Eco Living

People are finally becoming aware of how their food is grown and what is added to it after it leaves the field. Pesticides have grave health effects, so organic food and products seem to be a better choice. Natural foods are less expensive, though, and, let’s face it, in this economy, sometimes price is the dealmaker. People buy natural products thinking they are the same as organic. It’s a blurry line to the general public.

What’s the difference?

Organic foods are grown with strict standards that use no synthetic pesticides or fertilizers in the field. Growing methods using compost and cover crops replenish the soil with nutrients every year. Healthy soil makes hardy plants that can withstand adverse conditions. Organic growing maintains soil and ecological biodiversity, and GMO seeds are not allowed.

Conventionally grown crops, on the other hand, have synthetic fertilizers and sewage sludge applied to them in the place of soil amendments. Farmers spray herbicides, pesticides and fungicides, because the plants have no healthy resistance to pests and disease.

Organic foods are minimally processed. They contain no preservatives, no artificial ingredients, no GMOs, and they cannot be irradiated.

Organic livestock must eat organic feed, which is grown and prepared according to organic standards. Animals must also be pastured, not confined to a feedlot.

Farmers earn the USDA Certified Organic label by growing and processing to strict organic standards. They also go through a stringent process of fields and records inspections. Soil and water are tested regularly to make sure a farm is not using synthetic products.

It’s important to know how to read an organic label. 100% Organic means just what it says – all ingredients in a processed food product are organic. Organic means 95% of the ingredients are organic. Made with Organic Ingredients means 70% of the products are organic, and they are frequently listed. If it does not say 100% Organic, the remaining ingredients can contain GMOs, artificial ingredients, antibiotics or irradiation. It’s important in these days of harmful effects of GMO foods that we avoid them as much as possible.

The term ‘natural’ can mean anything. There are no rules or guidelines and no inspection or certification system. The USDA Natural label is only for meat and poultry! This means the meat was minimally processed, but it does not address the issue of how it was raised. It may have been inhumanely caged for its entire life, pumped with antibiotics and growth hormones, or been fed conventionally grown feed. These are all highly likely scenarios.

Because there are no natural standards, processors can call anything natural. I have found food on supermarket shelves that claim to be natural, because they have plant matter in them, like nuts, fruit or flour (think granola bars). If there is not a USDA Certified Organic label on it, those crops were grown conventionally, and there is nothing natural about that. The word natural is used to confuse consumers into thinking they are getting something as healthy as organic without the added expense.

Eat Local Foods

The best way to eat healthy food is to eat locally. Talk to your farmers about how they grow and process their food. Since organic certification is an expensive process, and the USDA is being pressured to relax their standards, many small farmers do not get certified. They may grow to and beyond organic standards, but they are not certified.

All the small food companies that got the organic movement started have been bought up by mega-corporations, which want organic standards loosened. Toxic things that are not allowed in organic growing and processing may become part of ‘organic’. That means that Organic Certification will have less meaning, hurting the integrity of small farmers.

Find your local farmers at Local Harvest and ask questions! You might be surprised to find organic food that you didn’t realize existed! Steer clear of processed foods, which is where you find the word ‘natural’ used very loosely. The best way to eat organic is to eat whole foods, shop at the farmer’s market and/or grow your own. Taking control of what goes into your body is the best way to assure good health.

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When I was in school for horticulture, we had to be able to pass the test for a state Pesticide Applicator’s license. None of us were planning on getting this license, but we had all the information we’d never need. We learned about mixing or not mixing pesticides, rates of application, regulations about plants to be doused and so on. One tidbit of information I held onto was that there were 62 pesticides approved for lettuce.

Last spring, I was helping my farming partner write radio ads. I told him this story about lettuce. We decided to use it, but needed current information, so we googled ‘pesticides on lettuce’ and came up with this website, What’s In My Food?. Today, there are 51 pesticide residues found on conventionally grown lettuce! That’s not much of an improvement from 30 years ago!

What really disgusted us, though, was what those pesticides do to us AND the environment. Here are the facts for lettuce from What’s In My Food?:

Human Health Effects:

12 known or probable carcinogens
29 suspected hormone disruptors
9 neurotoxins
10 developmental or reproductive toxins

Environmental Effects:

21 honeybee toxins

Carcinogens are cancer-causing agents. Pesticides are found to cause melanoma, cancers in children and breast cancer.

The endocrine system secretes hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, thyroxin (from the thyroid), insulin (from the pancreas) and various sex hormones from the pituitary gland and the hypothalamus. Endocrine disruptors change the levels of hormones secreted, block hormone production entirely or change the way hormones are transported through the bloodstream, altering reproductive and sexual development in humans and wildlife. Hormone disruptors are responsible for infertility, poor quality semen, premature puberty, metabolic disorders and prostate cancer among other things. Fetuses, infants and children are especially vulnerable, but maybe not show symptoms until adulthood. Compare the list of pesticides found on lettuce with this list of hormone disruptors from Beyond Pesticides.

Neurotoxin organophosphates were developed by the Germans in WWII as nerve gas. Today they are in pesticides. Neurotoxins damage the nervous system and brain, lowering intelligence and creating learning disabilities. They are also linked to ADHD, ADD, autism, depression, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease, chemical sensitivity, mental retardation, sleep disorders and a long list of other illnesses.

Developmental and reproductive toxins are responsible for sterility, infertility, birth defects and abnormal growth and development. Some of these symptoms overlap with hormone disruptors.

Honeybees are pollinators. Without them, there would be no food. Pesticides were developed to kill bugs, and honeybees are no less susceptible than any other insect. Systemic, neurotoxic pesticides travel through the plant to the flowers. They disorient the bees so they can’t find their way back to the hive. The bees in the hive die of starvation, and colonies are dying off. Honeybees are also affected by hormone disruptors, just as humans are.

Had enough? Is it clear that your health and that of the planet rely on organic growing? We used this information in a radio ad. I’ve had a few responses of ‘Oh, wow, I had no idea!’ Education is key. Facts like these are not in the mainstream news, and they are not included in the curriculum of a traditional school. You have to dig for them, but a little research will unearth some important but scary stuff! It’s up to you to apply it or not. Your choice. Make the right one.

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