#1 Organic FOOD DOESN’T TASTE BETTER
Food scientist Harold McGee advocates that organic food tasting better is not a judgment or a perception, but purely a science. Since, there aren’t ideally pesticides and chemicals used in the growing of such food in the farms, when plants are under attack, they begin to ramp up production of their chemical defenses. This can mean releasing an aroma that attracts counter-attacking bugs (wasps for caterpillars, for instance), manufacturing something toxic or distasteful to the insects themselves, or producing an anti-fungal compound.
McGee says, “Because they’re not protected by pesticides, organic plants that suffer from insect attack can accumulate higher level of flavor chemicals and other protective molecules, including antioxidants.”
#2 PESTICIDES INJECTED ARE FOR PROTECTION OF FARM; DO NOT HARM HUMANS
How can you think that something injected in a vegetable to KILL the worms and other attacking creatures present at the farms is not at all dangerous to you?
#3 CONFUSION OF LABELS
Don’t confuse terms such as “free-range,” hormone free” or “natural” with organic. These food labeling terms are not regulated by law.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has created an organic seal. Foods bearing it are required to be grown, harvested, and processed according to national standards that include restrictions on amounts and residues of pesticides, hormones, and antibiotics.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), “organic” foods cannot be treated with any synthetic pesticides, sewage sludge, bioengineering, or ionizing radiation. They may use pesticides derived from a natural source.
#4: YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE AS CAREFUL ABOUT WASHING IT.
All produce, whether purchased from a grocery megachain or your local organic farm, is susceptible to nasty bacteria, such as E. coli (the news-maker that’s also been known to kill people). Soil and runoff water that’s contaminated with E. coli-harboring animal poop can get onto produce — particularly melons, lettuce, sprouts, tomatoes, spinach, and green onions, since they grow close to the ground. Your best defense: Wash everything thoroughly under running water.
#5 A COSTLY AFFAIR
Organic is expensive? Organic is “elitist”? It’s time to direct the outrage where it belongs. Corporations that buy the cheapest crops–subsidized by taxpayer dollars, sprayed with pesticides, often genetically engineered–spend money on pretty packages and advertisements, and then profiteer at the expense of consumer confusion.
We have a collective responsibility to ourselves, to the hard-working people who produce our food, to the animals we raise for our nourishment, and to the Earth to be discerning shoppers. We owe it to ourselves and to society to do everything we can to support organic agriculture.
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