Wholesale Organic

Thursday, November 15th, 2007

10 Reasons to Eat Organic Food

Why should you pick organic food over non-organic?  Is this organic rush just a fad? There are many reasons to go organic. The following are ten of those reasons to consider when thinking about eating organic food.

1. Taste
Many  people think organic food tastes better than food that is not. Reasons for this vary, one is because organic fruit and vegetables usually grow at a slower pace and have a lower water content, which may contribute to a fuller flavor of organic foods.

2. Health
On average, organic food contains higher levels of vitamin C and essential minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron and chromium as well as cancer-fighting antioxidants. Organic milk is naturally higher in Omega 3 fatty acids, Vitamin E, Vitamin A (Beta Carotene) and certain other antioxidants than non-organic milk.

3. Less Additives
Only 32 of the 290 food additives approved for use across the European Union are permitted in organic food. Amongst the additives banned by the Soil Association are hydrogenated fat, aspartame (an artificial sweetener) and monosodium glutamate which have been linked to health problems.

4. No Pesticides
The best way of reducing exposure to potentially harmful pesticides is to eat organically grown food. Over 311 pesticides can be routinely used in non organic farming and residues are often present in non-organic food. Over 40 percent of all non-organic fruit, vegetables and bread tested in 2005 contained pesticides. The results for particular fruit and vegetables were much worse - percentages ranged from 72 to 100 percent.

5. GM-free
Genetically modified (GM) crops and ingredients are not allowed under organic standards. Over a million tons of GM crops are imported to feed non organic livestock that produce much, if not most, of the non organic pork, bacon, milk cheese and other dairy products in our supermarkets.

6. No Drug Reliance
Antibiotic additives routinely added to animal food to speed animal growth are linked with bacterial resistance in humans to the same or closely related antibiotics. Standards for organic food ban the routine use of antibiotics.

7. Transparent Costs
Tax payers fork out millions of money annually to pay for chemicals to be removed from drinking water, mainly as a result of the pesticides used in farming.

8. High Standards
Organic food comes from trusted sources. All organic farms and food companies are inspected at least once a year. Rules and regulations for organic foods are created and maintained by government departments, like the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
9. Animal Care
No system of farming has higher levels of animal welfare standards than organic farms working for organic standards.
10. Better for Environment
Overall organic farming supports more farmland wildlife than non-organic farming. International governments who have organic-standards programs say growing and raising organic food it is better for wildlife, causes lower pollution from sprays, produces less carbon dioxide - the main global warming gas - and less dangerous wastes.