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Organic Cheat Sheet
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You demand organic because you know it is better for you and for the environment. But you come up blank when the lady behind you at the grocery store criticizes the contents of your cart. Here is the meat behind the message; the top reasons for demanding organic and the science that supports that sound and sane choice. Organic is healthy. Chemicals found in agricultural pesticides and fertilizers impact human health as they are inhaled, ingested and touch our skin. Studies have linked conditions affecting millions of people such as asthma, autism and organ failure to chemical exposure. Research supports the nutritional benefits of organics, as organic foods are found to contain more healthy natural compounds and fewer antibiotics, food additives and preservatives. Additionally, organic farmers do not use genetically modified crops, avoiding risk of greater antibiotic resistance or the spread of altered-protein allergens in foods. Organic is safe. Food safety concerns, such as bacterial contamination, are reduced by organic practices such as maximizing outdoor grazing of livestock and minimizing the feeding of grain. By cutting out virtually all synthetic pesticides, organic farmers greatly limit toxic exposure risks to farm workers, families and consumers. By relying on a mixture of crops and building healthy soil, organic systems slash dependence on petroleum-based products that require use of oil from often-conflicted areas. Organic protects our planet. By using natural inputs that avoid environmental pollution and help store carbon in healthy soils, organic farming protects our planet. Poisonous chemicals in pesticides, on the other hand, contaminate soil and pollute waters as agricultural run-off flows into streams after rainfall. Artificial fertilizers contribute excessive nutrients to water bodies, causing algae blooms, decreased dissolved oxygen and death of aquatic life forms. Fossil fuel-based agricultural inputs result in air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate instability. Organic feeds the world. Rodale Institute’s Farming Systems Trial, a study comparing chemical versus organic agriculture, shows that our organic yields match those of nonorganic crops. During dry years, Rodale’s organic production is often greater than conventional. Biologically sustainable organic agriculture that avoids expensive inputs and builds up soils instead of degrading them is necessary to feed the growing global population and support limited-resource farmers everywhere. Organic supports farmers. Farmers growing nonorganic crops are caught in a system of subsidies and market forces that rewards crop quantity over quality. They often work with pesticides and fertilizers that are harmful to themselves and the planet. Organic growers minimize negative agricultural impacts on the environment and produce crops that are nutritious and healthy. Purchasing organic products from nearby farms boosts local economies, cycling money within a community instead of supporting large, distant corporate operations. |
Science fair
I'm doing a science fair project on toxicity in apples, and I'm taking organic and non-organic apples and I'm going to soak them in water for 24 hours. then I'm putting brine shrimp in the water. Whichever brine shrimp dies faster that apple is more toxic. I'm using this article as part of my research. Thanks so much. Any thoughts on my project?
what's not mentioned enough
I've been into Organic foods for many years. Lately I've been trying to explain to a friend of mine who grew up in Europe. why organic food is a must for good health in this country. Where she grew up they were eating healthy, unsprayed foods and never had to think about the soil their food was grown in. I grew up in america just as pestiscides were being intoduced. We knew it was a bad thing, even then. The reason I'm writing here is to say that along with the toxic poisons on the food ("I always wash it or peel it" she says.)
The organic foods have way more nutrition than ones grown in depleted soil. With depleted foods, one can never eat enough vegetables or fruits to get the nutrition one needs in a day. Organic foods supply what we need.
Grape production
Do you know anything on farming wine grapes? I have not started yet but would like to know if there are alternatives to using fungicides in grape wine production. For pests I saw there are nematodes that can be used? Would these questions be answered if I joined as a farm fellow?
Re: Grape production
I don't know specifically about grapes, but I know that all crops are aided by liberal application of compost; vermicomposting (composting with earthworms) is especially effective. My plants are virtually disease free; I've been using this method for 3 years.
Backyard veggie gardening
I first became familiar with the Rodale Institute through the magazine Organic Gardening at my local library. I am in love! I have grown a small vegetable garden in my various backyards since I was fifteen, and I really can't tell you all how enjoyable it is for me. I wish more people could get hooked on it like I have. Now that my little girl is 3, I can share this love for plants with her (she is a superb gardening assistant). Spread the word everybody! I recently converted my sister and one of my friends...just talk to people about it. "Be the change you wish to see in the world." - Mahatma Gandhi
P.S. To the apple farmer above, I don't doubt that you have scientific proof that your pesticides aren't found in food. However, there are so many trace ingredients in our foods that science is just beginning to understand. Keep an open mind! We really don't know it all...that has been our biggest mistake as a planet in assuming we can outsmart Mother Nature.
organic apples
I believe I have kept quiet long enough and now I'd like to speak. I grow apples, peaches and nectarines etc. in the US, our country where we live, where we are struggling big time as a nation in our economy. If you think people in Mexico are having a hard time you ought to pay more attention to your own countrymen farmers. Complaints are made of subsidies made to our nations farmers yet so little is know by the general public about the hardships experienced in trying to make a living by farming. Unfortunate it is we are so busy making a living we have no time to defend ourselves against these attacks. To make my point I'd like to tell all you people who blast non-organic fruit and especially apples . We are IPM growers and work very hard to be that way. In a random test done at two different times by the State Dept. of Food safety, our nectarines and our apples both came back with NO pesticide detected. Not ppm or negligible amounts there was NONE detected. So maybe you want to look outside our country for your culprits or at least not propagate your misinformation to teach people a non truth. Look for yourself people and don't always believe what one source tells you.
Dear Apple Grower
The Rodale Institute applauds and celebrates the efforts of all farmers reducing their reliance on agricultural chemicals and genetically-modified crops whether they are certified organic or not. And let us right here, right now, thank you for all your hard work on growing the food the nurtures this country. And doing it in a way that is safer for the environment, safer for your customers and safer for you.
But the fact remains that for grocery-store shoppers, the USDA Certified Organic label is the quickest and easiest way to be sure certain methods have or have-not been used in producing that food. It has also allowed many farmers to effectively communicate the higher value of their product to their customers.
Organic food
As a long-time admirer of the work of the Rodale Institute, I have to agree with the content of the above page. We are living in a biosphere completely awash with chemicals, nanotechnology products, hormones, pharmaceuticals, and raised background radiation levels from all the nuclear power plants around the world. No wonder every second person in industrialised countries gets cancer. It is time for everyone to wake up and demand a better cleaner lifestyle, or the human race will become a threatened species, (along with the bees that we are killing with our pesticides, GM crops and in-breeding). The next threat already in the making is from nanotech products' effects on soil and water life around the globe, with immense effects for planetary sustainability. We will not solve our problems on Pollution Planet until we give the big agribusiness corporations the flick and take up biological methods of farming and home gardening.
Thanks for a Usefull Article!
Thanks for a handy set of talking points we can use to educate our friends and neighbors about "Why Organic" is so important.
As fossil fuel crop inputs get more scarce and expensive, having local organic farmers ready to gear up to take up the slack will be crucial to keeping this country fed.
Kudos to Rodale Institute for your pioneering work to prepare America for a return to sustainable agriculture. It couldn't be more timely.
Organic Livestock Products
A major concern I have (not being a vegetarian) is the prophylactic use of antibiotics in livestock and poultry, which is not allowed for organically raised animals, and which can result in human antibiotic resistance. I also believe it's important to support the much more humane conditions in which pasture-fed livestock are raised. I suspect that many agricultural chemicals used on conventional farms are concentrated in eggs and milk, but don't know if there is scientific literature that addresses this issue.
Re: Organic Livestock Products
Most petroleum-based chemicals are fat-soluble, nmeaning that they are concentrated in fat (eggs, fatty meat, full-fat milk). I am not saying that you should drink skim milk and eat lean meat, because fat - especially saturated fat - is very important for your health. Ideally, you would eat local, pastured meat, local, free-range eggs, and drink full-fat milk from local grass-fed cows.
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