Going Organic

Your grab your keys, climb into your car, list is nicely packed in your purse and your off....You arrive at the supermarket, list in hand. You start at the vegetable and fruit section and as you go to grab a bag of apples you stop... The sign in front of the apples reads "conventionally grown" and "organically grown"which one do you choose? The conventionally grown apples are cheaper than the organic apples so you shrug your shoulders and grab the cheaper bag. As you make your way to the dairy section you look over your list and notice that you need milk, cheese and eggs. As you approach the milk section you see the store brand milk, as well as organic milk. Not only that you see a picture of a goat and the label displays goat milk! The store brand is the cheapest, then the organic and then the goat milk. Since you are on a budget you grab the store brand and never look back.

What's the big deal you ask? Why not grab the cheaper product instead of paying more for organic? Once you learn about what these companies are putting into those products you buy, i promise you that you will only want to buy organic food from now on. I discovered organic food when i was 19 years old. Before that i would eat anything. I would look for low fat snacks, never realizing that when they advertise low fat what they really are doing is taking out the fat and replacing it with chemicals and sugar!!! I want to warn everyone to NEVER buy a product that has High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. It was banned in many countries, including the US in the early 1900's. A lot of countries still ban it but the US has started using it again. It has been linked with cancer and obesity to name a few. Rule of thumb, if you can´t pronounce an ingredient that is listed do NOT buy it!!!

Did you know that if you consumed an average apple you would be eating over 30 pesticides, even after you have washed it?

The quality of food has definitely gone down since the second world war. For instance, the levels of vitamin C in today's fruit bear no resemblance to the levels found in wartime fruit.

Organic food is known to contain 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed

It has been demonstrated that organically grown fruits and vegetables have significantly higher levels of antioxidants than do traditionally cultivated food products. Because organically grown fruits and vegetables are higher in antioxidants, these items have been demonstrated to work to reduce the risk of certain types of cancers.

Antioxidants also have a restorative process when it comes to skin and muscle deterioration. Foods that are high in antioxidants help to slow and inhibit the deterioration of muscles and skin associated with the aging process.  The benefits of organic food are based on the general beliefs of the organic food consumers, farmers, manufacturers, and retailers. These benefits are:

Better health: Since organic food is not prepared using chemical fertilizers and pesticides, it does not contain any traces of these strong chemicals and might not affect the human body.

Better taste: People strongly believe that organic food tastes better than non organic food. The prominent reason for this belief is that it is produced using organic means of production. Further organic food is often sold locally resulting in availability of fresh produce in the market.

Environment safety: As harmful chemicals are not used in organic farming, there is minimal soil, air and water pollution; thus ensuring a safe world for future generations to live in.

Animal welfare: Animal welfare is an important aspect of producing organic milk, organic meat, organic poultry, and organic fish. People feel happy that the animals are not confined to a miserable caged life while eating organic animal products.

Just remember, you are worth it. Your health cannot be compromised. You deserve the best!