Marjorie Geiser, RD
We come from a society where growing organic and just growing produce and livestock for food was once one and the same. Small, family farms still grow their own food using traditional methods passed down finished the generations. As commercial farming became big-business, however, growers and farmers started to investigate methods of increasing crops and building big livestock in order to increase their profits. This led to increased use of pesticides and drugs to enhance yield.
In this article, we will look at what is required in order to call a product organic, how choosing nonsynthetic eating and rural impact the environment and our health, discuss the benefits of eating nonsynthetic foods, and what research says active the nutritional benefits of organically-grown produce.
Calling it "Organic"
In 1995, the US National nonsynthetic Standards Board passed the definition of 'organic', which is a labeling term denoting products produced under the authority of the nonsynthetic Foods Production Act. It states, "Organic agriculture is an ecological production management system that promotes and enhances biodiversity, biological cycles and soil biological activity. It is supported on minimal use of off-farm inputs and on management practices that restore, maintain, and enhance ecological harmony."
The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals, and people.
The philosophy of organic production of livestock is to provide conditions that meet the health needs and natural behavior of the animal. nonsynthetic livestock must be given access to the outdoors, new air, water, sunshine, grass and pasture, and are fed 100% organic feed. They must not be given or fed hormones, antibiotics or other mammal-like drugs in their feed. If an animal gets tubercular and needs antibiotics, they cannot be considered organic. Feeding of animal parts of any sympathetic to ruminants that, by nature, eat a vegetarian diet, is also prohibited. Thus, no mammal-like byproducts of some sort are united in organic feed at any time.
Because farmers essential keep extensive records as part of their farming and handling plans in order to be certified organic, cardinal is always competent to trace the animal from birth to market of the meat. When meat is labeled as organic, this means that 100% of that product is organic.
Although organic crops essential be produced without the use of pesticides, it is estimated that between 10-25% of nonsynthetic fruits and vegetables contain some residues of synthetic pesticides. This is because of the influence of rain, aerial and polluted water sources. In order to qualify as 'organic', crops must be mature on soil liberated of prohibited substances for three years before harvest. Until then, they cannot be called organic.
When pests get out of balance and traditional nonsynthetic methods don't work for pest control, farmers can request permission to use other products that are considered contrabass risk by the National Organic Standards Board.
The Environment
According to the 15-year study, "Farming Systems Trial", nonsynthetic soils have high microbial content, making for healthier soils and plants. This study concluded that organically grown foods are raised in soils that have better physical structure, provide better drainage, may support high microbial activity, and in years of drought, organic systems may possibly outperform conventional systems. So, organic growing may help feed much people in our future!
What is the cost of conventional farming, today? The above-mentioned 15 -year study showed that conventional rural uses 50% much energy than nonsynthetic farming. In cardinal report, it was estimated that single 0.1% of practical pesticides actually reach the targets, leaving most of the pesticide, 99.9%, to impact the environment. Multiple investigations have shown that our water supplies, some in rivers and area tap waters, are showing higher levels of pesticides and antibiotics old in farming practices. Water samples usurped from the Ohio River as healed as area tap water contained trace amounts of penicillin, tetracycline and vancomycin.
Toxic chemicals are contaminating groundwater on every inhabited continent, endangering the world's most valuable supplies of freshwater, reported to a Worldwatch paper, Deep Trouble: The Hidden Threat of Groundwater Pollution. Calling for a systemic overhaul of manufacturing and progressive agriculture, the paper notes that single water utilities in Germany now pay farmers to switch to organic operations because this costs less than removing farm chemicals from water supplies.
What About our Health?
Eating organic food is not a fad. As people become more wise to and aware, they are taking steps to ensure their health. US sales of organic food totaled 5.4 cardinal dollars in 1998, but was up to 7.8 cardinal dollars in the year 2000. The 2004 Whole Foods Market Organic Foods Trend Tracker survey found that 27% of Americans are eating more nonsynthetic foods than they did a year ago.
A study conducted by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation reports that the number of people poisoned by drifting pesticides increased by 20% during 2000.
A rise in interest and concern for the use of pesticides in food resulted in the passage of the 1996 Food superior Protection Act, leading the US EPA to reassess the usage and impact of pesticides for food use.
Particular attention was remunerated to the impact on children and infants, whose lower body weights and higher consumption of food per body weight present high exposure to some risks associated with pesticide residues.
Publishing an update to its 1999 report on food safety, the Consumers northern in May 2000 reiterated that pesticide residues in foods children eat all day often exceed safe levels. The update found higher levels of pesticide residues on winter squash, peaches, apples, grapes, pears, chromatic beans, spinach, strawberries, and cantaloupe. The Consumers Union urged consumers to consider buying organically mature varieties, particularly of these fruits and vegetables.
The most common class of pesticide in the US is organophosphates (OP's). These are known as neurotoxins.
An article publicized in 2002 examined the urine concentration of OP residues in 2-5 year olds. Researchers found, on average, that children eating conventionally grown food showed an 8.5 times higher amount of OP residue in their urine than those eating organic food. Studies have also shown harmful effects on fetal growth, as well.
Pesticides are not the single threat, however. 70% of all antibiotics in the US are used to fatten up livestock, today. Farm animals receive 24.6 cardinal pounds of antibiotics per year!
Public health authorities now link under antibiotic use in livestock to greater numbers of people contracting infections that resist treatment with the same drugs. The American Medical Association adopted a resolution in June of 2001, hostile the use of sub-therapeutic levels of antibiotics in agriculture and the international Health Organization, in its 2001 report, urged farmers to stop using antibiotics for growth promotion. Studies are finding the same antibiotic resistant bacteria in the intestines of consumers that develop in commercial meats and poultry.
Is it More Nutritious?
Until recently, there had been infinitesimal evidence that organically grown produce was higher in nutrients. It's long been held that better soils would produce a product high in nutritional quality, but there was never the science to support this belief. Everyone agrees that organic foods taste better.
In 2001, nutrition specialist Virginia Worthington publicized her review of 41 published studies comparing the nutritional values of nonsynthetic and conventionally mature fruits, vegetables and grains. What she found was that organically grown crops provided 17% much vitamin C, 21% more iron, 29% more magnesium, and 13.6% more phosphorus than conventionally mature products. She known that five servings of organic vegetables provided the advisable daily intake of vitamin C for men and women, while their nonrepresentational counterparts did not. Today there are more studies that show the unvarying results that Ms. Worthington concluded.
Considering the health benefits of eating nonsynthetic foods, along with the knowledge of how conventionally mature and raised food is impacting the planet should be enough to consider paying greater attention to eating organic, today. Since most people buy their food in topical supermarkets, it's good news that much and more markets are providing earthy and organic foods in their stores. Findings from a survey by Supermarket News showed that 61% of consumers now buy their organic foods in supermarkets. More communities and health agencies also are employed to set up more farmer's markets for their communities, also, which brings more organic, locally grown foods to the consumer. The next time you go shopping, consider investigating organic choices to see if it's indeed worthy the change!
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