Why You Should Eat Organic

There is a good chance that you have seen an organic food aisle at one of your local grocery stores.  In fact, you may have even driven past a farmers market where organic food was sold.  Unfortunately, if you are like many other Americans, there is a good chance that you kept right on walking or driving by.  This is because many individuals do not eat or understand the benefits of organic foods.

However, more and more health conscious individuals are making the organic choice.  Many claim that eating organic foods helps to promote lifelong health and happiness.  Organic food consumption has increased in popularity over the years and that increase continues to rise at a relatively steady pace.  If you are interested in eating organic foods, but if you have never done so before, you may be wondering what the benefits are.  If so, please continue reading on.

Image by lorises via FlickrWhen it comes to organic foods and their benefits, you will find quite a few reasons to make the switch.  For starters, did you know that organic foods can help the environment?  They can and this is a point that many do not take into consideration at first.  Farmers who put pesticides in their fields and on their foods are not only putting consumers at risk, but the environment as well.  Depending on which pesticides and other chemicals are used, the soil and other nearby areas can suffer damage.  By eating organic foods, you are providing a small, yet still helping hand to help protect the environment, as well as your fellow human beings, from the effects of these toxins.

Another unique benefit to eating organic that many individuals do not think of right away is the assistance that is provided to organic farmers and organic food manufacturers.  Right now, the number of organic food manufacturers is quite small in comparison to conventional producers, and many are small to medium sized businesses.  The same can be said for farmers.  The decision for many farmers and companies to go organic can be difficult and risky.  Therefore, by purchasing organic foods, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, you can take comfort in knowing that you are helping many small to medium sized farmers and organic food companies stay in business.

Organic foods can also help to improve your body and health.  In fact, organic foods may be able to help cleanse or detoxify your body from harmful chemicals.  When you stop eating foods that are tainted with pesticides and other chemicals, your body will expel the current and remaining toxins from your body.  This means that your body should be clean, chemical free, and pesticide free after a specific period of time.  Of course, remember that you want to stay healthy.  For that reason, if you decide to start eating organic foods, try to stick with it as much as possible - this isn't one of those fad diets.  If you are a parent, one of the best ways to help ensure that your child has a happy and healthy life is to get them started on eating organic foods as early as possible. (Check back later this week for some helpful info on buying or making your own organic baby food.)

Image via WikipediaAnother one of the many benefits to eating organic foods is the quality.  In fact, many individuals claim that organic food tastes much better.  Many conventional fruits and vegetables are picked completely green, then sprayed with chemicals to "ripen" them. However, the taste of a real, ripe fruit is missing. These chemicals cannot be used on organics, so they are often picked at a riper stage. Also, organic fertilizers provide much more natural and complete nourishment to the plants, so there is some evidence that the resulting produce tastes better because the plants are healthier.

As you can see, there a number of benefits to eating organic foods.  In fact, the above mentioned benefits are just a few of the many reasons why organic food should be given a close examination.  If you would like more information on organic foods, including the benefits of eating them, keep an eye on this blog, and also visit your local farmer's market and ask about organic foods. You may also wish to visit our CSA page, which discusses a great way to find locally grown organic foods.

Oh, and one last thing - while many people think that eating organic is too expensive, there are ways around this. Often, by eating local, you can switch almost entirely to organic food, for close to the same price as what you've been spending on conventionally grown. See our previous blog post on this topic.