Going Organic, Is It Worth The Bother

My parents told me, once upon a time all food was naturally organic, then “they” (the 'evil' food companies) started using pesticides and preservatives and they said “you can eat fruit all year round” and “this stuff is better because it lasts longer”, and charged us more for it.

Now they take the pesticides and preservatives away and call it organic, and you guessed, charge us more for it!

Okay firstly what does organic actually mean?

A food label stating that it is organic is giving you a promise that the product was created naturally and was not subject to any type of hormones, antibiotics, chemicals etc.

With regards to organic meat, you know that the animal has lived in good natural conditions, this helps to promote healthier animals who are less prone to illness for the duration of their life.

If an animal becomes ill and needs to be treated with antibiotics it must be removed from the organic farm and sold as it has lost its organic status, according to government regulations to ensure that the product is organic.

Of course organic food is more expensive but I’d rather pay a pound or two more so I can be safe in the knowledge that the food was natural and didn’t contain chemicals!

Pesticides sprayers leave what’s called pesticide residue on your fruit/veg. In the olden days they used to wash fruit before you ate it, mostly because it may have some mud or cow dung on it! We are supposed to do this today, to get rid of some of the pesticide residue, but few people do as the fruit looks ready to eat.

Practicalities

When I started to try and eat organic I would drive my wife crazy, shopping was taking her an extra half an hour as she was having to find the organic versions of what we used to eat.

Since then I have learnt that you simply cant live 100% organic.

In the beginning when I started only some supermarkets carried any sort of organic products, and it was expensive (it put about £40-50 extra on a weekly shop if i remember right). Now they are more common and more competitive on price.

You can’t get everything you want organic – all the time – you have to accept that .

However strategies I have used when not buying organic are:

Buying as good a quality food as possible.
Buying from the local greengrocers/farm shops and ask them where the stuff is from.
Buying seasonal, this means more fruit in the summer and less in the winter, which is in my opinion natural.
Grow your own.
Ask people who grow – potatoes, vegetables and salad – to give anything that’s left over to you!

The Day I Decided to Go Organic

The day I learned that the toxic load inside my body was causing me to feel like I had chronic fatigue, I decided that I wanted to stop as many chemicals entering my system of possible.

For me personally this meant my food, water and personal products had to change, from the chemical laden to chemical free.

These changes didn’t happen overnight, it was over a period of many months, I changed one or two things at a time.

Why Bother?

To be honest with you there are a few reasons why I eat organic food when possible.

The main one is the food is natural and makes me FEEL great. It doesn’t contain any/many chemicals, it tastes nicer, and another big reason is that I feel like I'm investing in my health and the future, looking after myself.

To use the car analogy, the fuel you put in will determine how the car performs, and the lifespan of the car/engine, that’s my approach with food, put good in get good out.

As mentioned, sadly much of the normal fruit, vegetables and other food products the food chain (especially the imported stuff) have been tainted with unhealthy chemicals which are no good for our health.

Obviously eating these products is better than no fruit and veg at all but you should always try to eat food in its most natural form.

In most cases the perfect shaped food in the supermarket is often the end product of 40 years of food science and genetic engineering.

Big Benefits of Organic Eating

1. Increased Health – Non organic food products are grown using pesticides and chemical fertilizers which harm our health – FACT. By going organic you don’t have to worry about these harming your health. These chemicals are especially harmful for children, pregnant women and people with sensitive immune or digestive systems. The problems which may be linked to over exposure in pesticides include: birth defects, nerve damage, and cancer.

2. Nutritionally Stronger Foods – Organic foods are produced differently to non organic foods, it is a much more natural process which means that organic fruits and vegetables can contain up to 50% more minerals, vitamins and other health boosting nutrients than non organic products!

3. Environmentally and Animal Friendly – Our environment is important, no one can deny that. So it is such a sad thing that so many things go on in the world today that ruins it! At least by making little changes such as eating fresh organic foods you are cutting down on soil, air and water pollution. Eating this way will also ensure that the animals used to produce the food lived a nicer healthier life. I know I’d much rather eat beef from a cow that was able to roam around fields for his life rather than being cooped up in a cage! We have to start somewhere. All of these little changes can help to maintain a safer world for our future generations

4. Tastier Food – Obviously this is a big plus. Not many things can beat the taste and freshness of natural fruit, or the crunchiness of good quality vegetables, well a juicy steak would, organic of course! The natural organic farming creates healthier plants which gives better taste.

Common Barriers to Eating Organically

Yes there are a few barriers to eating organic as with everything. These are the main ones:

Price – Clearly organic food is going to cost more, you get what you pay for and in a tough economic climate paying extra for organic food may not be top of people’s priority list.

Availability – In supermarkets there is often not a very large range of organic products so this makes organic eating harder again.

Is the organic label always reliable?

The more organic we can get the better, in supermarkets you have probably noticed labels such as ‘organic’, ‘made with organic ingredients’.

The mention of organic is a lot better than not organic, so do what you can. ‘Organic’ labelling means that the product is 95% organic whereas made with organic ingredients will be around 70% organic.

Jumping On The Band Wagon

Organic is the fastest growing sector in the food industry, which means big money. Lots of companies are jumping on the band wagon, its good in one way as us consumers seem to be asking and they, the big food manufacturers are supplying.

I would be over the moon if you could let me know what you think below, I will respond to every comment as soon as I can.

Stay healthy,

Richard