There are a number of reasons for why organic produce is better for you and the environment. This is although in the main it is quite a bit more expensive at present. I haven’t given all the reasons, but these are the main ones as I see it.
- The soil in which organic produce is grown is not impoverished over time, because organic matter is regularly added to the soil to maintain micronutrient availability. This is for uptake by the crops being grown and results in more nutritionally dense crops.
- The soil is more biologically active because it is not being bombarded by pesticides and weedkillers and also because of the regular additions of biological material. This means it has lots of microorganisms as well as earth worms and other organisms that aid the breakdown and then uptake of micronutrients and basic nutrients into the plants.
- No Artificial fertilisers are used on the fields which lowers the carbon footprint of the crops produced, and also means that farmers must add organic material to maintain productivity.
- Pesticides are not allowed to be used. Pesticides are implicated in many modern diseases. When you buy normal crops or foodstuffs they will contain pesticide residues which are harmful to human health.
- Dangerous cancer forming weed killers such as glyphosate (used in Roundup) are not allowed to be added to the crops to control weeds. Currently there are more than 200,000 cases of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (a form of blood cancer) pending against Bayer for their glyphosate weed killer in the United States. Glyphosate is one of the most used weedkillers in the world and there will be residues of this weedkiller in virtually all non-organic crops.
- Overall nutrient levels in organically produced crops are much higher than ones grown on fields using inorganic ammonia based fertilisers.
- It is estimated that there is only about 25 to 30 harvests left in fields that are using nitrate fertilisers due to the continual removal from the soil of all the nutrients to grow the crops. This is very harmful and will result in a food crisis in the future.
A little known fact is that Baayer has encouraged farmers to routinely use glyphosate on their crops. They are advised to do this approximately 2 weeks before harvest. This is done because adding glyphosate causes the stalks to desiccate making them easier to harvest. It also causes the plant to divert any available nutrients into the seed head which boost yields. This then effectively pays for the application of the glyphosate. However glyphosate held to be responsible for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma a fatal blood cancer. Currently as mentioned Bayer is facing a barrage of lawsuits in the US for these cancer cases. But they refuse to put a warning label on the product and are in fact removing it from sale in the USA in February of 2023.
So I’m not saying I never buy it things that are not organic because I do. But certainly all whole grains, beans, and other seeds that I use are organic. The price difference isn’t that great, but the long term health benefits are massive.
