People are very picky about their shopping, especially when it comes to organic food groceries. According to research, 55% of Americans say eating healthy means eating organic food. That’s why an average household takes immense care of what to bring to their dining table from the market.
The food you eat at your dining table can potentially affect your health. Have you ever thought about it? Where does it come from? How it’s processed? Does it contain anything harmful to your health? Does it pollute your environment? If you haven’t given it a thought, think twice.
While people have become increasingly aware of their dietary habits, some confusion remains about organic produce. If you are on the edge of choosing an organic diet or reverting to a conventional one, you are at the right place.
This article will discuss some amazing benefits of organic food with scientific facts to let you know if your choice best suits your health.
Let’s dig deeper!
What's Organic Food in reality?
For the past two decades, we have seen considerable growth in the demand for organic foods in the US. Last year the USA market reached a whooping figure of $57.5 billion in sales, which is 5% more than in 2022.
It shows that people are eagerly consuming the produce grown organically. They even spend more because they believe money cannot buy them health because they trust the health benefits of naturally grown vegetables, fruits, and cereals.
By definition, organic food is any food grown naturally without direct or indirect use of genetically modified organisms, toxic chemicals, antibiotics, hormones, and mutated seeds. Farmers use restoration techniques to bring back the natural ability of the land to yield crops.
Thus organic farming is based on aligning crop production with nature. Nowadays, you can see a slew of organic products in the market. You can go to any grocery store to see the stark difference between conventional groceries and organic ones.
Almost all the edibles you get from the market have a substitute in the form of organic. Two commonly used food categories: organic fruits, vegetables, and dairy products– have shown a double figure growth. Why have people shifted from conventionally grown food to organic produce? Let’s find out below.
Why do people buy Organic Food?
The cause of the organic food upsurge goes back to the start of the first green revolution in 1940. It brought intense crop production. The artificial fertilizers and pesticides increased the yield per acre, and the supply exceeded the demands.
But, with time, we saw serious environmental and health drawbacks of poisoning the soil and depleting its natural ability to grow food. We achieved unimaginable crop production at the expense of biodiversity and the natural ecosystem
Now, as people become aware of the harmful effects of artificial farming techniques, going back to organic farming came as a last resort. That’s why most farmers invested in organic food production to revitalize the farming economy with naturally grown vegetables and fruits.
But an average consumer doesn’t necessarily buy organic food because it’s good for health.
There are several awareness stages for a consumer. Some simply love the typical countryside lifestyle and are nostalgic for the thousand years old tools of tilling crops and harvesting produce.
That’s why they use organic food. Some are aware of the harms of conventionally grown food on our health and environment. They want to save their mother nature and lead a healthy lifestyle. Also, others like organic food simply because it tastes better.
While taste is subjective, we have seen people who use an organic diet because it’s tasty and fresh. Irrespective of your need to buy organic food, you should at least know how these foods help.
Amazing benefits of Organic Foods:
There is a constant fight between conventional food and the newly developed organic food industry. You might have read scientific journals saying that organic food is a sham. It’s a marketing gimmick and much more.
On the flip side, you should know that these journals and research papers are mostly backed by very powerful agriculture corporations, which won’t let people know the benefits of organic farming.
Even if science doesn’t provide a meta-analysis of 40 to 50 years, we can still see scientifically backed benefits of organic products. Therefore, the benefits below are worth looking at if you are confused about using organic products.
These benefits aren’t just narrowed to your health and fitness. They also have some wonderful advantages for your environment and your farming industry
Avoids GMOs:
Genetically modified organisms have been the epitome of biotechnology. It all started in 1990 to help increase the yield of a crop.
When a certain specie doesn’t deem fit in the environment, have less disease resistance, and cannot cope with the weeds or pests, scientists create a new specie by altering the DNA and selecting the traits they want.
That’s the hallmark of genetic engineering. However, it has had several downsides since its use on the mass scale. However, genetically engineered foods have some alarming concerns for human health. It may include an overwhelming increase of toxins inside the body.
Moreover, the New England Journal of Medicine researched that the allergens were transferred to the GMO when it was modified with a specie to which people were allergic. The impending human health risk of GMOs is antibiotic resistance. Most GE food products resist some antibiotics useful for your body.
Once these resistant products prevail, our immunity will decrease significantly. Therefore, it’s high time to shift to organic food to the health hazards caused by GMOs.
As we are accustomed to eating preserved food, we can’t imagine the taste and aroma of freshly plucked apples from an organic farm. Nevertheless, now it’s easy to enjoy the freshness of good food as the market brings organic foods to you.
These products also take the lead from conventional foods because they are made readily available directly from farms. So, there is less consumer-based production involved.
Local farmers can sell their products directly to the market rather than transporting them to big cities from where they are taken to the markets, and till they reach the consumer, they lose the richness of taste.
More Nutritional Value:
Most green revolution advocates will raise eyebrows when you say that organic food contains more nutrients. They will pull out a dozen of stats and research refuting your claims. However, we need to understand this issue without any bias.
It’s correct that no extensive study is available on the high nutritional value of organic foods. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t better food sources than conventionally cultivated foods.
You may find considerable evidence testifying natural foods contain a high density of enzymes, vitamins, and minerals.
A British Journal of Medicine study states that cows foraged on organic matter and grass produce milk and meat containing 50% more omega-3 fatty acids.
There isn’t any rocket science in understanding the upper hand in nutritional facts of organic vegetables and fruits.
A peek into this comparison by The Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine says that some vegetables such as organic carrot, spinach, cabbage, potato, and lettuce have better nutritional value than conventional ones.
So, why should you consume less nutritional food when you have a better option available?
Save you from Chronic Health Diseases:
Conventional food is taking a toll on American lives, leaving them entrenched in chronic diseases. Over the years, people have consumed pesticides sprayed and GMO-based foods.
We can’t find any reason except the poor diet for 1 in 3 pre-diabetic American adults. The same goes for other chronic diseases like cholesterol and heart disease.
It brings us to find a solution. And the solution lies in an organic diet. The high pesticide density in the food increases the level of toxins in the body, thus increasing the vulnerability to diseases.
That said, organic foods save you from chemicals and preservatives as you can reduce the addition of chemicals to as low as 40.
Revitalizes the Soil:
The thousand years of farming wisdom can help restore and save our fast diluting arable land. They outperform green revolution techniques, require less investment, and increase soil capacity. Instead of spraying herbicides, you can cultivate cover crops to reduce the soil, herbs, and weeds.
These crops aren’t meant to generate revenue. For instance, if you farm rye, or winter wheat, you can avoid discing your land to take out weeds.
Similarly, you can avoid using expensive and toxic fertilizers that improve crop yields but leave the soil with high salinity and low fertility over time.
Instead, manure, compost, and plant waste can uplift the soil’s nutrient capacity without turning it into barren land over time.
Organic Food restores the Environment:
The thousand years of farming wisdom can help restore and save our fast diluting arable land. They outperform green revolution techniques, require less investment, and increase soil capacity.
Instead of spraying herbicides, you can cultivate cover crops to reduce the soil, herbs, and weeds. These crops aren’t meant to generate revenue.
For instance, if you farm rye, or winter wheat, you can avoid discing your land to take out weeds. Similarly, you can avoid using expensive and toxic fertilizers that improve crop yields but leave the soil with high salinity and low fertility over time.
Instead, manure, compost, and plant waste can uplift the soil’s nutrient capacity without turning it into barren land over time.
Sustains the Farming Industry:
Small farmers are the backbone of the farming industry in the world. Even in the USA, there are almost 2.01 million small farms– contributing to the 89%of all US.
However, small farmers are declining because the yield-intensive crop production makes this venture uneconomical. Moreover, surplus production decreases the price index, and they don’t get enough crop production returns.
Similarly, the skyrocketing prices of fuels and pesticides leave them with no choice but to use unprofitable farming techniques. On the sale side, cartels often monopolize their prices, which is again a downside for farmers.
Even after taking high-interest loans, they end up with nothing–leaving them at the hands of lenders. These structural problems can easily be solved with organic farming. Farmers will get more prices for the organic products they sell in the market.
Since their fruits and vegetables will be seasonal, the prices will remain balanced until the end of the season. In a nutshell, organic foods play a vital role in enhancing the whole farming ecosystem and providing dividends directly to the farmer.
Wrapping up:
Organic food provides some of the best benefits to us. It revolutionizes the agricultural sector and keeps us healthy and sound.
Moreover, it has a direct positive impact on the environment and biodiversity of our planet. So, a holistic view of eating organic food can help us rethink our past choices and turn our direction into a sustainable world.