We usually talk about all the environmental reasons for eating organic foods whenever possible.
Here are 10 specific reasons why you will be happier if you can make the organic choice:
1. Protect future generations by eliminating cancer-causing pesticides in your child’s food. Your decision now will impact their future health.
2.Prevent soil erosion. Organic farmers protect the soil quality because the nutrients come from the soil, not added fertilizers. Three trillion tons of topsoil are eroded every year because of conventional farming methods that do not protect the soil.
3. Protect water quality by eliminating the use of pesticides and fertilizers in the ground water, which eventually runs into our streams. Ground water is especially precious in Kitsap, where it is our only source of drinking water.
4. Save energy overall by supporting smaller farms that are based on human labor instead of machinery. Manufacturing of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides requires more energy consumption than tilling, cultivating and harvesting all the crops in the United States combined. It will be a huge energy savings when we can eliminate the need for synthetic fertilizers.
5. Don’t eat chemicals. We wouldn’t sit down to a dinner of pesticide and fertilizer bottles on the table. Many of the common pesticides were created and registered before we had discovered their links to cancer.
The EPA considers 60 percent of herbicides, 90 percent of fungicides, and 30 percent of insecticides to be carcinogenic. All “cides” are poisons designed to kill living organisms, and can be harmful to us.
6. Protect farm wworkers who grow your food. The Cancer Institute conducted a study finding farmers exposed to herbicides had a six times greater risk of cancer than non-farmers. This is an even more serious issue in other countries where pesticides are poorly regulated.
7. Help small farmers and businesses. Most organic farms are small, independently owned and operated farms of less than 100 acres. It is critical for sustainability purposes to support the smaller local businesses around us.
8.Support an honest economy that truly reflects the cost of your purchase. Conventional food prices usually do not reflect the hidden costs that are paid by our taxes in subsidies, pesticide regulation, hazardous waste disposal, and the environmental damage. One estimate was that if you add in the real environmental and social costs of lettuce, you need to add $2-3 per head to the cost in the grocery store.
9. Support biodiversity because organic farmers normally have many crops on their farms, while large-scale farming operations sometimes plant the same single crop year after year. Their soil needs more fertilizers and they use more pesticides because of this.
10. Eat better food.It goes almost without saying that organic, fresh food tastes much better than others. Getting the flavors and nourishment from the soil, instead of from chemicals, produces heartier, richer flavors and healthier bodies.
If you would like to join with others who are exploring sustainability issues, please join the new Choices for Sustainability discussion class at Stillwaters starting this fall.
For more information, contact Joleen Palmer at (360) 297-2876 or joleen@stillwatersenvironmentalcenter.org.
Naomi Maasberg is Administrative Director of Stillwaters Environmental Education Center in Kingston, and the Northwest Earth Institute.
