There has been a lot of buzz in the past few decades about organic food, and you may be wondering if organic food is right for you and what the benefits of organic food can be when they are incorporated into your regular diet. If you eat a lot of fruits and vegetables or are seeking to increase your intake of fruits and vegetables on a regular basis, then understanding what organic food is all about can be an important part of your nutritional health.
So What is Organic Food?
The first thing to know about organic food is to understand how it is different from non-organic food. Why has organic food gained so much attention in recent years? The answer is simple. As the farming industry changes and shifts into using more artificial pesticides and turns to science to produce higher crop yields through artificial and industrial farming techniques, we have had to begin distinguishing between the foods that are harvested using these techniques and the foods that are not.
In the past decade, there has also been a rise in genetically modified foods (GMO’s). These are the same foods we are familiar with, but have been modified genetically in laboratories so that they will either be resistant to poisons and pesticides, repel insects that naturally feed on them in the natural ecosystem, or otherwise behave differently than they would in nature.
These farming practices are relatively recent in human history, and have already been shown to have significant impacts on human health, and the health of the ecosystem we rely on for our food and farming. This is why it is so important to understand the differences between organic and non-organic food sources, and their impacts
Nutritional Benefits
As there is an increasing amount of non-organic food on the market, it has become necessary to distinguish from organic foods to understand the impacts of these new farming and food harvesting techniques. As there are more and more non-organic foods on the market, it is now possible to begin observing the nutritional differences between organic and non-organic foods.
What studies are now beginning to show is staggering: organic foods not only have better flavour, but they are also higher in nutrients and vitamins. There are many reasons for this. Pesticide use decreases flavour, and many of the non-organic foods available on the market are also harvested before they are ripe and shipped across long distances. As a result, they are not mature and have less flavour and nutrients.
Environmental Benefits
Organic foods are not only about producing healthy foods, but they are also about doing this is harmony with the environment. Studies now show that organic farming causes less pollution by shipping more foods locally, and contributes less to the effects of dead zones in our oceans, which are caused by widespread use of pesticides that leach into the water supply and drain into rivers and oceans.
The impact of pesticide farming in the environment is huge when it comes to fruits and vegetables, but can also apply to meats and animal farming. Organically farmed foods do not rely on the use of antibiotics for animals and treat disease naturally, and also highlight the importance of treating animals with dignity. Organic meats are therefore not only more flavourful, but also more healthy for human consumption, and do not leach large amounts of antibiotics into our water supply through manure and other animal waste.
Health Benefits
Widespread intake of pesticides present in farming and non-organic foods is also toxic to humans, and can affect our health. There are studies linking non-organic foods, pesticide use and GMO’s with health issues such as autism, birth defects and reproductive problems in humans, among the most prominent health concerns.
There are so many reasons to value the importance of organic foods, so visit your favorite organic grocery store today!
There are many health and nutritional benefits to consuming organic foods on a regular basis rather than conventional or non-organic foods. Beyond the added bonus of improved flavour and health benefits, increased nutrients and absence of poisons such as pesticides or use of questionable practices such as genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) in our food supply, there are many reasons to go for organic food if you’re generally interested in reducing your ecologically footprint, or are interested in farming practices that are beneficial to the environment rather than depleting to the ecosystem.
Pesticide Use
Conventional farming relies heavily on the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, which can destabilize the ecosystem. When we buy non-organic foods, we encourage the production of these types of foods and the farming practices that make them possible. The danger with widespread pesticide use is not only that they are harmful for humans, but that they are then present in the environment and can be upsetting to the flora and fauna, while also affecting the ecosystem as a whole
Pesticides sprayed into farm land enter the water supply, and can trickle down into the rivers and oceans, affecting the animals along the way. This is a huge contributing factor to the dead zones in the ocean, where animals and plants die on a large scale due to the presence of these toxic chemicals in their environment.
Fortunately, it appears that these effects can be reversed over time once the pesticide use ceases, but this will only take place once we turn to organic farming and reduce the amount of these toxic chemicals in the environment. Buying organic foods helps encourage these more natural farming practices to reverse this toxic trend.
Local Organic Farming
Most organic foods are produced and consumed locally. This can have a huge impact on reducing your ecological footprint, simply by affecting the amount of transportation involved in getting the foods from the farm to your dinner plate. Locally grown foods are not only delicious, but by supporting local organic farmers you are helping reduce the overall trend of transporting under-ripened foods for miles and miles to be consumed once they have ripened outside of their natural environment.
The amount of pollution involved in transporting foods is staggering and even a small contribution to reducing this can have a huge impact on reducing green house gases, and preventing further depletion to the ozone layer of the earth, which protects our environment from harmful ultraviolet rays.
Reduce The Use of Water
It takes 10 times more water to produce non-organic foods as it does to produce crops organically. This is because of the need for irrigation and because organic farming works with the ecosystem and feeds the soil so that it retains more water. Organic farming practices work with the environment and reproducing the environment’s natural diverse ecosystem and produces stronger soils that remove the need for excessive watering. By choosing organic foods, you are also choosing to protect the use of clear water.
Reduce The Use of Grain
If you are meat-eater, choosing organic meats not only reduces the amount of water required to produce the meat source, but also reduces the amount of grain required to feed the animals. With organic farming, animals can feed more naturally off the environment and are also not over-fed to compensate for unhealthy farming techniques and the use of antibiotics which leach into the ecosystem and become integrated into the human diet.
Biodiversity
Finally, organic farming works with a more diverse and naturally occurring environment for crops to grow. Rather than having entire plantation of a single crop and using harsh chemicals to fend off insects, organic farming works with these conditions to produce healthy and fresh crops in a more biodiverse environment, which protects the environment from plantation disease and all the chemicals that are used to artificially remove them.