Reasons to Eat Organic Food The reasons to eat organic food derive from the healthier farming and food processing practices in the USDA organic system. It's the methods used to grow crops, raise animals, and handle and process the food that make organic food healthier. Here are twelve reasons to eat organic food: 1. Organic food is overall higher-quality food. The quality of grains and produce depends on: * The quality of the soil, such as, the amount of minerals in the soil. * Whether there are poisons in the soil. * Whether poisons are applied to the plants. * The way that the grains and produce are handled at harvest and afterwards. The quality of animal products (meat, milk, and eggs) depends on: * What the animals ate. * Whether the animals were diseased. * What has been sprayed on or injected into the animals. * What other toxins the animals were exposed to. * Other aspects of the animals' treatment. Organic farming and husbandry methods produce food that is far superior in quality. See What are organic foods? and Deciding which foods to buy organic. 2. Organic food is more nutritious. Organic farming practices create higher-quality soil that produces more nutritious crops. Organically grown crops are more nutrient dense and contain more antioxidants. This is one of the best reasons to eat organic food. Organic crops and produce have an estimated 25% more of many nutrients and 25% more antioxidants. A long-term farming trial conducted by the University of California--Davis produced organically grown tomatoes that had almost twice the amount of healthy flavonoids than the trial's conventionally grown tomatoes. And with increasing years of organic cultivation, the more these nutrients increased. The healthier diet of pasture-fed animals causes their meat and milk to contain healthier fats than conventional meat and milk. At the very least, however, organic raising of non-pastured animals prevents the feeding and application of toxins that concentrate in the animals' fat. We then consume those toxins and their metabolites in meat and milk. Organic husbandry eliminates pesticides, artificial and added hormones, and antibiotics. 3. The taste of organic food, especially fruits and vegetables, is usually strikingly better than the taste of conventional food. This is one of the most common reasons to eat organic food. 4. Organic food has little or no pesticide residue. It's possible to avoid pesticides in food by eating organic food. Most conventional produce contains pesticide residues; few organic fruits and vegetables do. One well-designed study showed that evidence of pesticide exposure was undetectable when the children in the study ate organic food. 5. Organic food is not genetically modified. Many people don't realize that genetically modified food products are in the supermarket now. Most conventional processed food contains genetically modified ingredients that are not identified as such on the label. Organic food is never genetically modified, and organic processed food never contains genetically engineered ingredients. 6. The food additives in organic processed food are generally fewer and less unhealthy than those in conventional processed food. 7. Organically raised animals are better fed than conventionally raised animals. Conventional animal feed is 70%-90% corn and soybean meal (mostly genetically modified). The remaining part of the feed can contain any of the following: * Drugs: arsenic-containing drugs, antibiotics, hormones * Manure: pig manure, chicken litter and droppings, cattle manure * Non-food: plastic pellets, cardboard, cement dust, newspaper, sawdust * Animal by-products: rendered fat, bone meal, blood meal, feathers, hooves. The sources for animals to be rendered include slaughterhouse waste, roadkill, euthanized pets, "downer" cows, and restaurant garbage. Organically raised animals are given organic feed and pasture. They are never fed drugs, animal by-products, manure, plastic, or other non-food materials. The effects on the milk and meat create strong reasons to eat organic food. 8. Organic animal feed prevents the spread of mad cow disease. Mad cow disease--bovine spongiform ecephalopathy (BSE)--infected people in the United Kingdom who ate contaminated beef products. The disease was spread between cows by adding rendered cow protein to animal feed. The FDA has banned rendered cow protein as an additive to animal feed intended for cows, but rendered animal by-products are so common in animal feed that the rule has been poorly enforced. In addition, rendered cows can be fed to chickens; then, rendered chickens and their manure can be fed back to cows, potentially spreading the BSE agent. Organically raised animals are never fed animal by-products. 9. Organic practices prevent the creation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Antibiotics in animal feed are believed to be the source of antibiotic-resistant disease: antibiotic-resistant bacteria in meat; in the manure and dust from animal facilities; and carried by workers. Organically raised animals are never fed antibiotics. 10. Organic poultry are never fed arsenic. We eat arsenic in chicken due to the use of roxarsone, an arsenic-containing drug added to chicken feed. 70% of U.S. chickens are given roxarsone. Arsenic can be found in conventional chicken meat, in chicken manure, and in crops grown with the manure. Arsenic spread throughout the food supply is another of the many reasons to eat organic food. 11. Organically raised animals are never given hormones. Conventional dairy cows that are injected with the genetically engineered hormone rBGH produce increased pus and hormones in milk. To avoid added and synthetic hormones in meat, it is necessary to buy organic or from a farmer known to you, as almost all conventional beef cattle and pigs in the U.S. are implanted with steroid growth hormones. 12. The treatment of organically raised animals includes healthier living conditions and access to pasture. The vast majority of conventionally raised animals are kept in unhealthy "factory farm" conditions. A concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) may have 100,000 cows in a feedlot or 60,000 chickens in a coop. Simply for health reasons, I think most people would not eat conventional meat if they were aware of the condition of these animals. These and more reasons to eat organic food strongly indicate that organic food is healthier food. Deciding Which Foods To Buy Organic How do you decide which foods to buy organic? Which are the most important foods to buy organic? Let's consider separately: eggs; dairy; fruit and vegetables; bread and whole grains; other processed food; meat; and seafood. About Organic Remember that the term "organic" when used regarding food (except seafood and pet food) is regulated and enforced by the USDA. The term "natural" is not: when the word "natural" is used on a food package, it does not have any enforceable meaning. Anything can be labeled "natural," but only USDA-certified organic foods can be labeled "organic." Briefly, organically raised crops are grown without synthetic pesticides and without genetic modification. Organically raised animals are not treated with chemicals and are given organic feed. A USDA process certifies crops, produce, and animal products as organic. Because genetically modified foods and ingredients are not identified on conventional food labels, a way to avoid genetically modified corn, soy, canola, and sugar is to buy organic food. Genetically modified crops usually introduce pesticide into food. Also, genetically modified crops appear to be harmful to animals that eat them. See Genetically modified food products for avoiding genetic modification as a reason for foods to buy organic. For basic information about USDA organic, see What are organic foods? and Reasons to eat organic food. Eggs Organic eggs are easy to find in supermarkets as well as natural food stores. In The USA There are almost two million farms in the USA. About 80% of those are small farms, and a large percentage are family owned. More and more of these farmers are now selling their products directly to the public. They do this via CSA programs, Farmers' Markets, Food Coops, u-picks, farm stands, and other direct marketing channels. You too can support your local farmer. Large scale chemical agriculture is poisoning our soils and our water, and weakening our communities. By buying direct from a family farm you can help put a stop to this unfortunate trend. By buying organic produce from your local farmer, you are working to maintain a healthy environment, a vibrant community, and a strong and sustainable local economy for you and your kids to thrive in. Certified Organic There are many organizations worldwide that certify produce as being grown in a manner that does not harm the environment and that preserves or improves soil fertility, soil structure, and farm sustainability.  Other Farming Techniques Naturally Grown Some farms prefer not to pursue an organic certification, but do follow organic principles in growing their produce. Certified Naturally Grown CNG is a grassroots certification program created specifically for farmers that sell locally and directly to their customers. CNG's certification standards are based on the National Organic Program but with some variation, including improved livestock living conditions and more explicit access to pasture requirements. Transitional Organic certification standards are very strict, and it usually takes years for farms the achieve them, as all pesticide and chemical residue from the soil is slowly broken down and leached away. Farms marked as "Transitional" are farms in the process of getting their certification, but that are not quite there yet. Conventional Conventional farming does not necessarily have to be as destructive as large scale chemical agriculture. There are many small farms worldwide that sparingly use chemicals when needed, and that otherwise follow good guidelines in the care of their environments and communities. Biodynamic Based on a series of lectures given by Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner in 1924, Biodynamics is a method of agriculture which seeks to actively work with the health-giving forces of nature. It is the oldest non-chemical agricultural movement, predating the organic agriculture movement by some 20 years and has now spread throughout the world. Grass Fed / Pastured Grass fed, or pastured, animals are raised on pasture, as opposed to being kept in confinement and fed primarily grains. Pasturing livestock and poultry is the traditional method of raising farm animals, is ecologically sustainable, humane, and produces the most nutritious meat, dairy and eggs. Organic food facts Organic product sales continue to grow each year in the United States. U.S. organic food sales reached $24.8 billion in 2009, up 5.1 percent from 2008 sales, according to figures from the Organic Trade Association’s (OTA’s) 2010 Organic Industry Survey. OTA findings show that by the end of 2009, organic food sales represented approximately 3.7 percent of total U.S. food sales.  |