Organic Vegetables : Learn what all the fuss on organic vegetables is about
The days of the small family-run corner stores, offering organic vegetables from the nearby farm, are thankfully returning in a strong way.
However, instead having to buy the organic vegetables in a remote location from Mom and Pop Farmer, these chemical- and pesticide-free vegetables are coming to us. Organic foods are now widely available in practically every supermarket chain.
Within the U.S., organic food sales have experienced up to a 20 percent growth rate in the last few years. Comparatively, conventionally grown vegetables are experiencing only a 2 to 3 percent growth margin.
So, What are organic vegetables?
Apart from using growing techniques that help ensure environmental protection, organic vegetables are free of conventional pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients, sewer sludge or genetic modification.
Similarly, organic meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products come from animals that are not given antibiotics or growth hormones.
Wal-Mart, General Mills and Kellogg are some of the more notable companies that are producing more organic products. Organic vegetables and other food come at a higher price, however, because of the extra detail to grow and breed them.
Farming without pesticides and fertilizers is not easy. Laborers weed the fields by hand. Farmers control pests with sticky flypaper and ladybugs.
Manure and soil fertility is closely managed. Organic farmers contend that they can ultimately exceed the crops of conventional farmers through smarter soil management.
Consumers who are paying 50 percent more for organic vegetables believe humans should be prudent not only with their own health but also with the land they walk on. They prefer organic vegetables produced through fair wages and family farms, not the conventional fare grown by underpaid workers and Big Business.
They cringe about the data that reveals pesticides seeping into the food supply and genetically modified crops across the landscape. The Environmental Protection Agency recently measured pesticide exposure in a group of elementary children. What they found was shocking.
Immediately after substituting organic vegetables into their diet, the concentration of pesticides found in their bodies decreased substantially to non-detectable levels.
A strong debate exists whether organic vegetables are more nutritious than conventional vegetables, but there is no arguing the fact that organic means are safer for the environment and purer for the body.
It is true that the Vitamin C content of a conventional tomato is practically identical to the amount in an organic vegetable. However, again, consumers of organic vegetables disregard this fact with the belief the tomato was grown as it should.
In summary, is it not true that Mom and Pop Farmer selling their organic vegetables at the corner store sound good? It brings all of us back to our traditional, old-fashioned values of eating what is pure. To be sure, the economics of buying organic vegetables might be difficult for many, but at what cost is purity in our diets and how we treat our Earth’s soil?
Thank you to Javier Morales for this article about organic vegetables.
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