Our health is dependent on the health of our planet. Organic produce supports this relationship, and is beneficial not only for the consumer, but fundamentally works in harmony with the environment. Organic produce supports local growers, people in developing countries, and protects the welfare of animals.
With much of our planet’s resources being drained by our increasingly more demanding way of life, organic goes back to the roots, promoting natural and traditional methods over chemical-intensive industrial farming.
In 2007, results from a £12m study carried out by Professor Carlo Leifert at Newcastle University, as part of the EU-funded Quality Low Input Food project, showed that organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40 per cent more antioxidants than non-organic varieties. Furthermore, ‘Larger differences were found in milk, with organic varieties containing more than 60 per cent antioxidants and healthy fatty acids,’ said professor Leifert.
Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association, agrees. He says, ‘There is enough evidence now that the level of good things is higher in organics.’ And it is these ‘good things’ which help keep our bodies healthy, support our immune system, and help prevent serious illnesses such as cancer.
Switching to organic means that the produce you are consuming is cultivated with minimal artificial stimuli often present in non-organic farming. Over 300 chemical pesticides are routinely used in conventional farming, and these can be potentially harmful to humans and the environment. Intensive, non-organic farming methods, ‘are devitalising our food,’ says Holden.
Switching to organic does not simply begin and end with your family’s health – the benefits reach much further than you may think. By choosing organic, you are often supporting local growers and small businesses, and you are helping reduce your carbon footprint in the distance that the food must travel to reach your table.
Further afield in the developing countries, organic can also work with Fair-trade, to help alleviate global poverty and promote sustainability. By choosing organic, fair-traded produce, you can help local farmers become self-sufficient and have more control over their lives.
And organic does not just refer to fruit and vegetables. Animals can be farmed organically, with the organic label often distinguishing between an animal who is allowed to roam free and fed on a natural diet, or one who is battery farmed and fed with hormone-enhanced feed.
There is a huge variety of organic textile and beauty products available, and because they have been produced without harmful chemicals, they are better for our skin and our planet.
To celebrate organics, the Soil Association’s Organic Fortnight (September 6 – September 21) runs each year and aims to raise awareness of the environmental, health and social benefits of organic production. Visit soilassociation.org/organicfortnight for more details.
