Go Organic
Certified Organic
Natural, organically grown food should be the only food you consume. The flavor, aroma, taste and of course the nutritional benefits are second to none.
So what exactly does “Go Organic” mean?
Simply put, grow your garden the old fashioned way, the way nature intended it. No synthetic chemicals - just natural composted biomatter to replenish the nutrients.
“Organic” farming began in late sixties and early seventies in England as a get back-to-the-land movement. Many people realized the harm being done by eating contaminated food. This concept caught on and soon enough lot of people started growing their crops without any chemical input.
During the eighties lot of urbanites became concerned about the toxins in their food. The demand for organically grown food was on the rise. The problem was that most of these consumers were far away from the farmers growing the food. Lack of personal relationship with the farmers produced the trust issue facilitating “Certified Organic Agencies”. These agencies put forth set of rules to the farmers if they were to be “Certified Organic” farmers.
The majority of independent certification agencies have criteria which meet the proposed “Organic” standards. In addition to other rules, these agencies state that:
1. “no synthetic herbicides, pesticides, or chemical fertilizers can be used for three years before certification or thereafter.”
2. “livestock must be fed 100% certified organic feeds and must receive no hormones, growth promoters, medicated feeds, or indiscriminate medications; all animals must be raised in humane fashion.
On the other side, the food that you consume from non-organic sources is loaded with all sort of poison that ends up in your body. It is no wonder that we are seeing staggering amounts of cancers and all sort of ailments that are on the rise.
The use of chemicals in farming began in the late 1800′s. Farmers were told that NPK fertilizers ( nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) are the only minerals needed to grow their crops. Soon after the Second World War governments encouraged farmers to use chemical pesticides and to make things worse banks soon after required them to use these chemicals on their fields.
Many farmers fell victims to ever increasing debt and falling crop prices. Other farmers bought these acreages dirt cheap. As the farms increased, farmers distanced themselves from the people that ate their crop.
No Till Farming
As of late, the “no-till” farming just blew me away. Farmers spray their farm killing everything in its path. Not only are the “weeds” killed , but all the microorganism, worms and all the other critters are killed as well. The entire ecosystem is wiped away and the only source of food for the plants are the synthetic fertilizers.
What is this world coming to?
Far too often term “organic” is used very loosely for variety of reasons. Main one being the advertising gimmick for financial gain.
If at all possible, grow your own food.
Felt so hopeesls looking for answers to my questions…until now.
I don’t normally comment on blogs.. But nice post! I just bookmarked your site
This is a good topic of dscsusiion. Ultimately I think buying local is the better choice, especially if you buy from a farmer’s market where you can talk to the grower about their practices, etc.