Organic vs. Non-Organic Produce

Store bought produce what is wrong with the produce we but in our supermarkets and why should we be concerned about what it can do to our health. The cost of produce is soaring; do you know how you can cut those soaring prices and save $150.00 or more a month from your family budget?

Plant an organic garden! According to the USDA – the US Department of Agriculture, feeding a low-income family of four has risen 6% in 12 months and there is evidence of a projected 3-4% increase this year. Economist warn , the falling dollar, slower crop yields due to violent weather patterns, floods, droughts, the rise in oil prices due to commodities speculators pushing up the price of crude, the uncertainty in Libya and the entire middle east, means higher prices at the pumps.  Farmers are saying everything that runs on gas or diesel, equipment and tractors cost more for them to run.  The rising cost to run the farm, grow the crops and the cost to get the crops from the farm to your table cost more, a jump in food prices rose 3.9% last month, the steepest increase since 1974.

What are the health issues with store bought produce and should you be concerned.  Many of the produce packed and bound for supermarkets across the country are harvested before they are ripe, before they reach their highest level of vitamins and nutrients. Even the produce that is picked ripe, due to the long shipping from coast to coast, the exposure to heat and if any are allowed to wilt, the vitamins and nutrients are destroyed.

Commercial growers are looking for that picture perfect produce, how do they achieve that? With an arsenal of chemicals are used for insect control and disease, that beautiful smooth skin, than to keep them from molding during shipping a residue chemicals are used on the produce and finally a cosmetic wax is used to give them that shine.

Then there is the imported produce from other countries that are not limited to the same restrictions as domestically grown produce, they contain even more chemicals and pesticides.  Polluted water is used for growing and processing many imported foods, China, Vietnam and Thailand us a century old practice of using human excrements as fertilizer on their fields. Outhouses and chicken pens are erected over fishponds, excrements from the outhouses and chicken pens are deposited into those ponds… If the fish from those ponds are not cleaned and processes properly, the fish area contaminated source of a potentially deadly bacteria, Salmonella.

The U.S. Banned the use of carcinogenic pesticides such as DDT in 1972; however, China, Mexico and other countries have had produce with residual pesticides on the produce shipped to the U.S. We depend on the FDA-Food and Drug Administration and the USDA-The U.S. Department of Agricultural to aggressively monitor the domestic and imported foods forour safety. Yet according to the FDA Science board reports, the nation’s food supply is at risk of potential danger to consumers. In the past 20 years, the responsibility for public health has increased, but the lack of recourses, money and due to poor organization, the staff has not kept up with the demand.

Why trust yours and your family’s health to supermarket produce that may have been imported from other countries is contaminated, may have slipped past the FDA, and poses a risk and danger to consumers. You can have the safest produce that is fresh, full of vitamins and minerals, free of pesticides and contaminates. Organic gardening offers you that benefit, safety; you decide when they reached the maximum vitamins & mineral potential, maximum size, weight, color, taste and what if any chemicals or toxins are on them, all 100% under your control. Organic gardening can be family neighbor or community project and when the children are involved in the cultivation and growing of their own fruits and vegetables, they are more likely to eat them.

Sara Reistad-Long article of the 11 things that you should buy organicexplains why she recommends buying organic and why they are a risk to your health and the health of your family. The costs of organic foods do run higher than standard foods you buy at your supermarket, but growing your own organic garden can save you $$$. I have seen the cost of one green pepper at the supermarket for $1.69 each, the cost of one package of pepper seeds that will grow multiple plants and multiple peppers at a time $1.25, I have has up to six peppers on one plant and continue to produce more peppers though out the summer. To get a head start on my garden, I start from seeds inside about six weeks prior to planting outside in small peat moss pots, $1.99 for twenty pots. When I am ready to plant them outdoors, because my plants are in peat moss pots I add a small amount of potting soil with fertilizer in the bottom of the hole that is slightly bigger than pot and put the plant and pot in the hole.

Organic products were found by UK researchers to be an alternative to medication for use in ADHD and children on an organic diet were less likely to be hyperactive than those using medication. CNN Health Organic vs. conventional report states that experts believe “Synthetic pesticides have been linked to developmental and neurological problems,” and “organic ketchup had 57 percent more of the antioxidant lycopene than regular ketchup”. David Pimentel, a Cornell University professor of ecology and agriculture, found that Organic farming use an average of 30 percent less fossil energy , it conserve water in the soil, induce less erosion, maintain soil quality, and conserve more biological resources than conventional farming does.

Children when allowed to participate in growing their own food feel a sense of accomplishment and have a tendency to eat more fruits and vegetables. Medical News today says growing an edible garden with children they can cultivate makes them more likely to eat healthier and have healthier arteries the children who don’t eat as many fruits and vegetables. There is an additional health benefit to growing your own garden, you get daily exercise working in your garden you burn more calories you build and improve your muscle function.

Organic farming has more than doubled in the past 16 years and continued growth is expected as people become more aware of the befits of organic gardening and see the bigger picture. Increase your health and the health of your family, find out how you can start your own garden even if you have limited space the methods are out there and even how to growing your garden indoors.