.

#agchat
This popular hashtag created by ag-advocate Michele Payn-Knoper is a weekly conversation for those involved in the business of growing food, fuel, feed and fiber. It's held on Tuesday from 8 to 10 p.m. ET, but the hashtag is used all week long to tweet about the issues.

#expoeast and #expowest
These hashtags are used at New Hope Natural Media's Natural Products Expo East (September) and West (March) events. Follow them prior, during and after the show to see all the conversation that's happening about the event. During the months in between the events, these hashtags may be inactive.

#farmtoschool
Used in tweets about news, resources and legislation pertaining to the United States' farm to school initiatives wherein local schools buy from local farms to feed schoolchildren.

#foodchat
Similar to #agchat, FoodChat is held on the third Tuesday of every month from 8 to 10 p.m. ET and is for those "interested in food, those who produce it, people who need it and the nutrition involved."

#glutenfree or #gf
These two hashtags, with #glutenfree more popular than #gf, refer to anything gluten free but not necessarily Celiac related. #celiac is your hashtag for that.

#gmo
The most widely used hashtag to refer to genetically modified, genetically engineered or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food.

#localfood
From tweeting about backyard gardens to recipes and restaurants, this hashtag is widely used to refer to the local food movement.

#nanotech
Used to reference nanotechnology, a topic we frequently cover on NewHope360.com due to increasing concerns about its use in the natural industry.

#nbjsummit
Official hashtag of the NBJ Summit, a gathering of CEOs and senior executives in the $110 billion dollar health and nutrition industry. This event is happening right now, and you can follow the tweets in real time.

#natural
This hashtag is hit or miss in terms of relevance to industry. Most of the tweets tend to center around natural beauty care.

#organic
This hashtag is used in tweets about organic food, farming, methods and legislation, and is more popular than #natural.

#pesticides
Self-explanatory, this hashtag is attached to tweets about pesticides and health studies and is frequently used by organic advocacy groups.

#slowfood
The Slow Food movement comes to Twitter with this hashtag. Slow food gets back to the roots of eating, where community, environment and food quality matter much more than the disconnected allure of a drive thru.

#urbanag
This hashtag is used in reference to the growing movement throughout the United States of growing food in urban areas. Often used to alert others to events or education.

#vegan
Attached to tweets about animal advocacy/rights, dairy-free and animal-free recipes and products and living the vegan lifestyle.

#vegetarian
Similar to vegan hashtag tweets, but you'll find dairy products and fish mentioned.

Do you use a hashtag not mentioned here? Add it in the comments.