About organic food
Organically-grown vegetables are much more expensive. That much I know. In Tagaytay City, there is a special place for buying them where the vegetables are pulled from the soil as we order them. The idea, of course, is that the less pesticides that go into the vegetables, the healthier they are for human consumption.
What is organic food and what are their health benefits?
Foods are organic if they are so labeled which means they passed the government standards. ThatÕs how it is in the U.S. I do not know if the same is true in the Philippines.
The catch is that, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, organic foods are not necessarily safer or more nutritious for humans.
Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation. [USDA, The National Organic Program]
It sounds logical to say that the lower the intake of pesticides, the better for humans. ButÉ
Man-made pesticides arenÕt the only threats to food safety. There is also the question of natural toxins produced by the plants themselves. In this arena, conventional foods may actually have the advantage.
Because organic production steers clear of synthetic insecticides and herbicides, organic crops usually contend with more pests and weeds than conventional crops. This means the organic plants may produce more natural toxinsÉ
These natural pesticides could be just as harmful to peopleÑor even more soÑthan the synthetic pesticides used in conventional agriculture. One familiar example is solanine, a substance produced by potatoes as they turn green, which can make you ill if you ingest too much of it.
Another safety concern that has been raised about organic food is the issue of manure fertilizers. Some critics fear that using manure to fertilize organic crops might increase the risk of contamination by dangerous microbes like E. coli.ÒThe organic farmers talk about the soil being more alive on organic farms than conventional farms. That life isnÕt just insects and worms; itÕs loaded with bacteria,Ó says [David Klurfeld, PhD, chairman of the department of Nutrition and Food Science at Wayne State University in Detroit]. [WebMD]
Oh, my. There must be an upside…like, are organic foods more nutritious? Well, no one knows, for sure. At least, not yet.
So, whatÕs the good news about organic food?
Whether or not organic food really is safer or more nutritious, advocates say there is one more compelling reason to go organic: The health of the environment and society as a whole. [WebMD]
At least, thereÕs something.
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