Posts Tagged ‘Organic food’

Organically Yours – Five Reasons To Buy Organic Foods

You too can make smarter choices in the food you buy. Organically grown foods have been increasing in popularity as people are choosing to live a smarter and healthier lifestyle. Organic farmers around the world are doing their part in preserving the quality of our ecosystem and to improve our health by growing food the way nature intended. Organically grown food gives us a naturally healthy and purely delicious food that is completely free of harmful chemicals and pesticides. Most foods contain a high level of pesticides that can be more harmful that organically grown foods.

1. The Five Reasons

- Organic foods are free of additives and preservatives and therefore taste more delicious and pure.
- Buying organic foods helps to reduce the dependence on all the non-renewable resources.
- The organic food industry promotes healthy farmland and supports those small family owned farms that produce the organic food.
- Growing organic foods help to keep chemicals out of the water supplies and help protect the farmers and other workers from having contact with harmful chemicals and pesticides.
- Organically grown food is exceedingly safe for children because it is free from harmful pesticides.

2. Consider The Organic Alternitive

Next time youre shopping for groceries, think about how buying organically grown food can benefit you and your family. Think about choosing a food that was grown as nature intended, compared to one that had frequently been covered with poisonous pesticides and other chemicals. Would you buy food knowing that it had once been saturated with harmful chemicals? At one point in time, that was something you never would have thought about, but now today in the information age, people are more aware of what they are putting into their bodies. Now people are aware of how food is grown and produced and now people have a choice.

3. Organic Foods List

Some great organically grown foods to buy are apples, grapes (imported), nectarines, pears, peaches, red raspberries, strawberries, bell peppers, celery, potatoes and spinach. There are even many other foods coming to market as organic foods such as eggs, cheese, yogurt, ice cream, milk, juice, bread, soup, meat, nuts, pasta and many baby foods.

4. What Does Organic Mean?

Being organic is referring to the way the agricultural products of fiber and food are processed and grown. The ecological system heavily relies on the rich soil to produce plants strong enough to withstand diseases and other pests. Organic farming means that the use of any chemicals and toxins are prohibited and work only in favor of the earth friendly habits that work with nature. In livestock, preventative measures are taken to keep the animals productive and healthy because the use of antibiotics is forbidden. Genetically modified organisms are also strictly prohibited in the organic production.

5. The Three Categories

100% Organic

Means the food item is made purely and 100% of organic ingredients.

Organic Made

Means the food item is made of at least 95% organic ingredients with the remaining 5% heavily restricted and with no genetically modified organisms.

Made With Organic Ingredients

The food you choose can be made with ingredients containing no lesser than 70% of organic ingredients with the remaining 30% heavily restricted and no genetically modified organisms.

6. USDA Standards

The USDA has set strict regulations when labeling organic foods. An organic food must contain at least 95% of organic ingredients in order for it to be labeled as �˙organic.�˘ Any foods that have less than 70% of organic ingredients can not make any claims on the front of the package that it is organic in any way, but may list the specific organically grown ingredients on the side panel.

Price is the main bargaining issue when considering foods. Eating healthier is sometimes more expensive than the chemically treated foods. Of course, as the organic food industry is steadily rising as the varieties and availabilities are increasing, the prices are becoming more competitive and more appealing. Consider the real importance of staying healthy, it shouldn’t have to cost a ton either, find a local grower or a good organic place and they will offer a competitive offer.

About the Author
For more great organic food related articles and resources check out http://nutritioncentral.info

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Organically Yours – Five Reasons To Buy Organic Foods

Is Organic Food a Waste of Money

Research has shown that fertilizers, pesticides and hormone supplements have successfully entered the food chain have become common place in our food and drink. Consequently, this has had a knock on effect on the environment and our health with concern increasing more and more.

Expensive labels?

Organic food costs more simply because it costs more money and time to prepare. For example certain types of apples can be sprayed up to 16 times with 36 different pesticides and 350 chemicals are regularly used in conventional farming. Only four are permitted in organic farming.
Even though this might be the case careful inspection into the food labelled ‘organic’ can open up another can of worms. There are a few classes of organic product on the shelves which break down as follows:

Made with organic ingredients – Only 70% of the ingredients must be organic

Organic – At least 95 percent of ingredients are produced organically

100% organic – No synthetic ingredients are allowed by law

The price naturally increments skywards depending on how ‘organic’ the produce really is and adds those unwanted pennies to your bill. At the same time it gives an insight into companies who use a minimum of organic ingredients to attain the label.

Many are turning to farmers markets springing up all over the UK, where on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon you can buy 100% organic fruit and vegetables without worrying about the ulterior motives of the big 3. Organic purists prefer a little soil on their carrots than the clinically prepared plastic packaged semi-organic alternatives in the supermarket. There are many online companies like Abel & Cole who will take your order over the internet or over the phone and deliver it straight to your door (soil included).

The organic industry came under criticism by the former head of the government’s food watchdog. “My advice would be not to worry about the organic, but worry about your kids having more vegetables,” said Sir John Krebs, head of the Food Standards Agency until April 2005. He had also said that there was no scientific evidence to prove that organic food was healthier.

Lord Melchett, policy director for the Soil Association retorted saying “[He] turns round and says, ‘well it would be much better to eat three portions of spinach a week than switch to organic’ – this is, I think, an intellectually flawed argument,”

You get what you pay for.
As with anything there is a trade off between how much you’re willing to pay for something and what you’ll get out of it; this I think we are all happy to accept. The issue here seems to be the size of this industry and the relative ignorance surrounding it, leaving the public to do their own research into what they’re buying to make sure they’re money is well spent.

About the Author
Julian Hall of http://www.Got-Organic.co.uk,Organic Products,Organic Food Marketing,Organic Information

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Is Organic Food a Waste of Money

Going Organic

In today’s world, many are concerned about the signs of aging, the rise in the number of allergies and the well being of the environment. We often shout about just causes, moan about growing old and hanker for the good old days.

There is though, a growing tide of people who are starting to take action and change their way of life. People who no will no longer accept food laced with numerous chemicals. Convenience foods are littered with preservatives and chemicals that our forefathers new nothing about. Back then organic food was, well just food. Think about that for just a minute.

Today many individuals are choosing to go organic because they no longer wish to ingest food that they know nothing about. How many food labels do you see that mention “E” numbers, which are “used” instead of displaying the actual chemical or insect that it represents?

Being “totally organic” has nothing to do with leaving behind the conveniences offered by the modern world. Going organic means changing your routine so that you do not use anything that contains artificial colours, chemicals, additives or preservatives.

Of course, many people assume that going organic is difficult, expensive and painful. That is far from the truth. While going organic does take more time, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. Some people who have chosen to go organic report benefits such as increased energy, having fewer ailments and not suffering from as many allergies.

No one is too old or too young to benefit from organic products. Organic baby food is a popularly rising alternative to the more common non-organic baby food products. Is it any surprise that many parents are choosing to go organic? Nothing is better for a growing, healthy infant than keeping him or her away from ingesting harsh chemicals.

The elderly can also benefit greatly from going organic. As we age, our bodies are less capable of digesting those harsh chemicals many non-organic products force our way.

Gong organic is a definitely a sign of love to our family and to ourselves. Even our animals can benefit from going organic. Ever wondered what goes into making of animal feed?

Can you afford to go organic? Going organic can be a bit more expensive, time-consuming and detailed. The real question is however, can you afford not too? The benefits far outweigh the inconvenience and cost. Supermarkets are finally waking up to the fact that people are starting to think about the food that they eat. More and more organic products can be found in the aisles of your local food-store. Prices for organic food in my local store are often comparable to non-organic. Given the choice, organic wins hands down.

An added bonus of organic food is the great taste. I was never a great lover of vegetables, but the organic carrots I now eat taste just like butter. Since going organic I honestly love eating vegetables, you really can tell the difference.

Consider going organic today and your body, taste buds and loved ones will thank you for a long time to come.

About the Author
Steve Thomas writes about going organic and maintains an organic resource website at Organice.

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Going Organic