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Wednesday, February 9, 2011

7 Reasons to Actively Seek Out Organic Foods

Organic foods are healthier, produced healthier, and promote a more liveable planet. Seems like a pretty no nonsense choice to me.



1. No chemicals:
Conventionally grown crops are sprayed with significant amounts of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and chemical fertilizers. These chemicals are designed to kill other forms of life and you may very well be eating them. When your body can’t properly process a toxin, it’s often stored in body fat to keep it out of circulation. Organic food is certified to have been grown without the use of chemical, pesticides, and other things you shouldn't put in your body,

2. More Nutrients
There is plenty of scientific evidence showing organic food to have far greater nutrient levels than conventionally farmed food. We all know that crops get their nutrients from the soil. By ignoring the laws of nature and over farming their land, conventional farmers deplete there soil. Common sense should tell you that crops grown in depleted soil will have low nutrient quantities. Conversely, organic farming involves crop rotation and other practices that replenish the soil and keep it full of nutrients for the crops to absorb.

3. It’s Good For the Planet
The chemicals used in conventional farming kill many of the microorganisms in the soil that keep it healthy. And as I just said, conventional farmers over farm their land and deplete it of it’s nutrients. Crops that are grown in low nutrient soil are obviously less healthy. As a result, they’re more susceptible to weed overgrowth, insects, and other predators. This calls for the use of even more chemicals and fertilizers.

4. It’s Not Genetically Modified
Scientifically, the thought of genetically altering plants to grow faster, taste better, and be more resistant to disease sounds like an absolutely amazing breakthrough. It is indeed, but that doesn’t mean it’s good for you. By eating genetically engineered crops, we are introducing DNA into our bodies that we’ve never encountered during our millions of years of evolution. Who do you trust more, science or Mother Nature?
Many well respected scientists are strongly opposed to genetically modified foods because there simply isn’t enough scientific proof that it’s safe.

5. Healthier Livestock
Most conventional farmers do not feed their livestock their natural diets. Cows simply don’t eat grain in nature. They eat grass. Furthermore, the feed is grown with chemicals and sometimes contains fillers such as cardboard, cement dust, and animal carcass to make it cheaper. This results in unhealthy livestock that are routinely fed antibiotics as a preventative measure to keep them from getting sick. Many animals are also fed synthetic hormones to make them grow faster or to increase their production.

6. No Irradiation
We all know that the radiation produced by x-ray machines can be dangerous. This is made obvious by the heavy protective garments that have to be worn and the shielded room used by the technician. Food irradiation zaps food with 150 million times as much radiation. How much nutrition do you think is left in the food after that?

7. It’s Certified
The USDA has rigid requirements that must be met before a farmer or food producer can use the USDA’s certified organic emblem. Their soil is thoroughly tested and must be free of chemical exposure for at least three years. The food they produce must be free of any chemical or genetically engineered ingredients and must not have been raised or produced with any drugs or hormones. It also can’t be irradiated.

Although organic food is more expensive, you can’t put a price tag on good health. Besides, by buying less junk food, you will have plenty of extra money left over to put towards high quality organic food. Although occasional consumption of conventionally farmed food is not likely to do much harm, eating it at every meal amounts to an enormous amount of contaminated food that you put through your body.