Pros of Organic Food

By: Rachael Sak

Organic foods are healthier because they are not grown with pesticides. This is a common
belief, but many people do not know the other benefits of organic food. When something is
labeled organic in the store, that means that the food has met certain requirements, and that the
farm is organically certified by the USDA, the United Stated Department of Agriculture (To Go
Organic, or Not to Go Organic sks.sirs.com). The chance of someone having certain health
issues increases with pesticides in non-organic foods. There are also many environmental
damages that come from growing non-organic crops.
Before something can be labeled organic, The food itself has to meet certain
requirements. Anything organic can not be grown with genetic modifications or artificial
pesticides. The farm also must be certified by the USDA (To Go Organic, or Not to Go Organic
sks.sirs.com). For any kind of animal to be raised organically, it must spend time outside. They
are also not allowed to be given any kind of growth hormones, antibiotics, or genetically
modified feed (Chang sks.sirs.com). For plants to be considered organic, they are only allowed to
be grown with natural fertilizers and natural pesticides. Any product labeled organic has to be at
least 95% organic material for the USDA to approve of it (To Go Organic, or Not to Go Organic
sks.sirs.com).
The likelihood of someone contracting certain diseases can increase when chemicals, like
pesticides, are consumed in large amounts. There is evidence to suggest that residue from
pesticides can reduce a persons IQ, damage their reproductive system, cause cancer, and
damage their brain (Donnelly sks.sirs.com). When non-organic foods put pesticides into a
persons body, they can develop something called body burden, which can cause health issues,
birth defects, added strain on weakened immune systems, and headaches (Robinson
helpguide.org). Pregnant women and young children are especially affected by pesticides.
Pregnant woman who consume pesticides risk lowering their childs IQ, and negatively affecting
their childs neurobehavioral development (Donnelly sks.sirs.com). They also risk passing these
pesticides to children during breastfeeding. Childrens exposure to pesticides can potentially lead
to behavioral disorders, developmental delays, immune system harm, motor dysfunction, and
autism (Robinson www.helpguide.org). However, infants eating organic food is proven to make
them less likely to catch diseases. In 2010, the United States Department of Agriculture, or
USDA, decided to revise the dietary guidelines. They decided that people should eat more fish
because they are rich in Omega-3, a fatty acid with many different health benefits. People should
be eating around the same amount of Omega-3 and Omega-6 daily, but most people eat up to 10
times more Omega-6. The large amounts of Omega-3 in seafood would help balance out the
Omega-6 consumed, but it would also lead to a rapid decline in the fish population (Chang
sks.sirs.com). Instead, researchers urge people to eat organic food, which is also rich in Omega-
3, containing 50% more of these fatty acids than normal food, and significantly less Omega-6
(Donnelly sks.sirs.com). Eating organic food, instead of seafood, also allows people to eat the
same things theyre used to, just an organic version. Organic food can add up to 200mg of
Omega-3 to a persons diet (Chang sks.sis.com). Organic foods also provide the body with
higher levels of magnesium, iron, phosphorous, and Vitamin C. It also las much lower levels of
nitrates and pesticide residues (Crinnion ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
Pesticides found in non-organic food are not only dangerous to a persons body, but also
to the environment. When farmers use synthetic fertilizer and spray pesticides onto plants, those
chemicals will eventually run into waterways. The nitrogen will fuel the growth of algae, which
will then start using the oxygen found in water. The oxygen levels will start to drop, leaving less
for the marine life, and ultimately killing off a large amount, if not all of them. Organic farmers
composted manure as fertilizer, and they also plant cover crops. Cover crops will slowly pull
nitrogen out of the air and into the soil, this provides the soil with nutrients (Weise sks.sirs.com).
Pesticides entering into the soil can also potentially lead to super bugs and super weeds.
These weeds and bugs have evolved, so they are immune to the pesticides. The only way to kill
them is to use toxic poisons. Overall, organic food is less damaging to the environment (Crinnion
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
There is no efficient way to remove pesticides from non-organic fruits and vegetables.
Washing fruits and vegetables only reduces the amount of pesticides, it does not eliminate them
completely. Peeling them occasionally works, but there are still some chemicals left behind.
Peeling them also eliminates a large amount of nutrients. With organic food, you do not have to
worry about removing the pesticides (Crinnion ncbi.nlm.nih.gov).
Eating organic food has many benefits. It lacks the pesticides that can often cause birth
defects and diseases. Also, chemicals from the unnatural fertilizer farmers use to grow non-
organic crops can run into waterways. With organic crops, all the minerals included are natural
and already in the waterways, so it can not cause any harm to marine life. Those are just a few of
the many benefits to eating organic foods.