Why Organic?
Ever since I was young, I’ve been interested in and conscious of what foods and ingredients I put into my body. However, it wasn’t until after I watched the documentary ‘Food Matters’ that my passion for organic wholefoods really took off. I began to notice and live in a whole new world – one with real food and not ‘food like products’. To me, a ‘real food’ diet is one where food is eaten as close to its natural state as possible (organic raw fruit, vegetables and cacao are a must for me!). It is not one that includes packaged foods where you can’t even read or understand half of the ingredients. My passion for organic foods then naturally sparked from all the research I was doing into natural food and nutrition.
With so much conflicting information out there about organic versus conventional foods, it can be ridiculously hard to make up your own mind about which is best for you. Here is some information about organic produce that helped me to understand this exciting new world, and that converted me into “The Organic Nutritionist” that I am today.
So… what exactly is organic food?
Organic food is grown without the use of synthetic chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers in addition to organic food production being free of antibiotics, antimicrobials, hormones and other growth stimulators. Animals raised on organic farms are treated humanely and with respect. For example, chickens are free range and are not fed any growth-regulating drugs, hormones or antibiotics.
As evidence suggests, the consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and although organic food is often more expensive than conventionally-produced food, you can be sure that you are eating real, natural food that is going to nourish your body without the addition of pumping unnecessary chemicals into your body.
As published in Body + Soul, American food philosopher and famous Journalist Michael Pollan recalls an enormous potato farm in Idaho, where fertilisers and pesticides were pumped over the crops by a remote-controlled computer. “What they were pumping onto the crops was so toxic that the farmers would not go into the fields for five days after spraying,” he recalls. “And for their own consumption, the farmers were growing organic potatoes in a small patch beside their house.”
If that wasn’t enough to get you thinking… think about the protective uniforms conventional farmers wear when spraying their crops, they are covered from head to foot, to prevent skin exposure to the toxic chemicals being sprayed… what makes you think the crop is then safe to consume once the chemical sinks into the crop?
Just because you can’t physically see the chemicals anymore does not mean they have magically disappeared!
How can anyone afford to live off organic produce?
I’m not going to lie, organic food is generally more expensive than conventionally grown produce due to a generally smaller scale operation, a more labour intensive production (without the use of herbicides, pesticides and other chemicals) and smaller yields. However, there is good news for those who are unable to afford to eat 100% organic all of the time. Some conventional foods have lower pesticide loads than others. That is, some retain substantially less amounts of pesticides than other conventionally grown foods.
Here is a list of fruit and vegetables that are included in the ‘low pesticide load’:
Onions
Sweet corn (NB. a large majority of sweet corn grown in Australia and internationally is genetically modified)
Pineapple
Avocado
Snowpeas
Asparagus
Mangoes
Eggplant
Kiwifruit
Cantaloupe
Sweet potato
Grapefruit
Papaya
Mushrooms
Watermelon
If you wish to only consume a small amount of organic produce, at the very least try to buy the following organic fruit and vegetables, also known as the ‘dirty dozen’ (high amounts of pesticide residue):
Apples
Celery
Cucumber
Grapes
Nectarines
Peaches
Potatoes
Spinach
Strawberries
Capsicum
Zucchini
Of course conventional fruit and vegetables still contain important vitamins and antioxidants, the question remains whether you want to consume varying amounts of pesticides, herbicides and artificial fertilisers at the same time. The choice is yours!
Sources:
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/organic_food
http://www.bodyandsoul.com.au/nutrition/nutrition+tips/is+organic+food+really+betterr,7471
http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php
The Organic Nutritionist 