Why Choose Organic Food?
There are a lot of reasons why we chose to focus on organic products - the three primary reasons are the it's better for you, it's better for all forms of life living on this planet, and it's better for the planet.
Organic Food Is Better For You
We all want to live long, happy, healthy lives. The natural food movement, which has had many different incarnations, was most recently established back in the 1960's when a large counter culture movement was inspired to go back to the land. The interest in natural foods grew quietly over the years and over time, that also evolved into an interest in organic farming practices. Until recently, there was mostly anecdotal evidence that organic food was better for you, but now scientific research backs that up. Numerous studies released over the past several years show that organic foods typically have more nutrients than conventionally grown produce. Not only does organic food have more nutrients than conventional, it also lacks the residual chemicals left from pesticides, herbicides and other harmful things added to, sprayed on or implanted into the soil these plants grow in.
Want some facts tossed in for flavor? Here you go. Dr. Paul Winchester, a professor of clinical pediatrics at the Indiana School of Medicine conducted a study on the impact of pesticides on children's learning. He concluded that prenatal exposure to pesticides may hinder children's academic performance. His study found that children conceived during summer months, when pesticide levels are typically at their highest, scored (on average) lower on standardized tests than other children. So, here's the good news. Cleaning living and clean food helps you and your children and their children (but we knew that already, didn't we?). Here's another great perk to organic food - almost anyone that does a side-by-side taste test of an organic tomato or an organic strawberry (btw, conventional strawberries are among the most heavily sprayed fruits on the market) will tell you the organic one tastes better. Whatever the reason, organic produce is almost always bursting with the true, natural flavor of the food. So, if you want to really enjoy the taste of the food you eat, organic's the way to go!
Organic Products Are Better For Life
When farmers choose to use organic farming methods, they make a conscious choice to refrain from using harmful chemicals and additives in the process. This means that the produce and animals are not treated with chemicals, but it also impacts a much wider eco-system. Think of a farmer spraying a field with a chemical - how many birds and bugs and butterflies go through there and come in contact with that chemical? We have to think in bigger pictures and wider strokes - what we do impacts not just that which we focus on but all that comes in that sphere of influence. A farmer's field is an open area through which hundreds, if not thousands, of animals wander and on which many different species live. All are impacted by the choices the farmer makes and all benefit when organic farming methods are used to support healthy soil, strong crops and clean water.
Organic Products Are Better For The Planet
OK, we've covered better for you, better for your kids, better for the animals that share this orb with us...let's talk about the earth itself. When pesticides and other harmful chemicals are sprayed on plants or fed to animals in the food chain), some of it ends up in the soil. From there, some of it naturally filters down into the ground water and ends up in your tap water. Sometimes the rock and whatever else makes up the earth beneath our feet can filter out these things. In small amounts, it does a great job. In large amounts, though, it can't keep up. The cycle of these chemicals being in our food, our water and our air is not a cycle we want to continue. The great news is that organic farming practices help reverse those trends, giving the land a chance to breath and rejuvenate.
For years, critics of organic farming methods contended that organic farming could not possibly yield enough food to feed the planet. Well, here's MORE good news. University of Michigan researchers compiled data from hundreds of very reliable farm reports. They compared the yields from sustainable organic farms to those of conventional farms. Guess what? (it's ok if you steal the punchline here...) - Researchers concluded that if all food were grown organically on land already being cropped, the yields in developed countries would provide more than enough calories to supply the world's population. That calculation didn't include yields in developing nations, so if that were added in, there'd be plenty to go around.
It seems the balance has tipped and it's clear that organic is better for you, better for the living beings on this planet and better for the planet. In horse racing, that's like winning the trifecta...
Reprinted from Shop Organic
Original text at http://www.shoporganic.com/why_organic
