There has been a lot of hype over the last few years about organic foods.
New rules and regulations make buying organic foods easier and safer.
Most grocery stores now carry some organic stock, even Wal-Mart has an organic section.
You might wonder if it's really worth the extra cost for you, and if buying organic really makes a difference anyway.
Here are the top three reasons why you should care: 1.
Pesticides are toxic chemicals and they are going into your body.
Would you eat rat poison? No? Really? Then why eat insect poison? They have similar effects on your body, not good ones either.
In high enough doses they would be just as lethal to you as they are to the pests.
They would do things like stop your heart, shut down your central nervous system, or overload your kidneys.
Of course you will never eat enough pesticide residue to kill you.
But these chemicals are not digested by your body, your body has no idea what to do with them.
In fact no one really knows what happens to them, most likely they get stock piled in our fat cells since our liver is baffled on what to do with them (Some think these toxin laden fat cells are what makes it so hard to lose weight).
Although it would be near impossible to do a scientific study proving it, many believe this stockpile of toxins is what causes us to get illnesses later in life.
There is currently research being done trying to link specific pesticides to diseases like Parkinson's.
2.
Pesticides and herbicides are the opposite of environmentally friendly.
The majority of the pesticide that gets applied to a crop doesn't even stay there.
Because of wind and rain these chemicals spread places they aren't supposed to be, like wild forests, rivers and oceans.
This messes up the balance everywhere.
Pesticides aren't specific.
They are toxic to most insects, even beneficial ones and animals and fish too, herbicides are toxic to wild flowers and trees.
New pesticides are being developed all the time, and some aren't tested properly, we find out after they've been used that they don't biodegrade they way they should.
Old chemicals that have been banned like DDT don't biodegrade at all, which means they are still in the food that you are eating.
Using these types of chemicals has long lasting effects.
There is no way to undo these mistakes now, all we can do is stop making new ones.
3.
You aren't the only one exposed to those chemicals.
Depending on where your produce is grown, farm workers may be exposed to very toxic levels of pesticides.
In some countries, crops are sprayed while people (even children) are at work in the fields, without any protection.
This causes deformities and serious sicknesses.
By purchasing produce grown in this way, you are promoting and enabling this type of treatment.
This is something to keep in mind when buying clothing as well.
You may not be exposing yourself to many more chemicals when choosing between organic or non-organic cotton, but the field workers are a different story.
For me, these reasons are more than enough to make me want to buy everything organic.
My next problem, how to afford it! I'll fill you in tomorrow on what foods are most important to get organic, in case you're like me and you aren't made of money.
Were these reasons enough to make you want to buy organic products? Do you agree with the use of conventional pesticides and herbicides, why or why not?
New rules and regulations make buying organic foods easier and safer.
Most grocery stores now carry some organic stock, even Wal-Mart has an organic section.
You might wonder if it's really worth the extra cost for you, and if buying organic really makes a difference anyway.
Here are the top three reasons why you should care: 1.
Pesticides are toxic chemicals and they are going into your body.
Would you eat rat poison? No? Really? Then why eat insect poison? They have similar effects on your body, not good ones either.
In high enough doses they would be just as lethal to you as they are to the pests.
They would do things like stop your heart, shut down your central nervous system, or overload your kidneys.
Of course you will never eat enough pesticide residue to kill you.
But these chemicals are not digested by your body, your body has no idea what to do with them.
In fact no one really knows what happens to them, most likely they get stock piled in our fat cells since our liver is baffled on what to do with them (Some think these toxin laden fat cells are what makes it so hard to lose weight).
Although it would be near impossible to do a scientific study proving it, many believe this stockpile of toxins is what causes us to get illnesses later in life.
There is currently research being done trying to link specific pesticides to diseases like Parkinson's.
2.
Pesticides and herbicides are the opposite of environmentally friendly.
The majority of the pesticide that gets applied to a crop doesn't even stay there.
Because of wind and rain these chemicals spread places they aren't supposed to be, like wild forests, rivers and oceans.
This messes up the balance everywhere.
Pesticides aren't specific.
They are toxic to most insects, even beneficial ones and animals and fish too, herbicides are toxic to wild flowers and trees.
New pesticides are being developed all the time, and some aren't tested properly, we find out after they've been used that they don't biodegrade they way they should.
Old chemicals that have been banned like DDT don't biodegrade at all, which means they are still in the food that you are eating.
Using these types of chemicals has long lasting effects.
There is no way to undo these mistakes now, all we can do is stop making new ones.
3.
You aren't the only one exposed to those chemicals.
Depending on where your produce is grown, farm workers may be exposed to very toxic levels of pesticides.
In some countries, crops are sprayed while people (even children) are at work in the fields, without any protection.
This causes deformities and serious sicknesses.
By purchasing produce grown in this way, you are promoting and enabling this type of treatment.
This is something to keep in mind when buying clothing as well.
You may not be exposing yourself to many more chemicals when choosing between organic or non-organic cotton, but the field workers are a different story.
For me, these reasons are more than enough to make me want to buy everything organic.
My next problem, how to afford it! I'll fill you in tomorrow on what foods are most important to get organic, in case you're like me and you aren't made of money.
Were these reasons enough to make you want to buy organic products? Do you agree with the use of conventional pesticides and herbicides, why or why not?
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