By Heather Nicholds
I’m the type of person who likes to find good deals and save money. But I’m also the type of person who is totally willing to pay for quality.
I’m much more interested in value than cheap prices. So if you ask me why buy organic foods vs non organic foods, it’s all about quality. You get what you pay for, and you are what you eat – two cliches that sum up the importance of organic food for me.
Higher Nutrient Levels In Organic Foods Vs Non Organic Foods
When food is grown using true organic methods (I’ll get into the difference between industrial and true organics in my next post), it has significantly higher levels of nutrients than food grown using so-called conventional methods.
(My thoughts on the use of the word ‘conventional’ in relation to modern medicine, nutrition and agriculture is way too long a rant for me to include here ;))
The Organic Center’s scientific review of all peer-reviewed studies published since 1980 on nutrient levels of organic foods vs conventional foods found that on average organic produce has 25% more nutrients (New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods – PDF).
And organic food aside, many other studies show a huge decline in the nutrient levels of most food over the last century as farming moves to larger and large scales (Industrial Farming is Giving us Less Nutritious Food).
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The reasons behind this, and the methods of organic food growing, are much more Phil’s area of expertise than mine, so if want the details check out his site: Smiling Gardener. But what I’ve picked up through the osmosis-effect of being married to him is that the philosophy behind true organic gardening and farming is really similar to the way of thinking in holistic approaches to human health.
Rather than mindlessly throwing on some NPK (nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium for those of you who, like me, are not gardeners) fertilizer that just gives plants superficial growth spurts, organic methods focus on the full spectrum of soil fertility and creating optimal plant health. That means that plants will actually be healthy, not just big and shiny, and have the whole range of vitamins and minerals that they should have.
Reduced Toxin Levels In Organic Foods Vs Non Organic Foods
The levels of chemical pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides in non organic plant foods, as well as hormones and antibiotics in non organic animal foods, are an even more pressing reason for me in opting for organic foods than the added nutrients.
They’re both important, but if I pick up a non organic lemon and think about all of the chemicals infused into its skin and flesh, I just can’t bring myself to buy it.
Now, I do occasionally buy non organic foods when I don’t have a choice and want something for a specific dish or for a change of flavor. Our bodies can process some toxins without too much of a negative effect, but it’s when they accumulate in larger amounts and regularly over a lifetime that they cause problems.
Long-Term Sustainability Of Food Production
The basic premise of the system is about maximizing yields of the land without taking into account the long-term health of the soil. As we erode the earth’s ability to produce healthy food, we’re putting our future at serious risk.
Chemical inputs are petroleum-based, so we’re using a long-term resource for a short-term product. We’re doing this for a lot of different short-term gains, but I’m trying to keep my thoughts relative to food here 😉
This is a more indirect effect, but the health of the planet and our ecosystem will eventually show up in our own health. We’re starting to see the effects in pollution of our water and aquatic ecosystems (like lakes that have algae overgrowths) by runoff of chemicals and manure from industrial agriculture, and air pollution and global warming from industrial animal agriculture specifically.
Well, this is a topic that I feel like I could go on for some time with, but I want to leave it there for today.
What are your thoughts on organic foods vs non organic foods? Let me know whether or not you buy organic by leaving me a comment below.
