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The Top 5 Reasons We Think You Should Go Organic

Organic… It’s the word plastered across rows and rows of food at our local supermarkets, but now products like socks, lotions and feminine care products are even claiming to be ‘Certified Organic’. I’ll be honest here and say I’ve never given the topic much thought. I mean, we all have a general understanding that organic produce is healthier, but do we really know why? If, like myself, you don’t actually know the nitty gritty about why you should spend that little bit extra on organics, then please keep reading!

Personally, I feel that I should keep this post short and sweet. I’m not a nutritionist and I’m not going to sit here and tell you about all the reasons I believe you should cut out anything that’s not organic. This is because I myself am learning as I write this post. Before doing my research into the topic, I knew very little. I did discover a few points that shocked me and definitely came as a surprise! So, without further ado, here are my top 5 reasons why I feel we should all try to go a little more organic!

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1. Avoiding Nasty Chemicals

We’ve all heard the horror stories about the poison that’s sprayed onto our crops before they land on our plates. However, most people are unaware that the average person consumes over 16lbs of chemical pesticides from supposedly ‘healthy’ fruits and veggies per year. To make matters worse, the National Academy of Science recently reported that 90% of the chemicals used on non-organic produce haven’t even been tested for long-term health effects! If this isn’t enough to put you off, then keep on reading.

2. Reducing Pollution

It may not be the first thing that springs to mind when you hear the word ‘organic’, but did you know that the chemicals sprayed onto crops are actually contaminating the environment as well as our bodies. Studies estimate that a mere 0.1% of chemical pesticides used actually reach their targeted pests, this means that 99.9% of the harmful substances are left to wreak havoc in our water supplies and farmlands. By buying organic produce, you are actually helping to save the environment!

3. More Nutrients

Due to organic crops being grown and nourished in soil without chemicals, they actually have a much higher nutritional value than non-organic produce. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine Study found that in 5 servings of organic vegetables, there was significant more vitamins and minerals. On average, they found that organic fruit and vegetables had 21.1% more Iron, 27% more Vitamin C, 29.3% more Magnesium and 13.6% more Phosphorus.

4. Even Livestock Can be Organic

Farmers can make their livestock organic by simply feeding them organic feed. That is animal food with out the regular hormones and antibiotics. If one of the animals becomes sick and requires antibiotics, the farmer is no longer allowed to advertise the animal as certified organic, as they have consumed the harmful chemicals. Thus meaning when you buy and eat organic meat, you know you are only eating meat from a healthy animal, not hormones, antibiotics or any harmful chemicals the animal may have consumed throughout its lifetime.

Organic Meat

5. It’s More Expensive For Good Reason

Spending more may not seem like a positive point but go with me on this! The price of organic food can be considerably higher that normal produce, but for very good reason, so you know if you are spending that little bit more, you know that you are paying for time-consuming and labour intensive processes that go on in the farming of organic processes. Things like crop rotation and hand weeding plantations can take up a lot of time for farmers, resulting in higher costs involved in producing the crops.

There is a flip side to this, however. If the produce is grown locally then it might actually be cheaper than the conventionally farmed fruit and veg available, so you could even get organic food cheaper than non-organic if you go to the right places to buy. Farmers markets and local farm shops are the best place to start, and this means you support your local businesses as well, so it’s a win win situation. What’s not to like?

So, to sum up, although organic food is a little more pricey, we believe that the benefits strongly outweigh the negatives. Personally, I don’t think it’s realistic to convert fully to organic produce overnight; however, I would really like to start incorporating more and more organic things into my diet and life! I hope you learnt a little (or a lot) from this post, and consider what it is you’re really putting into your body!

 

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