Why eat organic? Isn't that just a scam? Isn't it too expensive? Why should I spend the extra money?
These are the common objections to eating organic versus conventional foods that come up time and time again.
While it may be true that organic eating can be more expensive than eating conventional foods in the short term, the cost difference pails in comparison to the long term costs of a non-organic diet.
This article is intended to encourage you to think about your diet differently if you currently don't see the use in an organic diet.
There are many considerations surrounding the conventional versus organic debate. This article will focus on the quality of produce and the general effects on your health.
Poisons and Toxins
Many people believe there is no difference between organic and conventionally grown foods. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Conventionally grown foods are typically sprayed with pesticides, herbicides, and other chemicals designed to keep pests and weeds at bay, ie, kill them with poison.
This is done to ensure that crop harvests are as high and profitable as possible.
But if that poison kills insects, rodents, and plants...and they are living beings, what is the long term effect on humans? I am personally not prepared to assume that if certain chemicals are poisonous enough to kill a variety of living things that they won't have some detrimental effect on my own body.
While eating a single potato that has been treated with chemicals won't kill you, a lifetime of ingesting foods that are treated with these harsh chemicals adds up to severe doses of harmful chemicals.
Fertilizers - Why Are They Even Necessary?
Conventional farming also allows for various synthetic fertilizers. This is to make up for the inherent nutrient deficiency in the soil. And it is the nutrient content of the soil that dictates the nutrient content of the food being grown.
Synthetic fertilizers allow produce to grow in the absence of the nutrients that nature intended for those plants to have. The result is nutrient deficient food that had been forced to grow by the will of toxic fertilizers.
Is That A Peach Or A Tennis Ball?
The moment at which this became abundantly clear to me happened several years ago. I had been eating an organic diet for several months.
In an effort to "save money" I bought conventional peaches one day. When I bit into one, I immediately experienced with my taste buds the difference between organic and conventional produce. It was like biting into a soft tennis ball. Dry, sort of furry, nearly tasteless, and likely nutrient deficient.
Each kind of produce contains tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of different nutrients. Many of these nutrients are what give a piece of fruit their color, taste, smell, and other distinguishing qualities. When those nutrients are absent or reduced, so are their associated properties. Hence the nearly tasteless peach that I bit into.
Reality Check
Of course not all conventionally grown produce is as drastically deficient as what I just described. But when you add up the reduction in their nutrient density, plus the addition of toxins, you end up with a problem that compounds upon itself.
And with a lifetime of eating nutrient deficient food that is effectively poisonous over the long run, it is no wonder that so many people in America are riddled with a seemingly infinite litany of health problems.
There are other factors that contribute to the state of health and wellness. But one can not ignore the fact that organic produce by its very nature is cleaner and more nutrient dense than conventionally grown produce.
Nick Brown is a Certified Nutrition Specialist and write for Chakra 4 Vegetarian Restaurant in Phoenix, AZ. Visit our website to sign up for our newsletter and get FREE tips on vegetarian lifestyle, organic living, and natural healing. Click here Phoenix Vegetarian Restaurant Newsletter
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