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Organic Foods vs. Conventional Foods What’s the Big Deal?Once upon a time, all food was raised organically. “Conventional” food was organic food. But nowadays “conventional” food is raised by unnatural chemical agribusiness methods. The EXCEPTION is organic. Something is drastically wrong with the way is now produced, and the way food is no longer valued. Food grown with Nature and with care is quite different than food grown with chemicals and with detachment. People would rather save money and effort on food while the eventuality can be loss of health, loss of safe environment, and lost of heritage for future generations. Organic food is far more than just another fad or pricey health craze. It is reclaiming influence on our health, our children’s health, the earth’s health. Organic food is raised in harmony with Nature, yet it is treated as an oddity, having special “certified organic” labels. Actually it is “conventional” foods that should be labeled: “Sprayed with Pesticides”, “Includes Residues of Hormones and Antibiotics”, “Growth with Sewage Sludge”, “Genetically Altered”, “Production of This Food Damaged the Environment”, etc. Rather than healthful NORMAL potato having to be labeled organic, a chemically-grown potato should have a label listing the 20 chemicals used to create it, grow it, store it and ship it. Raising food is now merely a business; foods (including animals) are nothing more than commodities. Peer-reviewed, published controlled research has demonstrated that many of the chemicals used to produce foods disrupt endocrine (hormonal), reproductive, nervous, and immune systems, as well as place severe stress on detoxification systems and their organs such as the liver and kidneys. Pregnant women and growing children are particularly vulnerable as pesticides have been linked to developmental and behavioral disabilities and impairments. Children are especially at risk for adverse effects from exposures to pesticide residues, hormone and drug residues. Children are more vulnerable due to their smaller size; higher metabolic rate; developmental fragility; hand-t0-mouth activity; and increased consumption of foods and water associated with multiple toxic residues. Exposure to some pesticides during infancy, even at very low levels, can lead to serious lifelong consequences if the pesticides disrupt hormone-driven developmental processes. Children who eat organic foods have lower levels of pesticide residues in their bodies. Organophosphates (OP), one class of pesticides, are developmental neurotoxins. Children eating conventional diets have concentrations of the OP metabolite six to nine times higher than children who eat organic. Another study (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition) showed a higher level of protective phytonutrients in organic food. Organic vegetable soups, for instance, contain almost six times as much salicylic acid as non-organic vegetable soups. This protective, immune-supportive compound was not even detectable in some conventional soup brand. A study published in the Journal of Applied Nutrition in 1993 clearly showed that organic food contains more nutrients than conventional food. |
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