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Organic Veggie Garden
Organic Veggie Garden

A staggering 80% of ALL antibiotics are given to HEALTHY farm animals leading to one of the most serious public health issues in the US. What is more, based on a study initiated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), 90% of fungicides, 60% of insecticides and 30% of herbicides increase risks of developing cancer. Fears of acquiring chemical-induced cancer have led to the increasing popularity of organic food.[1] In fact, organic food sales have gone up to 17% to 20% in the last years compared to a meagre 2% to 3% increase on conventional food sales. [2]
Organic foods, or Bio as they call it in Europe, are food products that have been cultured purely from natural methods of farming without employing any artificial chemicals such as pesticides and fertilizers. The emergence of the concept of “organic” food was only until the 1990’s when the use of pesticides and fertilizers in farming had been extensively advertised.
Advocates of organic food claim that foods grown with NO chemicals are safer and offer more nutritious than its conventional counterparts. People simply do not trust that vegetables and animals grown with a lot of chemicals can be chemical-free. These foods are bound to have some chemical contamination. The only way you can be sure is if it is ORGANIC. Recently, package labels have been placed in order to find organically grown food with much ease.[3] Then again, even when growing of organic food is completely by natural methods, they are technically not chemical-free. “Organic,” as defined by the USDA is having a chemical content that is below a certain standard amount.[4]
A further benefit of organic farming is that by reducing the use of chemicals in farming, air and water pollution is effectively subdued. A statement by the ESRC Global Environment Program in 1999 says,Pollution of air and water is found to be reduced on organic farms, soil health improves, and the number and variety of wild species, such as plants, butterflies and spiders is enhanced.
These benefits draw most people to eat mostly if not ONLY organic foods. Then again, going organic is not cheap. Because of this, people have mixed emotions regarding the use of organic products as their only food source.
To find their way around steep organic food prices, several people cleverly segregate food items that can be bought inorganic and food items that SHOULD be bought organic. Typically, foods exposed to high amounts of chemicals such as apples, berries, carrots, celery and bell peppers should be bought organic. [5]
Others still, claim that the difference between organic and inorganic food are insignificant and that organic food is just not worth the price. If only ONE person is eating organic food perhaps. But imagine if the entire world went organic, certainly its effects will be significant enough to cause pivotal changes especially in the improvement of health as well as in environmental protection. As cited by Woleske in a high school news feed, just give organic food another look. And as a community, if people start buying more and more organic foods, the grocery stores will eventually buy more of the food and the prices will go down. [6] What he is saying is that, as long as we keep on supporting the things that we believe in, it will only be a matter of time before we can finally see the changes that we have been fighting hard to accomplish.
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paleovillage.com/2011/04/22/the-importance-of-eating-organic-food/