Why Choose Organic and Where to Start?

Three Quick Reasons:

1. Tastes better.

2. Better for your body and family –

less pesticides, chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, health hazards, etc. and

actually MORE vitamins, minerals and health benefits!

3. Promotes farming practices that encourage ecological harmony and environmental responsibility.

Thankfully, organic foods are coming down in price because of demand and interest in organic produce and products, and the growing farms who can supply us. It's best to buy seasonally for optimal taste and best price.

Organic foods are produced without the use of chemicals, herbicides, fungicides, petroleum-, sewage- or sludge-based fertilizers or chemical pesticides. Organic food is not bio-engineered, genetically modified, nor is it irradiated. Poultry and Beef are fed only organic feed, are grazed on organically maintained pastures, and are not given antibiotics, hormones or animal by-products. Organic farmers are leaders and innovators at protecting our environment while protecting the crops naturally.

Conventional farmers use millions of pounds of pesticides each year, much of which ends up in our drinking water and oceans. Pesticides and chemicals kill off living things - bugs and animals that may eat the food as well as parasites and microorganisms. Pesticides are poisons. Most have the potential of causing cancer and are endocrine disrupters that mimic or interfere with our hormones. Pesticides cannot always be washed off the food, even with soap, as they are "ingested" in the plant through the roots and are actually in the body of the food.

Pesticides have a well documented and serious impact on our health. Among the many adverse effects, pesticides:

compromise our liver's job of cleaning toxins from our body

compromise each cell's ability to produce energy and do their respective jobs in our body

compromise our nerves and their job of sending important messages in our body

In short, pesticides cause disease and death. That's their goal, to kill off the bugs and pests. But they are having serious impacts on the lives of humans and especially children. This is particularly important in the amounts and combinations of these pesticides that the children are eating since they are such picky eaters. The long-term effect of these pesticides, herbicides, fungicides and chemicals and the effect of the 'cocktail' of pesticide combinations effect fertility, development, health, and longevity.

Organic farmers work with the natural ecosystem to improve the soil and deter pests. They rotate crops between fields and have diversity in their farms; the conventional farmer limits crops and farming practices which depletes the soil's nutrients and leads to a real risk of crop damage from disease. Organic farmers plant certain flowers and bushes to attract helpful insects who will then eat or deter pests that might otherwise eat the crops; conventional farms kill off insects and pests, helpful and hurtful to the farmer. Organic farmers work with nature to replenish the soil, do not use toxic pesticides or fertilizers and maintain a biologically sustainable investment in our future. At home, our own yards can be maintained the same way.

Chemicals and pesticides kill off microorganisms and pests; this is causing new super resistant bugs and strains of insects and pests to be created; these super pests will need even more powerful chemical pesticides. The cycle is clear and the future is dim.

In addition, many of these microorganisms are helpful and are actually healthful. Discoveries of helpful bacteria that turn into cures for disease are found in dirt regularly around the world. We used to play in the dirt, dirt that was free of harmful chemicals and loaded with helpful microorganisms. As children this set up our immune systems to be strong. Children were healthier then.

The organic farmer works to create healthful soil. Worms and microorganisms work to keep the soil strong. The soil feeds the plant. Therefore healthful soil creates food with more nutrition. True, conventional food is devoid of harmful bacteria and bugs, but it is also lower in nutritional value and has less flavor. (I mean, if you're going to eat Brussel Sprouts because they're good for you, shouldn't you make it count?) Chemicals deplete the top soil and cause soil erosion which in turn offers less nutrition to the plant which in turn creates less nutritious food for us.

Healthy plants are also more disease resistant, are more drought resistant, create a better supply of food, create more nutritious food, and grow strong without chemical assistance. It all works together. Organic farming protects our water supply, our wild life, our families, and our future. Choosing organic foods is like voting to go back to a more natural and safer way of breathing, eating, and living.

Conventional farming overseas destroys rainforest. Chemicals are abundant and dangerous. The environmental impact is great and they remain in the environment for decades after use. When we look and see that organic foods are sometimes more than conventional foods, we need to remember the toll conventional foods are having on our world and our future. Organic foods are actually less costly when we look at the money it takes to fix the problems created by conventional farming. And yes, EVERY choice, EVERY person, EVERY item counts as a vote in the right direction.

Biodynamic Demeter supervised farming meets all organic standards and takes them even further. This system was created in ancient times to create healthful soil to withstand the test of time. Biodynamic farming takes even more time and money and therefore things cost more, but what it gives us is a true harmony with our land. It works with the plants, animals, and the environment to promote healthy soil and healthy plants.

Choosing organic produce and biodynamic products supports local, generally smaller, organic farms and the families who work those farms. Paying organic farmers in other countries a fair wage allows them to create strong communities, schools and help children and their families. In addition, and as you would guess, conventional farmers and the people that work in and around the fields (including the people that crop dust and spray the chemicals and pesticides) have a much higher risk of cancer than organic farmers. Pesticides can cause birth defects, cancer, nerve damage, impact our immune system, and disrupt our hormonal balance.

Organic certification confirms a set of standards:

farmland used to grow the produce must be free of chemicals (pesticides, fertilizers, etc) for at least three (3) years. During the three year period, they are considered "transitional" and before that they are simply conventional.

there is a paper trail to make sure that product is indeed the organic product you expect.

organic poultry and beef are raised on organic feed or organically maintained pastures

organic cows and chickens cannot be given growth hormones, stimulants or antibiotics

organic dairy cows, poultry and cattle must be treated humanely with

clean water,

a clean place to sleep,

access to the outdoors,

exercise, and

fresh air

organic dairy pasteurization must meet hygienic standards

dairy cows may not be sold for slaughter as beef

beef is processed in a certified plant where organic cows are separated from conventional ones and the entire processing line must be cleaned to organic specifications for the organic ones

no more than 5% of the ingredients (excluding water and salt) are conventional; or at least 95% of the product is organic as per the standards of certification

organic products cannot use some organic and some conventional of the same ingredient

How to tell if it's organic in the store? Organic tags (PLU code sticker) on fruits and vegetables start with a 9 and have 5 numbers for organic fruits and vegetables while conventional ones have 4 numbers. GMO crops (http://www.deliciousorganics.com/Controversies/GMFOODS.htm) also have 5 numbers but start with the number 8 so be particularly cautious of those fruits and vegetables.

Annie Malka, http://www.deliciousorganics.com (source: naturalhealthweb)

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