Organic Matters

Why organic?

Do you really know what goes into your food?  In the rush to produce more and more crops to satisfy growing demand, producers have had to resort to using more and more pesticides to control disease and insect attack. When you eat an average apple, you are consuming as many as 20-30 different pesticides, even after you wash it.  Yummy!

This is why organic matters more than ever. Today there are over 50 million consumers of organic food products in the U.S.  They spent close to $28 billion on organic foods in 2008 and those numbers continue to grow even in tough economic times. The reasons people opt for organic foods vary, but there are plenty of them. Consider these facts from the folks at Organic Food Info.

  • Organic produce contains 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed.
  • When you get higher levels of essential nutrients, your body is more resistant to infection and disease.
  • Organic foods provide you with more energy because they contain lower levels of the toxins and chemicals that slow your body down.
  • If you are eating dairy or farm produce, you are also eating the chemicals, drugs and growth hormones given to the animals
  • Organic is better for the environment. Organic farms respect water resources and do not leach nitrogen and other pollutants from their soil.
  • Organic food just tastes better!

Taste the difference yourself. Try an organic apple – the way it should be. You will never go back to mass produced fruit again.

What is “organic?”

The term “organic” gets thrown out there a lot these days and there is plenty of confusion about it, but the facts are pretty straightforward. The folks at Organic Food Info define it simply and clearly.

  • Organic farming produces crops and rears cattle without the use of chemicals and artificial additives.
  • It is farming the natural way and concentrates on producing a fertile soil.
  • Animals reared on organic farms are housed properly they have room to move about and behave like animals.
  • They are fed healthy food sources and not those laden with drugs and other chemicals.

So in summary, organic food is crops and animals produced and fed with natural food and without the use of chemical additives.

Here are few resources we like regarding all things organic:

Organic Consumers Association - an online and grassroots non-profit, public interest organization campaigning for food safety, health, and environmental sustainability.

TLC Cooking – an article on how organic food works

CNN Health – A recent feature on the organic foods movement in the U.S.

Local Harvest.org – a resource for locating organic foods grown close to you.

Organic Authority.com – Free organic food recipes, non-toxic living tips and more green living tips and tricks!

Organic Food Coupons – Organic costs a little more, and it’s worth it, but these coupons can help.

Organic Foodee – A site for anyone who wants to eat and live organically.