By now everyone has heard the buzz about organic foods! There is an organic section in most grocery stores nowadays, health food stores are popping up all over, and online stores are flooded with organic products. Organic may be trending, but the majority of the population are certainly not on board yet.
Most people are just not educated on the value and safety of organic foods, nor the dangers of pesticide laden conventional foods. If you are waiting to be informed by mainstream media, you may be waiting quite a long time. Influential powerful lobbyist’s profit greatly by suppressing this priceless information, so you MUST to do your own research if you want to know the truth!
SYNTHETIC PESTICIDES ARE A MAJOR HEALTH CONCERN!
The indiscriminate use of pesticides and other synthetic chemicals are the main issue had with the majority of conventional agricultural products. By consuming primarily organic foods not only are you minimizing your personal exposure to these dangerous toxins, but you are doing your part in reducing the overall toxic chemical burden both locally and throughout the entire population.
Synthetic chemicals, like pesticides sprayed on conventional crops, can have a severe negative impact on ecosystems, contaminating soils, and making their way into groundwater, streams, ponds, and oceans. They are destroying beneficial microorganisms that live in the soil, depriving plants of much needed nutrients and natural protection, decreasing yields, and eventually making the land un-farmable. These toxic POISONS work their way up the food chain directly and indirectly, contaminating beneficial soil organisms, insects, plants, birds, fish, mammals, livestock, and finally humans!
Take a moment to consciously think about this! If these pesticides are killing weeds and insects, how do you think they are impacting the environment and YOUR health? Just because these pesticides are not really visible, and they may not have immediate, noticeable, adverse effects on the body and other life forms, it can be easy to overlook the UNDENIABLE risks involved!
Besides environmental destruction, countless studies have linked pesticides to nerve damage, endocrine disruption, digestive, & reproductive disorders, birth defects, the development of cancer, many autoimmune diseases, Asthma, and neurological diseases like ADHD and Alzheimer’s to name a few. Pesticides are often stored in your colon, causing inflammation which can lead to chronic disease. These chemicals can then enter the bloodstream infecting various organ systems especially the nerves! (1)
PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (POP’S)
POP’s-found in insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, (as well as certain pharmaceutical drugs and type 3 plastics) are made with chlorine releasing very dangerous byproducts like dioxins. POP’s bio-accumulate in the air, water, and soil taking years to breakdown, hence the name “persistent”. These toxic substances contaminate plants, and buildup in HIGH amounts in animals, and the humans consuming these foods. Considered some of the most toxic chemicals known to man, they have been linked to learning disabilities in children, thyroid and other hormonal disturbances, diabetes, immune suppression, and cancer, amongst others!
The USDA stated “dioxin is a human carcinogen and that the lifetime cancer risk associated with the average person’s body burden of dioxin is between 1 and 1000 and 1 in 100. This estimate of risk is 10 times higher than EPA’s previous estimate, and represents a very significant public health concern.” How do you avoid them? Eat organic! (2)
EMASCULATING FROGS
According to a study published in 2010 by the University of California, Berkeley, one of the most extensively used pesticides in the world, atrazine, is responsible for sterilizing 75% of adult male frogs, and shockingly turning 10% of these males into females! (3)
The Journal of Experimental Biology concluded that atrazine is a likely cause of amphibian depletion worldwide. In light of these studies, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is reviewing its guidelines regarding this pesticide. As a result, many states are seriously considering banning atrazine permanently. Six class action lawsuits have been filed seeking to eliminate its use! The European Union has already outlawed atrazine.
ALMOST WIPED OUT BALD EAGLES
Banning insecticides like DDT (a dangerous insecticide that kills on contact) back in the 70’s has proven to have a positive impact on bird reproduction and its prey, proving how dangerous these chemicals really are to wildlife. In fact, bald eagles, which were close to extinction, made an incredible recovery when the federal government prohibited the use of DDT proving the deleterious effects of this highly toxic chemical. DDT is STILL found in the soil, fish, and detected in human breast milk!
ERECTILE DYSFUNCTION AND STERILITY
A recent study published in Science Direct “Potential pathways of pesticide action on erectile function – A contributory factor in male infertility,” found that in conjunction with heavy metals, radioactivity, and poisonous fumes of organic chemicals, pesticides, not surprisingly contribute to the ever-increasing incidence of erectile dysfunction and male sterility.
Researchers found that nearly 52% of males over the age of 40 are being affected! Although psychological, physiological, pathological, social, and nutritional factors are involved the number of males afflicted is quite alarming. Experimental evidence in the laboratory has linked the chemicals present in pesticides to reduced sperm quality, testicular cancer and reproductive abnormalities. Researchers sited at least 13 other studies suggesting the decline of semen quality and fertility. (4)
DID YOU KNOW: You may not realize this, over 30 different pesticides that have been sprayed on your non-organic apple the apple! Even if you wash the piece of fruit, there are still many pesticides remaining and they can easily seep into the fruit or vegetable. They can also invade the plant through the soil.
BEES ARE DYING OFF IN DROVES!
The Impact synthetic agricultural chemicals have been implicated in having on the bee population alone is CATASTROPHIC, threatening both bee colony survival and the future of our food supply. It has gotten SO bad in the last decade that the “colony collapse disorder” was enacted back in 2006 as beekeepers were estimating the demise of more than 1/3rd of bee hives throughout the country, and even as much as 90% in some cases!
As of early 2013 the loss of hives from US beekeepers averaged out at an ALARMING 45.1%. This is startling news considering bees, in Western nations alone are responsible for pollinating 1/3rd of the food supply, or one out of every 3 bites of food consumed. Monetarily bees provide $15 billion to US crop production!
Alarmingly, more than 300,000 bee colonies have died in France already. Annual mortality rates have been as high as 80%. And in 2014, overall bee production tumbled to its LOWEST level in 20 years! (5)
Genetically Modified (GM), or genetically altered crops, are used to elevate a plants resistance to high levels of toxic pesticides which destroy the environment-chelating valuable minerals from the soil & human gut. Food is information for the body. GMO foods are genetically altered so the body does not recognize them as real food. GMO’s have been linked to gut issues, infertility, CANCER, & many other chronic diseases! ….. 100% USDA labeled organic foods are not permitted to use GMO’s making organic foods a far safer choice.
EXPLODING STOMACHS OF INSECTS!
The highly unethical company Monsanto (now owned by Bayer) GENETICALLY MODIFIED CORN with a soil-bacteria called Bt (Bacillus thuringiensis) designed to control crop damaging insects. Sounds somewhat harmless right? This man-made corn now creates the Bt-toxin pesticide that literally EXPLODES the stomach of certain insects! So, what do you think is happening to the livestock and the intestines of humans that eat them?? Bt toxins have been shown to bind to the intestines of certain animals, and most certainly in humans.
Bt toxins have been implicated in human intestinal disorders, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and neurological dysfunction. 65% of the corn grown in the US is Bt corn, so it’s nearly IMPOSSIBLE to avoid if you don’t eat organic or non-GMO verified products! On top of that, the insects Bt toxin is supposed to kill can develop resistance forcing farmers to spray additional insecticides on their crops adding to an already immense ecological issue.
NON-ORGANIC MEATS CAN BE FAR MORE TOXIC THEN NON-ORGANIC PLANT FOODS.
Most conventionally raised animals are fed GMO feed-high in pesticides, growth hormone, & antibiotics. Eating high levels of meats from grain-fattened animals saturates the body with large amounts arachidonic acid–the same as with highly processed vegetable oils.
As a point of interest, the high levels of arachidonic acid found in most meat are accumulated from the conversion of high levels of omega-6 fatty acids present in the grains used to fatten them. Only minimal levels of arachidonic acid are found in grass-fed beef making it far healthier for you than the more common grain-fed variety. Conventionally raised meat is toxic!
ORGANIC FOODS ARE FAR SAFER TO CONSUME, BUT ARE THEY MORE NUTRITIOUS?
Kristin Brandt, MD, a senior researcher at Newcastle University’s School of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development in the UK, generated a study aimed at determining whether organically produced and grown foods are more nutritious than conventional.
Dr. Brandt’s study was conducted a year BEFORE the infamous Stanford study that made headlines, concluding that “there was no strong evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods” The next sentence in the study’s conclusion stated that organic produce was much lower in pesticides and other toxic chemical residues than conventional produce, and carried lower levels of disease-causing, antibiotic-resistant bacteria. Far less hormone mangling, nerve damaging, cancer causing synthetic pesticides, and potentially disease-causing antibiotic-resistant bacteria makes organic produce sound FAR nutritionally superior than conventional produce to me!
Why did Dr. Brandt’s study came to the OPPOSITE conclusion than Stanford researchers!?
Mind you, the Newcastle researcher’s meta- analysis (examining a group of study’s) used many of the SAME studies as the Stanford group. In fact, Brandt’s study found that organic produce was superior in many nutrient categories that were NOT even looked at in the Stanford study at all!
In comparing organic vs conventional nutrients, the Stanford study PURPOSELY chose to measure the nutrients that exemplified the smallest differences, while ignoring important nutrients that showed an undeniable dominance for organics. New York Times writer Mark Bittman stated, “It was the equivalent of comparing milk and Elmer’s glue on the basis of whiteness.”
For example, Dr. Brandt’s study found that organic produce was MUCH higher in flavanols, and the Stanford study inappropriately confused flavAnols with flavOnols. The flavOnols compared in the Stanford study are beneficial but not absorbed very well, while flavAnols compared in the Brandt study are powerful antioxidants and very bioavailable to the body.
Ironically, the Stanford study came out just prior to a vote on GMO’s, which could VERY well have been propaganda used to deter the public and powers of authority from favoring GMO labeling. Stanford accepted donations from Monsanto, the maker of GMO’s and Glyphosate. Conflict of interest maybe? As a result, many critics petitioned the Stanford study be retracted, calling it “flawed!” (6)
DID YOU KNOW: Organic reduces public health risks to farmers, their families, consumers, the soil, and the air!
YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
Yes, most organic foods cost more than their inferior conventionally produced cousins, and there are many valid reasons for the extra expense.
- Organic farming practices like crop rotation are more costly and time consuming than conventional practices. Instead of planting the same crops in the same place year after year devitalizing the soil, organic farmers alternate the crops allowing the soil to be naturally replenished, while interrupting the habitat of problematic insects naturally.
- Mass produced, chemically farmed agriculture is heavily subsidized by the taxpayer, especially corn and wheat, whereas organically farmed foods are not, making them a bit pricier.
- Organic farmers produce foods by following rigid USDA guidelines to ensure sustainable practices and ensure animal welfare making production costs higher. For instance, organic non-GMO feed can be double the price of conventional feed. Organic seeds are also more expensive.
- Some organic farmers use safe organic pesticides which cost more than synthetic highly toxic pesticides used on conventional produce. Unlike synthetic weed killers, biological pesticides are not liable for eradicating the bee population responsible for supplying 1/3 of all oy our fruits and vegetables!
- Most organic growers have smaller family owned farms that produce smaller crop yields than intensely farmed conventional fields. Organic foods do not use chemical preservatives, making their shelf life is shorter as well.
- As of now the demand for organic foods is greater than the supply hiking costs. In time, with increased consumer support, production, processing, and distribution costs will diminish making organic foods much more affordable.
HOW TO SAVE MONEY ON ORGANIC FOODS AND SAFER ALTERNATIVES
- Go generic and buy store brands in places like Whole Foods or Trader Joes which can save you a few bucks without compromising on quality.
- Shop at farmer’s markets during the season. Their prices are often cheaper as they are direct from the grower cutting out the middle man.
- Although not feasible for many, consider growing your own produce.
- Stores like Costco are carrying far more organic food these days so you can buy in bulk to save money. This may not always work with all fresh produce, but certainly applies to frozen and packaged organic foods.
ORGANIC CERTIFICATION
Use discrimination when purchasing organic foods as there are various levels of organic certification recognized by the USDA:
100% Organic- displaying the USDA organic seal, these foods are derived entirely from certified organic ingredients, implying to be GMO free as well.
Organic- also displaying the USDA organic seal, however “organic” labeled foods are only required to contain 95% certified organic ingredients. While this may seem satisfactory, that 5% non-organic ingredients can be Genetically Modified.
Made with organic ingredients- these products cannot display the USDA organic seal as they are only required to at least 70% of certified organic ingredients.
A diet abundant in nutrient rich organic plant foods provides immune support and assists our detoxification systems in the elimination of the other 100’s of thousands of chemicals we are exposed to on a daily basis!
Now that you have learned about the benefits of organic foods, and the dangers of pesticide laden, less nutritious, potentially GMO conventional foods, you can make more CONSCIOUS educated choices regarding what you and your family are putting in your mouths on a regular basis. Besides consuming cleaner, far less toxic, more nutrient rich foods, YOU are doing your part in preserving the biodiversity of our ecosystems that allow us to thrive as a species!
1- https://www.beyondpesticides.org/assets/media/documents/health/pid-database.pdf
2- p.27-28 whole life nutrition cookbook Alissa Segersten & Tom Malterre MS, CN
3- https://news.berkeley.edu/2010/03/01/frogs/
4- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2305050015000305
6- Quick check guide to organic foods- Barbara Wexler, mph- 641.302 W
https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/recovery/biologue.html
http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/green-science/the_dangers_of_pesticides
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100301151927.htm
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/that-flawed-stanford-study/?_r=0
- 14-15 why go organic-quick check guide to organic foods.
Quick check guide to organic foods- Barbara Wexler, mph- 641.302 W
The whole life nutrition cookbook-allisa segersten- 641.302 S p.27-34
Organic vs conventional http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2014/07/29/organic-food-healthier.aspx?e_cid=20140729Z1_DNL_art_1&utm_source=dnl&utm_medium=email&utm_content=art1&utm_campaign=20140729Z1&et_cid=DM52234&et_rid=602100488