smart priority. Opting for organic foods is an effectual choice for personal and
planetary health. Buying organically grown food--free of harmful chemicals,
bursting with more nutrition, taste, and sustainable sustenance--is a direct
vote for immediate health and the hopeful future of generations to come.
foods is the only way to avoid the cocktail of chemical poisons present in
commercially grown food. More than 600 active 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 diet testing.
applied to foods have not been tested for long-term health effects before being
deemed "safe." Further, the FDA tests only 1% of foods for pesticide residue.
The most dangerous and toxic pesticides require special testing methods, which
are rarely if ever employed by the FDA.
grown foods have more nutrients--vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and
micronutrients--than commercially grown foods because the soil is managed and
nourished with sustainable practices by responsible standards. The Journal of
Alternative and Complementary Medicine conducted a review of 41 published
studies comparing the nutritional value of organically grown and conventionally
grown fruits, vegetables, and grains and concluded that there are
significantly more of several nutrients in organic foods crops.
vegetables (such as lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes, and
cabbage) provide an adequate allowance of vitamin C, whereas the same number of
servings of conventionally grown vegetables do not.
iron (than their conventional counterparts) • 27% more vitamin C •
29.3% more magnesium • 13.6% more phosphorus
grown foods generally taste better because nourished, well balanced soil
produces healthy, strong plants. This is especially true with heirloom
varieties, which are cultivated for taste over appearance.
food and genetically modified organisms (GMO) are contaminating our food supply
at an alarming rate, with repercussions beyond understanding
grown food cannot be genetically modified in any way, choosing organic is the
only way to be sure that foods that have been genetically engineered stay out of
your diet.
Animal Products
contamination by harmful substances. More than 90% of the pesticides Americans
consume are found in the fat and tissue of meat and dairy products.
meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and dairy products because 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-products, 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.
passed into meat and dairy products. Tens of millions of pounds of antibiotics are used in animal feed every year. The union of
concerned scientists estimates that roughly 70% of antibiotics produced in the United States are fed to animals
for nontherapeutic purposes.
US farmers have been giving sex hormones and growth hormones to cattle to
artificially increase the amount of meat and milk the cattle produce without requiring extra feed. The
hormones fed to cows cannot be broken down, even at high temperatures. Therefore
they remain in complete form and pass directly into the consumer's diet when
meat is eaten.
Hormone supplementation is the biggest concern with beef, dairy products, and farmed fish. In the United States,
the jury is still out. However, Europe's scientific community agrees that there
is no acceptably safe level for daily intake of any of the hormones currently
used in the United States and has subsequently banned all growth hormones.
The major concerns for US consumers include the early onset of
puberty, growth of tumors, heightened cancer risks, and genetic problems. Growth
hormones in milk (rBGH or rBST) are genetically modified and have been
directly linked to cancer, especially in women.
Many scientists and experts warn that rampant use of antibiotics in animal feed, like penicillin and tetracycline,
will breed an epidemic that medicine has no defense against. Karim Ahmed, PhD, a
senior scientist at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) states that it
"is perhaps one of the most serious public health problems the country faces.
We're talking about rendering many of the most important antibiotics ineffective."
Choosing organic animal products is unyieldingly important,
especially for children, pregnant women, and nursing mothers.
supports eco-sustenance, or farming in harmony with nature.
chemical abstinence preserves the ecosystem. Wildlife, insects, frogs, birds,
and soil organisms are able to play their roles in the tapestry of ecology, and
we are able to play ours, without interference or compromise.
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 biodiversity.
According to Cornell entomologist David Pimentel, it is estimated
that only 0.1% of applied pesticides reach the target pests. The bulk of
pesticides (99.%) is left to impact the environment.
The rampant loss of species occurring today is a major environmental concern. It is
estimated that 75% of the genetic diversity of agricultural crops has been lost
in the last century.
Leaning heavily on one or two varieties of a given food is a
formula for devastation. For instance, consider that only a handful of varieties
of potatoes dominate the current marketplace, whereas thousands of
varieties were once available.
Now, dig back to recent 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. Ignorance is
bliss? Or amnesia is disastrous? Crop rotation is a simple and effective
technique used in organic agriculture to reduce the need for pesticides and
improve soil fertility.
Most conventional food is also extremely hybridized to produce
large, attractive specimens, rather than a variety of indigenous strains that
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 critical to survival.
food is an investment in a cost-effective future. Commercial and conventional
farming is heavily subsidized with tax dollars in America. A study at Cornell
University determined the cost of a head of commercial iceberg lettuce, typically purchased at 49 cents a head, to be
more than $3.00 a head when hidden costs were revealed. The study factored in
the hidden costs of federal subsidies, pesticide regulation and testing, and
hazardous waste and cleanup.
Every year, American tax dollars subsidize billions of dollars for
a farm bill that heavily favors commercial agribusiness. Peeling back another
layer of the modern farming onion reveals a price tag that cannot be accurately measured
but certainly includes other detrimental associated costs such as health
problems, environmental damage, and the loss and extinction of wildlife and
ecology.
Putting our money where our mouths are is a powerful position to take
in the $1 trillion 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.
