Top 10 Reasons to Go Organic
Opting for organics is one of the most powerful choices we can make for personal and planetary health
By Renee Loux
Opting for organics is one of the most powerful, effectual choices we can make for personal and planetary health every single day. Buying organically grown food -- free of harmful chemicals, boasting more nutrition, taste and sustainable sustenance -- is a direct vote for immediate health and the hopeful future of generations to come. Organic food is just better. Here are 10 reasons why you should give organic food a try:
1. Eating organic food will help you avoid chemicals.
Eating organically grown food is the only way to avoid the cocktail of chemical poisons, which are laden in commercially grown food. At least 250 chemicals are registered for agricultural use in America to the tune of billions of pounds annually. The average application equates to about 16 pounds of chemical pesticides per person every year. Many of these chemicals were approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) before extensive testing. The National Academy of Sciences reports that 90 percent of the chemicals applied to food have not been tested for long-term health effects before being deemed "safe". Further, FDA only tests 1 percent of food for pesticide residue. The most dangerous and toxic pesticides require special testing methods, which are rarely if ever employed by the FDA.
Organically grown food is safe food, free from the dangers of poisons and chemicals.
2. Organic food has more nutrients.
Organically grown foods have more nutrients, vitamins, minerals, enzymes and micronutrients than commercially grown food because the soil is managed and nourished with sustainable practice by responsible standards.
3. Organic food tastes better.
Try it! Organically grown food generally tastes better because nourished, well-balanced soil produces healthy, strong plants. This is especially true with heirloom varieties, which are cultivated for taste over appearance.
4. Organic food is the only way to avoid genetically engineered food.
GE (genetically engineered) food and GMO (genetically modified organisms) are contaminating our food supply at an alarming rate with repercussions beyond understanding. GMO foods do not have to be labeled in America. Organically grown food cannot be genetically modified in any way and is the only way to avoid foods that have been genetically engineered.
A few examples of GE foods are:
- Foods that have chemical pesticides spliced into every cell (so crops can sustain heavier doses of spraying without dying)
- Fruits and vegetables that have been crossed with animal genes (such as fish genes in a tomato)
- Foods that are engineered with pharmaceutical drugs grown on them (such as birth control and vaccines grown on corn)
5. Eating organic food will help you avoid hormones, antibiotics and drugs in animal products.
Conventional meat and dairy are the highest risk foods for contamination of harmful substances. Antibiotics, drugs and growth hormones are directly passed into meat and dairy products.
The EPA reports that a majority of pesticide intake comes from meat, poultry, fish, eggs and dairy products. These foods are all high on the food chain. For instance a large fish that eats a smaller fish that eats even smaller fish accumulates all of the toxins of the chain, especially in fatty tissue. Cows, chickens and pigs are fed animal parts, by-product, fish-meal and grains that are heavily and collectively laden with toxins and chemicals. Lower-fat animal products are less dangerous, as toxins and chemicals are accumulated and concentrated in fatty tissue.
Choosing organic animal products is unyieldingly important, especially for children, pregnant, and nursing mothers.
6. Organic foods preserve our ecosystems.
Organic farming supports eco-sustenance, farming in harmony with nature. Preservation of soil and crop rotation keeps farmland healthy, and abstinence from chemicals preserves the ecosystem. Wildlife, insects, frogs, birds and soil organisms are able to play their role in the tapestry of ecology.
7. Organic foods reduce pollution.
Agricultural chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers are contaminating our environment, poisoning our precious water supplies, and destroying the value of fertile farmland. Certified organic standards do not permit the use of toxic chemicals in farming and require responsible management of healthy soil and bio-diversity.
8. Organic foods preserve agricultural diversity.
The rampant loss of species is a major environmental concern. Leaning heavily on one or two varieties of a given food is a formula for devastation. For instance three or four varieties of potatoes dominate the marketplace where hundreds of varieties were once available (dig back to history’s potato famine in Ireland where a blight knocked out the whole crop, which consisted of just a few varieties, and millions of people died of starvation). Today, most industrial farms also grow just one crop rather than an array of crops on one piece of land. Most conventional food is also extremely hybridized to produce large, attractive specimens rather than a variety of indigenous strains, which are tolerant to regional conditions such as droughts and pests. Many organic farms grow an assorted range of food, taking natural elements and time-tested tradition into account. Diversity is crucial to survival.
9. Organic foods support farming directly.
Buying organic food is an investment in a cost-effective future. Commercial and conventional farming is heavily subsidized with tax dollars in America.
10. Organic foods help keep our children and future safe.
Putting money where our mouths are is a powerful position to take in the $1 trillion dollar food industry market in America. Spending dollars in the organic sector is a direct vote for a sustainable future for the many generations to come.
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