I wrote the following article for a school assignment. Food is an important part in everyone's life. I find that many people don't think about what they are eating ar whether it's truly nutritious for them. Until recently, I didn't care or give much thought to what I ate either. Now I'm becoming aware that how food is grown and prepared makes a big difference in many ways. Eating food that's grown and prepared in a way that maximizes nutritional qualities is one of the most important parts of becoming strong and healthy.
Before the twentieth century, all food was organic. In comparison, conventional farming methods are relatively new. In recent years, many of our ancestor’s traditions, such as the task of growing and preparing our own food, have been slowly squeezed out of our culture, and in some cases, lost altogether.
Nowadays, there seems to be a general idea among most people that organic farming practices are inefficient and do not produce high enough yields to feed the planet’s rapidly growing population. Big businesses, such as Monsanto, are trying to convince everyone that the only solution to “end world hunger” is to promote genetically modified crops and conventional farming techniques. However, it turns out that some of these so called “advancements” in today’s farming practices are not really advancements at all.
A thirty year research project conducted by the Rodale Institute lead to the conclusion that organic farming practices are far superior in every way to conventional farming practices. The following provides a sampling of Rodale’s discoveries comparing the two approaches.
- Organic yields match, if not surpass, conventional yields.
- Organic outperforms conventional in years of drought.
- Organic farming systems build rather than deplete the soil of organic matter, creating a more sustainable system.
- Organic farming uses 45% less energy and is more efficient.
- Conventional systems produce 40% more greenhouse gases.
- Organic farming systems are more profitable than conventional.
Conventional farming systems use significant amounts of pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides, and chemical fertilizers. These toxic chemicals are designed to kill, and are harmful to our health and the overall health of the planet. Chemicals used in conventional farming have been found to cause a gradual build up of toxins in the body causing weight gain, headaches, lack of energy, digestive problems, and other serious health issues such as allergies and cancer. Rinsing off produce is not enough to keep us from ingesting these toxic chemicals. The best way to avoid ingesting toxins from our food is to purchase organic produce, or even better, grow our own!
Organic food is far more nutrient rich than its conventional counterpart. Since food gets its nutrients from the soil, it is important to have healthy soil in order to grow healthy food. When we eat food, our goal should be to provide our body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and strong. If we are eating conventionally grown food from soil that has been depleted of nutrients, lacking essential microbes, and doused with all kinds of chemicals, how can we expect to keep ourselves healthy? On the other hand, organic farming techniques actually improve soil health, providing us with more nutrient rich foods.
Many conventionally grown foods are irradiated. Irradiation is the process of treating a product with gamma rays, x-rays, or high voltage electrons in order to kill potentially harmful bacteria and parasites, delay sprouting, and increase shelf life. Irradiated foods may appear to be fresh, but in reality, they are far from it. Though some harmful bacteria is killed, irradiation is useless against certain viruses and disease such as hepatitis, anthrax, and mad cow disease. In the process, the food’s components that are vital to sustaining a healthy body are altered or destroyed. Irradiation damages the food’s vitamins, antioxidants, and enzymes, meaning less nourishment for the consumer. As an interesting point of fact, laboratory animals who were fed irradiated food suffered fatal internal bleeding, cancer, reproductive problems, mutations, organ malfunctions, stunted growth, vitamin deficiencies, and premature death. Irradiation generates harmful chemical compounds that are known to promote the growth of cancer and cause genetic and cellular damage. Once food has been irradiated, it becomes practically useless, if not harmful to our bodies. Thankfully, organic food, by law, cannot be irradiated.
A common argument against organic food is that it’s too expensive. Consider that your options are to buy organic food that keeps your body functioning properly, or to pay expensive medical bills later in life. When you compare those two ideas, buying organic seems like the preferable, less expensive option. Organic food is worth it.
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