Going Organic.

There is no doubt that you've seen the plethora of organic foods that your grocery store offers. Or, perhaps it's the other way around. Maybe you're frustrated with the lack of organic goods available near you. Or maybe you have no preference or even a clue what organic food is. Well, I think it's important that you know. As usual, my blog this week will be over food and, specifically organic food. I try to maintain a certain level of health with the foods I put into my body and I usually try to eat organic produce and other organic products and I think you should too.

Let's first talk about what "organic" means. According to this Food Wise website, organic food is produced without the use of pesticides, bioengineering and synthetic ingredients. Not only that, but organic foods are also grown from farmers who are concerned about the environment and renewable resources. So, why is this important? Well, the use of renewable resources and the conservation of water and soil is important for our future generations. If we expect to leave these generations with a usable planet, then we must focus on renewable resources and finding ways to produce our food while still nurturing our planet. Organic farmers understand the importance of this and use USDA organic guidelines when growing their produce and harvesting.

If we're focusing on organic foods, we cannot limit our focus to foods grown from the Earth. We must also take a look at livestock. Cows, by nature, are vegetarians. So it would only seem natural that we let cows forage and feed them what they have been eating since the first cow, right? Apparently, this does not hold true with many farms. Cows and poultry are being fed gelatin rendered from the hooves of other cattle, rendered horse protein and fats and oils. Not to mention, for non-organic meat, the slaughter regulations are not as strict. With organic slaughter houses, all equipment is cleaned and tested to make sure there is no co-mingling of organic and non-organic meat. You can read these regulations here.

It seems healthier, then, to choose organic meats and foods, but is it really? This Web MD article examines the possible health benefits of eating organic. According to said article, while it is proven that when eating organic food, you are ingesting less pesticides there is no evidence of what these pesticides will do to people over time. Seems like we're the guinea pigs in this experiment and the variable we can control is how much of these pesticides we consume. The conclusive evidence reached in this article is that organic food is definitely better for the environment. Even if the health benefits have yet to be seen in humans, we know organic production is a good thing for our planet.

So whether or not you feel that "going organic" is worth the extra money you may pay for that label, you have to admit the benefits are there. The organic products we receive are held to a higher standard and, ultimately, we consume less chemicals with organic produce. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you are what you eat. It's time we start paying more attention to the food we put in our bodies.