Spreading the Organic word

People are exploring the world of organic food and discovering the many benefits of eating organic health foods. Many people try every diet possible to lose weight and many different food combinations in feeble attempts at eating better without changing much in terms of the actual food. The newest trend in food is eating organic food and for good reason. Eating organic means, in English, that you are being better to yourself and the earth because you’re putting cleaner food in your mouth. Let’s discuss organic health food as a better food choice.

You may be asking yourself why “organic” matters in terms of it being a healthier choice. It means produce has been raised without pesticides, fertilizers and other chemicals commonly employed on commercial farms to ward off pests, inject nutrients into the soil and encourage growth. Dairy products are raised without the hormones, such as bovine growth hormone, or BGH, that some commercial farms employ to get more milk out of their dairy cows, which translates into buttermilk, cream and cheese among other products. Cows, goats, chickens and other farm animals are raised in clean environments, fed organic, mineral rich feed and permitted to roam freely. They are not given hormones of any kind or contained in pens, stalls or cages, as some animals are on commercial farms.

When you’re eating organic food, what is not in them is as important, if not more so, than what is in them that benefits you. Artificial colors and flavors, artificial sweeteners, additives and preservatives are all prohibited in organic farming. This is important, especially for children as studies suggest artificial colors and preservatives, among other ingredients, may contribute to hyperactivity in children.

Another important reason why organic health food is better for you is what it lacks. Organic farmers rotate their crops to allow the land to recover and fertilize the land with compost which means everything is natural and chemical free. Birds and other natural pest control methods are used on organic farms in lieu of pesticides and herbicides. When these chemicals don’t touch the food you eat, they don’t touch you making organic health food a healthier choice for you.

Organic Food Facts

Organic food is much more rich in vitamins, minerals and fibre and retains the levels of nutrients for much longer

Your body will be more resistant to disease as it will have higher levels of the essential nutrients it needs to fight off infection

The average non organic fruit contains more than 20 pesticides

You will have more energy through consuming lower levels of toxins and chemicals that slow your body down

If you are eating dairy or farm produce then you are also eating the chemicals, drugs and growth hormones given to the animals

Organic food producers must meet stringent standards

Organic farms respect our water resources and do not leach nitrogen’s and other pollutants from their soil

Organic food just tastes so much better!

Worms and other micro-organisms thrive in the naturally fertilized soil that can be sterile on intensive, and chemically enhanced farms.

Organic Farms grow various crops and therefore encourage a balanced Ecosystem

Besides the obvious benefit of taste, there are also environmental aspects such as fewer chemicals in the soil leading to less erosion of the countryside and pollution of our rivers with nitrates.

 

Global Food Security

In conditions of climate uncertainty and unreliability, and increasing real prices of fossil fuel, major technological advances at least equivalent to the Green revolution of the 1970s are needed.


I think world leaders also need to make a commitment to economic growth in developing countries. For the increasing global population to be able to make a decent living requires growth - in direct contradiction to the ‘green’ notion that self-sufficient organic peasantry is the only sustainable solution.

Efficient and effective feeding of the world’s increasing population is very unlikely to involve more people being engaged in growing food than at present, and is very likely to require very substantially fewer people than now.

Multilateral managed food stocks should be built up for emergencies. These could be real or virtual (in the form of promises).

So the future presents both risks and opportunities for businesses. If we do not find a  solution to food security soon businesses everywhere could face disruption and major uncertainty. But if governments reach accord and agree to fund progress, the growth opportunities resulting from a revolution in agriculture, particularly in terms of new technologies, could be huge.

Whole Grains are Good

That simple statement bombards us daily - on bread and cereal packages, in newspaper and magazine articles, on television ads, in doctors' and nutritionists' advice for healthy eating.

But why are they good, you might wonder. And beyond brown rice or whole-wheat bread, what are they?

Whole or minimally processed grains are good because they contain a wealth of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and fiber. They've been shown to help lower the incidence of cancer, heart disease and diabetes, and that fiber - your grandma might have called it "roughage" - can help reduce cholesterol if consumed on a regular basis.

Whole grains range from the familiar wheat - also kamut, spelt, emmer and the wheat-rye hybrid, triticale - to barley, corn and popcorn, millet, oats, rice, rye, sorghum and wild rice (not true rice at all, but the seeds of an aquatic grass). Amaranth, buckwheat and quinoa are used in similar ways but aren't true grains because they aren't members of the grass family.

Incorporating more whole grains and foods made with whole grains into the diet is an easy and often inexpensive way to go "green" and eat organic food, says Cassie Knowlton, registered dietitian for the local Women Infants Children nutrition program.

"It's a matter of changing how we think and stepping out there and trying something new that's good for your health. I think people are changing their attitudes."