Organic Foods - What Does Organic Mean and What are the Benefits?

Posted by steve mcguffey at 5/22/2007 7:46 AM
Categories: Discussion on Organic

Organic Foods - What Does Organic Mean and What are the Benefits?
By Paul Crantz

"Organic" is a labeling term that denotes products produced under the authority of the Organic Foods Production Act.Guidelines for organic production are to use materials and practices that enhance the ecological balance of natural systems and that the farming system techniques fall into into an ecological whole.

Organic agriculture methods are used to minimize pollution from air, soil and water. Organic food handlers, processors and retailers adhere to standards that maintain the integrity of organic agricultural products. The primary goal of organic agriculture is to optimize the health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life, plants, animals and people.

In order to become Organically Certified, in this case, Organic Produce, growers must grow their produce for a minimum of three years, without artificial pesticides or synthetic fertilizers. Since growth chemicals are not allowed, this means that organic crop yields may often be smaller, resulting in considerably higher prices for end consumers.

So, are organically foods healthier than other foods? According to some scientists, the short answer may be no because plants retain just so much vitamins through the growth process. However, in an earlier article, I pointed out the facts on soil nutrient depletion, drastically down from 100 years ago, giving empirical proof that plants grown in the mainstream of farming today have only a fraction of the vitamins and nutrients, simply because these ingredients have been depleted from our soil.

Because of Organic methods, such as crop rotation, rotational grazing, planting of cover crops, animal and plant waste recycling, tilling, and adding minerals to crops, there is much more nutrient material in these soils available to the plants. So it would stand to reason that if a maximum level of nutrients are available to the plants, the maximum amount of natural nutrition is obtainable in our foods.

Since artificial pesticides and chemicals are absent from the Organic food chain, these foods are definitely safer to consume, and given the above argument, healthier also. Their is no doubt that the food that our ancestors ate, generations ago, had a higher nutritional value. But as agriculture progressed and techniques were improved for much greater crop yields, something had to give. In many places, farm soil is literally little more than dirty sand, with nearly all of the valuable original nutrients leached out.

Artificial fertilizers will produce huge crops of nutrient deficient plants that leave human consumers critically deprived of the natural vitamins and minerals so much needed to maintain good health. Their is no question in many scientists minds that organic foods Do contain a much higher nutrient content. The good news is that demand for organics is soaring, which will lead, hopefully, to a renaissance in how our food is grown as well as a huge public awareness level which will benefit everybody up and down the supply cycle. Just think about it, healthy natural food that mother nature engineered our bodies to use without breaking the bank. Oh, one other thing. If you haven't tried Organically Certified eggs, you don't know what you've been missing. They taste so much better that I think that they're worth the nearly the double in price that you'll pay. Enjoy!

I specialize in general interest short article content, especially for my own content sites. I love to write and I look forward to contributing many many more submissions, hoping people will find some useful or entertaining info. www.healthcontentsite.com

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