Organic food refers to food grown the way nature intended, without chemical pesticides and fertilizers. Individuals are increasingly choosing to purchase organic food for health and safety. Organic food makes sense for a number of reasons: it is good for your health, better for the land, supports small farmers, reduces genetically modified food use, minimizes pesticide exposure and represents an opportunity to reduce climate change. The Green Book reports switching to organic fruits and vegetables can lower your pesticide exposure by 90%.
Agriculture is responsible for 70% of the pollution of the country's rivers and streams, caused by chemicals, erosion, and animal waste runoff.
Environmental Ramifications
Consuming non-organic food is responsible for serious environmental ramifications. Currently, the American-based Environmental Protection Agency reports that agriculture is responsible for 70% of the pollution of the country's rivers and streams, caused by chemicals, erosion, and animal waste runoff. Canadian-based organic Thistle Farms explains, ‘Modern farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry. More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate and harvest all the crops in the United States’. Organic farming methods use less energy, cause less damage to the land and surrounding environment.
An estimated US$55 billion is spent on the global pesticide market each year. Only .01-5% of pesticides used actually reach their original targets.
Pesticide Use Deadly
Organic food is free of synthetic pesticides. Pesticides pose serious risks for human health. The Saskatchewan Organic Directorate explains ‘Farm chemicals, which once seemed such a boon to agriculture, are increasingly proven to contribute to our nation's health problems’. An estimated US$55 billion is spent on the global pesticide market each year. Although global figures are hard to come by, industry reports indicate between 1.5 - 2.5 million tons of pesticide are used annually. Once applied, the toxic chemicals seep into the ground; rain and water run off further spread pesticide contamination across large distances. In fact, it is estimated only .01-5% of pesticides used actually reach their original targets.
North America Has No GMO Labeling
Although the European Union introduced legislation that food with more than .9% genetically modified content must be labeled for consumers, no such rules exist in North America. The only way to ensure you are not ingesting genetically modified ingredients is to consume organic food. Jeffery M. Smith, author of the best-selling Seeds of Deception estimates that of the estimated 70 million acres of GM food planted around the world; about 80% have had their DNA altered to survive dense applications of herbicide.
Organic fruits and vegetables contain more than 40% more antioxidants than non-organic varieties.
Better Taste
Organic food is pesticide free and much more nutritious. A recently released European Union-funded study from Professor Carlo Leifert at Newcastle University found organic fruits and vegetables contain more than 40% more antioxidants than non-organic varieties. Milk was also found to contain 60% more antioxidants and healthy fatty acids compared to non-organic milks.
Resources
Canadian Organic Growers: http://www.cog.ca/
Organic Consumers Association: http://www.organicconsumers.org/
Organic Farming Research Foundation: http://ofrf.org/index.html
Organic Trade Association: http://www.ota.com/index.html
PANNA: http://www.panna.org/
Wild Farm Alliance: http://www.wildfarmalliance.org/
World Wild Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF): http://www.wwoof.org/
Green Pages
The annual Organic Island Festival is Canada’s largest outdoor green event, held each year on the weekend of July 7/8 on Vancouver Island, British Columbia. Each year the festival has more than 100 exhibits promoting organic food, health, sustainability and urban farming: http://organicislands.ca/
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written by Heidi , February 06, 2010