by Steve Schenck
1. ORGANIC IS THE ONLY WAY TO GUARANTEE YOU ARE NOT EATING PESTICIDES.
Since NAFTA was approved, up to 700% more pesticide resideus have been permittedon imported Mexican produce. The vast majority of American grown produce has pesticide residues as well. What you eat now will most certainly affect your health i the future.
Pesticides and herbicides have been created to kill living things, and have been linked to cancer, birth defects and chronic diseases in humans.
There are over 70,0000 chemicals approved for use by industry and agriculture, over 60% of which are suspected to be dangerous to human health. The most important way to protect ourselves is to limit our exposure to toxic chemicals. food is something we ingest between 2 to 6 times a day; the easiest way to reduce exposure to toxins is to choose food that is free of dangerous, chemicals, and the only way to guarantee that your food is chemical-free is to buy organically-grown foods.
2. GENETICALLY ENGINEERED FOODS ARE CROWDING OUT OTHER FOODS IN SUPERMARKETS.
and only organic foods can guarantee you that they are free of the tampering and potential dangers caused by genetic engineering (GE). Over 1300 public schools in England have banned GE food from their menus. Other European countries are attempting to keep GE food from being sold to their citizens.
Much of what Monsanto and other biotech companies are doing sounds like the novels "Frankenstein" or "Brave New World". Genetic material from viruses and bacteria have been spliced into the genes of food crops; human genetic material has been spliced into the genes of pigs. . . we do not know the long-term consequences of this grand experiment on the foods that we eat. One hint; the trptophan that killed dozens and injured hundreds of people in the late 1980's was derived from genetically-engineered bacteria.
3. ORGANIC FOODS PROTEC THTE SOIL, not only by keeping soil from being contaminated by hazardous chemicals, but also because organic farms protect topsoil. Conventional (non-organic) farms are losing topsoil over six times faster than it can be replaced -- over three billion tons per year are lost! Organic farming rebuilds topsoil as a step to growing healthier and better tasting food. Chemical fertilizers and pest controls often destroy worms, beneficial insects and microorganisms that normally live in the soil and which convert old biomass into quality soil in which to grow crops.
In addition, many organic farmers rotate their crops, keeping their soils from becoming exhausted of a specific set of minerals by one crop removing for it's own growth. rotation also reduceds crop destruction by insect and fungal pests by starving those that depend on a particular crop to survive.
4. ORGANIC FOODS ARE "FACTORY FARMING FREE". So whether you are a meat eater or a vegetarian you know that animals raised organically for wool, meat, milk, eggs, milk, etc., are treated under conditions that are healthier, more compassionate, and cleaner than those for unfortunate animals on factory farms.
5. WANT YOUR DRINKING WATER TO BE CLEAN? ORGANIC FARMING HELPS! Factory farms not only treat their animals with chemicals to help them "tolerate" unsanitary conditions, but these farms are often a concentrated source of animal waste--which pollutes rivers, streams and groundwater. Agricultural areas that rely on pesticides, herbicides or fungicides contaminate groundwater as well. the majority of states in this country have contaminated drinking water, and much of the toxic load in the water is from agricultural chemicals.
Organic farming does not try to suppress the symptoms of disease or pour stimulant chemicals to induce artificially rapid growth. Instead, organic farming uses non-toxic methods on crops and animals to strengthen their immune systems; improves overall food quality, and doesn't contaminate rivers or groundwater.
6. ORGANIC FOODS DO NOT RELY ON "CORPORATE WELFARE". Government subsidies to agribusiness farms that use toxic chemicals total approximately $70 Billion per year! This figure does not include the medical costs of those people harmed by exposure to agrichemicals, nor does it include environmental cleanup costs of areas harmed by agrichemicals and wastes. also, this does not include the billions of dollars in other government, industrial and consumer costs involved in regulating, studying and analyzing agrichemical use.
7. SMALL FARMERS ARE THE BACKBONE OF THE ORGANIC MOVEMENT. BUYING ORGANIC KEEPS SMALL FARMS ALIVE.
The vast majority of organic farms have acreages between 5 and 100 acres. Agrichemical farms have grown and pushed most non-organic small farmers out of business --with over one-half million small farms closing since 1990. Organic farmers truly produce some of the finest, most necessary products in the world -- safe, toxic-free nutritious food! Most o us do not grow any of our own food. without these organic farmers who supply us, we would have to grow our own organic food to have access to any clean food at all.
WANT TO KNOW MORE? VISIT THE WEBSITES OF THESE WONDERFUL ORGANIZATIONS:
Mothers for Natural Law -- http://.www.safe-food.org/welcome.html
Citizens for Health -- http://www.citizens.org
Organic Trade Association -- http://www.ota.com
Pure Food Campain -- http://www.purefood.org
Reprinted with permission
Steve Schenck, Manager
Isla Vista Food Co-op
6575 Seville Road, Isla Vista, CA 93117