Reasons to Eat Organic Food

Your health

Organically grown fruit and vegetables are not covered in a cocktail of chemicals ? even after washing, a conventionally grown apple may have 20 chemicals on its skin.

Conventionally grown fruit and vegetables contain more water and less vitamins, minerals and anti-oxidants than organically grown produce.

Even processed organic food is better for you as manufacturers are banned from using many of the most harmful additives such as hydrogenated fat, MSG and artificial flavourings and colourings.

Taste

Organic food simply tastes so much better than ?normal? food. Carrots that actually taste of carrots, apples that go zing in your mouth and really chickeny chicken. Why not see for yourself at the Organic Food Fair ? see opposite for more details.

GM foods

You can be safe knowing that you won?t be eating genetically modified (GM) food. Intensively farmed animals are often fed on GM soya and much of the world?s production of cotton and rice are now GM. You can register your protest by buying organic produce.

Cost

While organic food may cost slightly more on the supermarket shelves, the true cost of conventional food is much higher. The BSE crisis cost nearly ?4 billion and we support the conventional farming industry through our taxes. The Soil Association say that it costs ?120 million a year to remove chemicals from drinking water, most of which are pesticides used in farming.

The countryside

Intensive farming methods can lead to soil erosion, the destruction of ancient hedgerows and the extinction or near-extinction of hundreds of our natural animals, birds and plants.

The Soil Association believes that organic farming is the best way to reverse the decline in wildlife by:

Crop rotation so the soil is kept fertile and avoid the use of chemical fertilisers

Mixed farming where different crops are planted together

Encouraging natural predators so there is no need to use pesticides

Animal welfare

The Soil Association insists on stringent animal welfare standards. Animals must have access to fields and are fed mainly on clover and herb rich grass, just as they would in the wild. They are given comfortable bedding and more space when they are housed and are often treated with herbal or homeopathic drugs when ill.

And it?s not just food

Recent years have seen a huge growth in the number of organic clothing and toiletries ranges available. Once hard to come by and very expensive, companies such as Green Baby and The Natural Nursery are making organic baby clothes, nappies and toiletries accessible to all.

Many of the same arguments apply: the cotton industry accounts for 25% of the world?s insecticide use and it takes around 150 grams of hazardous chemical pesticides to grow enough cotton to make one t-shirt!

Arabella Greatorex is the owner of http://www.naturalnursery.co.uk, an online store selling organic and fairly traded products for families including organic clothing and bedding, fairly traded toys, natural toiletries, cloth and eco-disposable nappies and soft shoes.

Organic Food ? The Benefits of Natural and Organic Produce

Having spent most of my life living off of junk food, I was pretty shocked when I started learning about what goes into the produce we consume every day from the grocery store.

Most of the produce you would buy at the grocery store has been genetically modified to be more appealing to the customer. But, evidence suggests that genetically modified food can be harmful to your health. There are very few regulations on genetically modified food, and there aren?t any long term studies on how they affect human health. About 70% of the food you pick up at the grocery has been genetically modified.

Also, there are many types of insecticides used on produce, that are potentially harmful to your health. Farmers, nowadays, do not use the proper crop rotation when growing their produce. Crop rotation means: The successive planting of different crops on the same land to improve soil fertility and help control insects and diseases. The by-product of no crop rotation is that food in general is much less nutritious and raises a need for more insecticides to be used.

To avoid the health risks that can be associated with eating food that has been genetically modified, has been treated with pesticides and does not use proper crop rotation, eat organic food.

Organic food has been proven to contain sometimes 2-3 times the nutrients that conventional produce has. And with so little research available on this subject, who know how many other ways conventional produce is damaging to our health. How many other ways could organic food be better for us?

If you don?t believe it, try it. When I first began learning about organic food and the differences between it and conventional food, I went to a health food store and bought a bunch or organic produce. I couldn?t believe the difference in taste. The tomatoes I had bought in the grocery store had very little flavor and could only be used as an ingredient in a dish, definitely not something you would want to eat plain. But, the organic tomatoes I bought, I found myself just sitting down and eating plain. They actually had a garden fresh flavor to them. Usually when I would buy fruit, it would sit and rot on the table until I threw it away. It just never sounded good. Now, when I buy organic fruit, I can hardly keep myself from snacking on it all day. It just tastes so much better and healthier.

I have definitely noticed a difference in the way I feel after switching to eating mostly organic food. I have more energy. I crave healthier food. I feel more satisfied when I eat. I don?t crave junk food or sugary snacks anymore. I know other people too, who have noticed the same effects from switching to an organic diet.

To find more information about organic food visit: more about organic food.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of Ezerk.com, an informational website with many different topics. To read more about conventional and organic food differences, visit this page: Organic Food Information.

Organic Food: As healthy as you can get

Healthy food grown without the use of synthetic fertilizers, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, chemical preservatives or genetically engineered DNA is Organic. It is more labor intensive. Organic farming doesn?t use herbicides and other chemicals. So the yield is much smaller and to buy, more expensive. But organic foods are high in vitamins and minerals, tempting a good population to include these diets in their lifestyle. Benefits of Organic food ?No pesticide, fungicides residues on food ?No synthetic residuals built into plants ?No genetically engineered organisms ?Realistic flavors ?High in vitamin ?High in minerals ?Higher in anti oxidants The ?Organic-certified produce? is grown, harvested, stored and transported without the use of any synthetic chemicals or fumigants. They are processed according to uniform standards and USDA accredited organizations verify it. Organic farming vs. Conventional farming ?Traditional farmers use chemical fertilizers in the soil to grow crops. Organic farmers build soil with natural fertilizer ?In traditional farming, insecticides are used to kill the insects and diseases. Organic farmers use insect predators and barriers ?Traditional farmers control weed growth by applying synthetic herbicides but crop rotation, tillage, hand weeding and mulches control weeds in Organic fields Organic foods are not completely chemical free, but the pesticide residues will be much lower than those found in produce manufactured with synthetic chemicals.

What is Organic Food?

“Organic” has some quite specific legal definitions in most developed countries. In the U.S, all farms or products claiming to be “certified organic” must be guaranteed by a USDA-approved independent agency to be meeting the following guidelines: * Sound records kept of all operations * No use of antibiotics or hormones in livestock * No use of genetically modified organisms * No irradiation * Use sound soil conservation and crop rotation practice * And most importantly, that there has been no useage of prohibited materials within 3 years prior to certification, or at any time during certification. The USDA defines ‘prohibited materials’ as synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and sewage sludge. It is also a requirement that there is no cross-contamination during processing, which means organic wheat for example cannot be ground in a flour factory that also handles non-organic material. Produce grown organically certainly tastes better than the usual supermarket stock. It also contains higher levels of nutrients and far lower residual pesticides. You can read all the latest Organic Food articles and research at http://www.ge-free.com/ In general food grown free of pesticides, herbicides and genetically modified organisms (GMO) is organic to some extent. Certified organic food is that which meets the strict criteria of the USDA as described above. Most countries have their own version of regulation. Organic food can be classified into two groups, fresh and processed. There are many additional requirements for certification of processed organic food: * contains a minimum percentage of organic ingredients. * has no added artificial ingredients like preservatives etc. * is processed free of artificial methods like chemical ripening or irradiation. Most processed organic food is now available in supermarkets. There are also organic only stores in most large cities now, and there will be many more similar stores as the production of certified organic food increases.