HEALTH BENEFITS OF EATING ORGANIC FOODS
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Often, the flavour is just so much better. Good organic fruits and vegetables are
juicy and full-flavoured, milk tastes richer, cheeses are ripe and mouthwatering.
Once you've experienced the sweet intensity of a fresh organic carrot, bought with
the sandy soil still clinging to it, other carrots will seem insipid and bland. Of course,
there are no guarantees. Not every organic item will give you a burst of flavour
pleasure, but if you shop carefully, buy only the freshest, and seek out quality, you
won't be disappointed. Eating organic makes it easier to follow the seasons too.
Supermarkets choose fruit and veg varieties for appearance and shelf-life. Flavour
isn't always a consideration. Because there are more, named varieties of organic
fruit and veg on offer, you can get to know their subtle flavour differences.
One of the huge advantages of organic foods is that they haven't been doused in
pesticides. Organic farms ban artificial pesticides. In the UK, 31,000 tonnes of
pesticides are blasted on to farmland every year, and 25% of food carries residues of
these chemicals, created to kill pests and weeds. Non-organic fruit and veg is
covered in the stuff and it won't all wash off. Pesticide residues turn up, not just on
fruit and vegetables, but in bread, baby food and other products. Governments claim
that there's no need risk to health from these pesticide traces, but wouldn't you
rather feed yourself and your kids on food that's pesticide free?
Making organic food for babies is an especially good idea. That way, you'll to give
them the purest possible source of nourishment while their organs and bodies are
growing so fast. Take a look at these organic baby food recipes if you need some
inspiration.
Perhaps one of the prime advantages of organic food is that it is pure food, nothing
more, nothing less. Forget E-numbers, hydrogenated fats, artificial colours, flavours,
sweeteners, preservatives – none of the additives lurking in processed and fast food
are permitted in organic foods. There are no residual antibiotics, growth hormones or
BSE in organic meat, no pesticides in organic milk, no hidden starches bulking out
organic baby food. If you want a diet based on natural food that hasn't been
tampered with – think organic.
Genetically modified – GM – food isn't used in organic products. We don't know what
effect GM foods have on long-term health. Best avoided.
Organic foods can be more nutritious, richer in vitamins, minerals and essential fatty
acids than non-organic.
And don't forget the feel-good factor. One of the greatest advantages of organic
foods is that buying and eating them is a real, guilt-free pleasure, which is more
than you can say for the average supermarket shop. It's great to know that you're
not only helping the environment, you're feeding your family on good, pure food,
that tastes better than processed food, and has no hidden unhealthies. That feels
good.
ORGANIC FOOD FACTS
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Yet another of the advantages of organic foods is that you're also doing the
environment a good turn when you choose them. Intensive farming methods erode
soil, destroy ancient hedgerows, and decimate wild life. Organic farms look after the
environment.
Intensive farming is outrageously cruel to farm animals – think of battery chickens,
pigs kept in farrowing pens, cows milked to exhaustion. Another of the indisputable
advantages of organic foods is that organic farming methods put humane treatment
top of the agenda.
HOW TO SWITCH TO ORGANIC FOODS
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Don't feel that you must buy organic everything. Even switching to a few organic
regulars makes a difference.
Make the change to organic versions of everyday mainstays. Try organic milk,
cheese, pasta, chicken, bananas.
Take it slowly. Pick up one or two organic items every time you shop. Try different
brands, and once a week, buy something new to try: organic tofu, stuffed vine
leaves, soup. You'll soon find favourites.
There's an organic version of almost every food you can think of, from coffee to
baked beans, pizzas to eggs. Drinks, pork chops, peanut butter, jam – all
supermarkets stock organic goods, although you'll do better buying in local shops or
farmers' markets if you can.
Shop around. Organic foods are sometimes more expensive than non-organic, but
the more people buy them, the more prices will come down. We pay through taxes
for the hidden costs of cleaning up water polluted with agro-chemicals that underpin
the production of cheap mass-produced foods.
Once you've started making the change, you'll soon appreciate the many advantages
of eating organic foods, and you won't want to switch back.