Why Organic Foods

Would you intentionally drink a bottle of pesticides, herbicides, or chemical fertilizers? No, I don’t think you would. Unfortunately, we do drink and eat pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, and synthetic hormones. Hence, this was not always the case with veggies, fruits, grains, and meats. Our foods were originally organic. These major food groups were grown and prepared without pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, hormones or irradiation. They were not refined and overly processed. Foods were unrefined, whole or minimally processed. “Since World War II and the advent of chemical farming and food processing, the soils and foods of much of the world have been depleted of many important minerals and nutrients.”

The foods that we are eating today are deficient in nutrients, full of pollutants, and farming chemicals. This has a critical impact on the soil, human and animal health, and our food supply.

Our food these days, whether of vegetable or animal origin, is not only deficient in nutrients but also full of pollutants and farming chemicals. The modern process of denaturing foods via heavy refining and chemical treatment deeply affects the life force of our food supply, making it difficult to foster equilibrium and health. Many studies show that pesticides cause cancer and liver, kidney, and blood diseases. Also, pesticides create extra work for the immune system to operate properly. Pesticides can lodge and accumulate in the tissue, which can result in a weakened immune system, and creating an opportunistic environment for carcinogens and pathogens to filter into the body. This can affect our health and overall well-being. Now, how do you know if your foods are organic and chemical-free? Well, there is an organic certification that confirms that the products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without persistent toxic chemical inputs.

Top 10 reasons to buy and eat organic foods:

1. Keep chemicals off your plate. Pesticides are poisons designed to kill living organisms and thus are harmful to humans. Many approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is a way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, water, and food supply.

2. Protect future generations. Children are four times more sensitive to exposure to cancer-causing pesticides in foods than adults.

3. Protect water quality. Pesticides pollute the public’s primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.

4. Organic farmers work in harmony with nature. Three billion tons of topsoil erodes from croplands in the U.S. each year, and much of it is due to conventional farming practices, which often ignore the health of the soil. Organic agriculture respects the balance necessary for a healthy ecosystem; wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fencerows, wetlands and other natural areas.

5. Save energy. More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate and harvest all the crops in the U.S.

6. Help small farmers. Although more and more large-scale farms are making the conversion to organic practices, most organic farms are small, independently owned and operated family farms. USDA reported that in 1997, half of U.S. farm production came from only 2% of farms. Organic agriculture can be a lifeline for small farms because it offers an alternative market where sellers can demand fair prices for crops.

7. Support a true economy. Organic foods might seem expensive at first. However, your tax dollars pay for hazardous waste clean-up and environmental damage caused by conventional farming.

8. Promote biodiversity. Planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970, but the lack of natural diversity of plant life has negatively affected soil quality.

9. Nourishment. Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, in turn producing nourishing plants. Well-maintained soil produces strong, healthy plants that have more nutrients than conventionally grown produce.

10. Flavor. Organic produce simply tastes better. Conduct your own taste test!

Resource:

Organic Trade Association

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