Why Demand Organic?

To seek health, hope, vitality

By Krista Hozyash
Posted March 8, 2010

Demand for organics in the U.S. has been growing for more than two decades. For years before this period, farmers who had observed pesticide impact and alerted consumers believed that chemically-based agriculture had unintended consequences for human health and the environment. Recent and continuing reearch in many disciplines now validates the risks posed by pesticides to people and the natural world.

Today, organic agriculture is a clear and popular option for farmers and consumers who want to grow and buy food in ways that are healthier for people and the planet, and that depend primarily on natural biological systems for crop nutritional needs, pest management and plant health.

The organic “brand” has developed around a range of benefits, including the foundational practice to exclude the use of virtually all synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, as well as genetically modified crops (GMOs) and harmful food additives. Instead, organic methods: rely on natural forms of insect and weed management; improve soil health through the addition of organic matter; use fewer fossil fuels for production; and make sure cows graze on living pasture much of the time.

Organic foods and products are strictly regulated by the USDA’s National Organic Program. The popularity of organics is continuing to grow, with organic farmland totaling a little more than 4 million acres in 2008, 0.4 percent of all agricultural lands in the United States, on 14,540 farms, according to the just-released 2008 organic agriculture census data. At the same time, demand for organic food has increased dramatically, with retail sales in the U.S. reaching $21.1 billion in 2008, according to the USDA.

The rise in consumer demand for organics derives from many reasons, but interest in practices that support human health, protect the environment, improve the lives of farmers and farmworkers, honor natural behaviors in livestock, regenerate rural communities, and build sound relationships between farmers and consumers are frequently cited.

Food choice is highly personal and influenced by diverse factors that can include personal experience, medical issues of friends and family, scientific studies on pesticide impacts, nutritional analysis of organic foods and a basic decision to ask more questions about food and how it is grown.

This is the first in a series of profiles on why people demand organic. Watch for more entries in the weeks ahead.

Organic for human health

I originally purchased organics because of health reasons, and after much research it became a way of life and a way to live. I find fault with the widespread use of pesticides and chemicals, and animals being given hormones and antibiotics within the food industry.
~ Vivian Aron, Apothecary Manager of Kimberton Whole Foods, Douglasville, Pennsylvania

Aron lists common concerns of many organic consumers about pesticides, agricultural chemicals and the routine, non-therapeutic use of animal products. Why does this matter for people? New evidence indicates that “you are what you eat” is more than just a saying— it’s an accurate description of the positive impacts of better-grown food and the negative, unintended influences from agricultural chemicals.

Research suggests that chemicals used by food producers are having harmful effects on consumers, resulting in development of Parkinson’s disease, birth defects and non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma among other diseases. There are still questions about the impact of antibiotics, growth hormones and food additives, with some studies indicating that antibiotic resistance and infertility are possible effects.

Additionally, chemically-based agriculture makes extensive use of genetically-modified crops, which are being heavily promoted by industry sources. These use altered genetic material to allow farmers to apply herbicide right on the crop or to have corn plants actually produce a biopesticide.

Despite the accelerating use of GMOs, significant questions remain about their long-term impacts on human health, farming communities and the environment. Research links possible organ failure to consumption of GM corn, and pollen drift from genetically-modified crops can be carried by wind to contaminate susceptible organic and other non-GMO crops.

For anyone who wants food with the minimum risk of chemical residue, and who wants their “food dollars” to vote for farming that relies on natural systems, the clear choice is to demand organic.