Eat Organic Food and Help the Planet

When most people hear the term “organic”, they think of decreased chemical use. In reality, organic agricultural production involves so much more than that. Organic agriculture is a fairly strict form of sustainable agriculture; a way of producing food products without harming the land. Its main goal is to work the land without preventing future generations from being able to use it as well. By buying organic products, you’re not only feeding your family safer food and preventing hazardous chemicals from entering the environment; you’re also protecting future generations.

One goal of sustainable agriculture is to conserve natural resources such as water. Water is conserved by growing plants that are suitable to the local environment. Instead of irrigating dry areas, sustainable farmers simply grow crops more suited to a dry environment. Many traditional farmers choose to irrigate because crops that require more water tend to sell for a higher value. Sustainable producers also conserve water by taking measures to prevent runoff. This keeps the water where it falls and where gets the most use.

Along with water, organic producers also take measures to conserve soil. This may seem silly because dirt is everywhere, but when crops are taken care of properly, the soil is their means of life. It contains beneficial organisms and nutrients, and has the correct conditions for good growth. When the ground is overworked or overgrazed by cattle, the soil washes away, and chemicals must be used to make it right again. The soil that washes away also ends up in lakes, rivers, water supplies, and other areas where it can be more of a problem than a benefit.

Organic farmers also conserve energy by using less fossil fuels. This also cuts down on environmental pollution. As I already said, these producers work the land less. Since traditional farm equipment requires gasoline, using this equipment less means cutting back on fossil fuel usage. Most organic producers also choose to sell their products locally. This means that the products don’t have to ship as far and even less fuel is consumed. If more farmers took these steps, it could drastically cut down on the amount of carbon pollution there is in the atmosphere.

When you see an organic farm, it is probably not a large sprawling acreage. By buying organic products, you are supporting small family farms instead of large faceless corporations. And while organic products may cost more, they don’t include hidden and sometimes immeasurable costs like cleaning up chemical pollutants. This promotes an honest economy.

Conventional farming is non-sustainable. By definition this means we can’t keep doing it forever. Eventually we will destroy the soil quality, use up all the water supplies, or do something else to halt traditional farming. With the growing world population, more and more food products will be needed in the near future. By using organic agriculture, we are encouraging less advanced cultures to do so as well, preventing further degradation of the environment.

While it may not seem like a lot, each person helps. By buying organic products, and encouraging others to do so as well, you are taking a small dent out of the problems traditional agriculture is causing. You are also helping to send a message to traditional producers that some of their methods are unethical and unacceptable.

Benefits of Organic Produce

Buying organic produce has become an increasing trend in recent years. Many people buy it because it’s natural and don’t even bother to research the benefits of these kinds of foods. By buying organic produce you are helping your family and the environment stay healthy and happy for years to come.

No matter what traditional producers try to convince you of, organic produce tastes better. Not only do organic fruits and vegetables out perform regular produce in taste tests, they’ve also been proven scientifically to be sweeter and more firm. Conventional producers tend to use breeds of crops that are genetically modified to look good, but they lose flavor in the process. Organic produce also has a better taste because they are grown in optimum soil conditions and don’t have chemicals in them to mask the natural flavor.

Organic produce contains more vitamins and essential nutrients. Tests have shown organic products to have significantly more substances that promote many aspects of a healthy life from cancer prevention to relieving the symptoms of PMS. Eating the recommended daily amounts of organic fruits and vegetables gives you nutrients levels even a multivitamin can’t match. This keeps your system functioning at optimum levels and makes you feel great.

Organic fruits and vegetables are not grown using unnatural chemicals. The obvious benefit of this is that your food has less harmful chemicals. This not only helps protects you from chemicals that can cause cancer, heart disease, and even promote Alzheimer’s; it also helps protect the environment from these chemicals as well. When harmful pollutants are put into the soil, they offset the natural balance. They can also work their way into streams, rivers, lakes, oceans, and underground water supplies; polluting the environment and possibly contaminating drinking water.

If you want the benefits of increased food safety, but cringe when you see the higher price tag; you can cut the costs by only buying certain organic produce. Different fruits and vegetables actually contain differing amount of harmful chemicals. Produce that is more important to purchase organically includes: winter squash, green beans, grapes, spinach, potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, peaches, apples, pears, and cantaloupe. Other types of produce have lower levels and are safer to eat when grown conventionally.

Production of organic products also includes a pledge to help conserve valuable natural resources. These producers conserve water by using less irrigation; they conserve soil by taking measures to prevent runoff; they also conserve valuable energy sources by working the land less and selling their food locally. By not using dangerous chemicals and by keeping natural non-farmed areas, organic producers also help to maintain wildlife biodiversity. The main goal of an organic farmer is to grow their crop without taking from the local environment. That way, the land will be available for future generations to farm.

Another lesser known benefit of organic produce is research. Many organic farmers perform research experiments on their own time to try to improve their methods. By buying organic produce, you are actually helping to improve yields and environmental safety for future organic farmers.

Organic Food Info

Hi there

I just want to let you know that I am publishing some Private Label Content articles. This set is on Organic Food. I have actually started looking into this for my own personal use. I am frustrated with not being able to lose weight so I am taking a different approach and trying to eat more natural organic goods and see if this makes a change for the better.

The First Article is: "Benefits of Consuming Raw Organic Food"

One of the latest diet crazes is the raw food diet. It may seem like an odd idea to eat all your food raw, but it’s really only natural. All the animals on the planet eat raw food except for humans and those raised by humans. And those that eat cooked food tend to have a shorter lifespan and more widespread disease. Before you dismiss raw food as the latest fad diet, take a look at the benefits it has to offer.

When you cook food, you get rid of a lot of the benefits it has to offer. The most important thing humans need to live is water. Our bodies are made up of mostly water; if you are lacking nutrients, you may feel sick, but if you are lacking water, you die. Cooking foods removes a large majority of their water content, making them harder to absorb and digest and increasing the amount of water you need to drink. Cooking food also eliminates significant amounts of protein, vitamins and other vital nutrients.

While you don’t always think of it that way, cooking is a chemical reaction. It chemically changes food and changes how good or bad it is for your body. Most of these changes make things like protein and fats harder to digest. When cooked, fats become easier for the body to store; some even become carcinogenic. When you eat things that are easier to digest, you get the energy from them faster (without expending as much) this makes you feel better overall and more lively. If your goal is to lose weight, this will not only help you lose some pounds, but give you energy to work out and burn off more.

One of the most important benefits of the raw food diet is active enzymes. Most foods in nature contain the enzymes needed to break them down. When we cook food, we destroy these enzymes. This means we have to break them down ourselves using our own digestive juices. Why is this bad? Well our enzymes are not as efficient as the natural ones, and our body has to work really hard to make them. This draws resources away from out immune system, causing us to be more susceptible to illness and disease. Plus, we can only produce so many in a lifetime. If we eat raw food that helps digest itself; we don’t have to draw on these resources and can actually live longer, healthier lives.

With recent e-coli outbreaks, you should be careful about what you eat raw. Cooking kills off beneficial organisms, but it also kills off harmful ones too

Most raw food diets include other healthy suggestions including: eating only organic food, not eating certain foods together, and only eating sprouted grains. While many of these diets are hard to stick to, you can try simply cutting back the amount of cooked food you eat. Another tip is to make sure you eat one raw food with each meal, this could be as easy as adding a few nuts, seeds or a fresh salad or fruit to your meals. By doing this you are adding active enzymes that will help you digest the food faster.

If you want the benefits of this great lifestyle, there are tons of books and resources you can find to help you get started.

I know you will find this information helpful,
Susan