Organic Foods
Overview

Whole Foods' 10 Reasons to Buy Organic

May 8, 2002  NY Times article on Organic Foods

Top 10 reasons to buy organic food

There are broader reasons to purchase organic foods than children's health alone.  Whole Foods lists 10 reasons to buy organic foods:

1.  Protect future generations:  Children receive four times more exposure than adults to cancer causing pesticides in foods.

2.  Prevent soil erosion: Three billion tons of topsoil are erodedfrom crop lands in the U.S. each year, much of it due to conventional farming practices, which often ignore the health of the soil.

3.  Protect water quality:  The EPA estimates that pesticides pollute the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population.

4.  Keep chemicals off our plate:  Pesticides are poisons designed to kill living organisms, and can also be harmful to humans

5.  Protect farm worker health:  Farm workers have higher exposure to harmful pesticides

6.  Save energy:  More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate and harvest all the crops in the U.S.

7.  Help small farmers:  Although more and more large scale farms are making the conversion to organic practices, most organic farms are small, independently owned and operated family farms.

8.  Support a true economy:  Organic foods might seem expensive; however your tax dollars pay for hazardous waste clean up and environmental damage caused by conventional farming

9.  Promote biodiversity: Planting large plots of land with the same crop year after year tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970, but the lack of natural diversity of plant life has negatively affected soil quality.

10. Flavor and Nourishment:  Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, producing nourished and nourishing plants.  Conduct your own taste test!

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NY Times Article:  Study Finds Far Less Pesticide Residue on Organic Produce