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Organic Foods, Natural Foods

Why You Need Organic Foods!

Posted August 2007

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Organic foods are produced according to certain production standards. For crops, it means they were grown without the use of conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, or sewage sludge, and that they were processed without ionizing radiation or food additives.^[1] For animals, it means they were reared without the routine use of antibiotics and without the use of growth hormones. In most countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified.

Increasingly, organic food production is legally regulated. Currently, the United States, the European Union, Japan and many other countries require producers to obtain organic certification in order to market food as organic.

Processed Food

Often, within the same supermarket, both organic and conventional versions of products are available, although the price of the organic version is usually higher (see modern developments). Most processed organic food comes from large food conglomerates^[6] producing and marketing products like canned goods, frozen vegetables, prepared dishes and other convenience foods.

Processed organic food usually contains only organic ingredients, or where there are a number of ingredients, at least a minimum percentage of the plant and animal ingredients must be organic (95% in Australia). Any non-organically produced ingredients must still meet requirements. It must be free of artificial food additives, and is often processed with fewer artificial methods, materials and conditions (no chemical ripening, no food irradiation, and no genetically modified ingredients, etc.).

Pesticides and farmers

For those who work on farms, there have been many studies on the health effects of pesticide exposure.^[18] Even when pesticides are used correctly, they still end up in the air and bodies of farm workers. Through these studies, organophosphate pesticides have become associated with acute health problems such as abdominal pain, dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, as well as skin and eye problems.

^[19] In addition, there have been many other studies that have found pesticide exposure is associated with more severe health problems such as respiratory problems, memory disorders, dermatologic conditions,^[20][21] cancer,^[22] depression, neurologic deficits,^[23][24] miscarriages, and birth defects.^[25] Summaries of peer-reviewed research have examined the link between pesticide exposure and neurological outcomes and cancer in organophosphate-exposed workers.^[26][27]

However, in fact, conventional farming may be the best way to protect farmworkers and their families from health risks associated with the volumes of pesticide to which they can be exposed. Conventional farming can include genetically-modified crops — which organic farms do not use. These genetically-modified crops often require less or no pesticide spraying and reports by think-tanks like the Hudson Institute have shown a reduction in pesticide usage and environmental footprint.^[28][29]

Pesticide Residue

Most conventionally grown foods are sprayed with pesticides. However, this does not necessarily translate into actual pesticide residues clinging to conventionally farmed food by the time it reaches market. In fact, some studies suggest that (because such microscopic traces are easily rubbed off during handling, washing and shipping) 90 percent of non-organic food ends up being completely pesticide-free. ^[30]

There is controversial data on the health implications of certain pesticides. The herbicide Atrazine, for example, has been shown in some experiments to be a teratogen, even at concentrations as low as 0.1 part per billion, to emasculate male frogs by causing their gonads to produce eggs — effectively turning males into hermaphrodites.^[31] However, Anthony Trewavas and numerous other scientists such Bruce Ames and Lois Swirsky, have put forth that concerns about residues are greatly over-stated and that naturally occurring chemicals offer the same or greater risks.^[32][33]

In fact, weight-for-weight, pesticide residues are less toxic than numerous other chemicals found everywhere, such as salt, caffeine,^[34] or vitamin B6.

Organic farming standards do not allow the use of synthetic pesticides, but they do allow the use of specific pesticides derived from plants. The most common organic pesticides, accepted for restricted use by most organic standards, include Bt, pyrethrum, and rotenone. Some organic pesticides, such as rotenone, have high toxicity to fish and aquatic creatures with some toxicity to mammals including humans.^{[citation needed]}

A study published by the National Research Council in 1993 determined that for infants and children, the major source of exposure to pesticides is through diet.^[35] A recent study in 2006 measured the levels of organ phosphorus pesticide exposure in 23 schoolchildren before and after replacing their diet with organic food. In this study it was found that levels of organ phosphorus pesticide exposure dropped dramatically and immediately when the children switched to an organic diet.^[36] However, the fact that diet is the major source of pesticide ingestion does not mean that pesticides are ingested at amounts that could ever prove harmful;^{[citation needed]} modern pesticides biodegrade into harmless components in the body;^{[citation needed]} and food residue limits established by law are set specifically with children in mind and consider a child's lifetime ingestion of each pesticide.^{[citation needed]}

The United States Environmental Protection Agency and state agencies periodically review the licensing of suspect pesticides, but the process of de-listing is slow. One example of this slow process is exemplified by the pesticide Dichlorvos, or DDVP, which as recently as the year 2006 the EPA proposed its continued sale. The EPA has almost banned this pesticide on several occasions since the 1970s, but it never did so despite considerable evidence that suggests DDVP is not only carcinogenic but dangerous to the human nervous system — especially in children.^[37]

^{Above are a few compelling thoughts why you should start eating organic food. All the links were left active so you can further research organic foods!}

 

 

 

 

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