Organic Food - What is Organic Food? Why do we eat it? Find out here! - Entertainment - http://maxpages.com/robbiesangel/Organic

What is Organic Food?

The word "organic" is used to describe food which has been grown without the use of artificial fertilisers and pesticides. Organic food has been grown by working with nature rather than against it, by recycling natural materials to maintain soil fertility and encouraging natural methods of pest and disease control, rather than relying on chemicals.
Organic farming recognises that nature has been successful in sustaining life for millions of years so the basic principle of organic farming closely follows those in the natural world.

What is Organic Farming?

Organic farming is a farming system which depends upon the development of biological cycles, using crop rotation and making the most of natural fertilisers like animal manures and vegetable wastes.
Organic farmers rear animals naturally and with great concern for their welfare. They also help to conserve the wildlife and natural habitats around their farms.

By embracing Organic Principals
The environment benefits:
Soil fertility is improved by adding organic matter and by natural nitrogen fixation.
Pollution of rivers, drains and aquifers is stopped.
Natural predators are no longer poisoned and a balanced population of bees, butterflies, birds and wild animals is encouraged.
A system is restored which encourages a better understanding of crops and animals.
Farmed animal welfare is improved:
Animals benefit from a reduction in disease and injury by being less intensively reared.
Barn hygiene is improved and thus the likelihood of pathogens is reduced.
Yields of eggs or milk are a function of natural feeding practice and are not artificially boosted to unnatural levels using hormones.
Birds and animals are treated with respect from birth to death.
Manures are not slurried, they are well rotted with vegetable matter to form pathogen free manures which add nitrogen to the soil naturally.
Organic products are more healthful:
Farm workers will no longer suffer from respiratory problems associated with handling farm chemicals.
Absence of chemical, hormone and antibiotic residues makes products safer to consume.
Absence of synthetic additives in processed foods reduced the likelihood of food intolerance.
Organic foods are what they say they are:
Organic principles do not permit the use of genetic modification.
Organic principles do not permit irradiation.
And... If you still need persuading
Organic foods actually taste better!!

The Soil

The "key" to successful organic production is a healthy well structured soil. Farmers take care of their soil by making sure that there are the right kind of conditions for the soil organisms (living things) within the soil to break down the manures and vegetable wastes in to nutrients (food) which can be used for growing crops and fodder. The idea is that we feed the soil, not the plants.
A chemical farmer uses his soil just to anchor plant roots and hold artificial fertilisers to provide the plants with food. This approach gives the farmer great results in the short run but in the long term it is disastrous.
Because organic matter is not replaced, the soil organisms (living things) die out. Without them the soil structure breaks down and the soil becomes hard, airless and un-productive. The farmer then attempts to force feed the plants but they grow weak and are then likely to be attacked by all sorts of pests and diseases. The farmer uses more chemical pesticides and for a while he may get a better result, but, as he killed the pest he also killed its natural predators so, eventually the problem gets worse. He then needs to use even stronger and more poisonous pesticides which again make things worse.
This is what is called a 'vicious cycle' It just goes on and on. The environment suffers and our health suffers as we have to deal with all these chemical in our diet and around us.

10 good reasons to be eating organic

1 Your own and future generations will enjoy a healthier lifestyle
2 You can be sure that the costs of 'real food' are not hidden by costs of chemicals
3 An organic guarantee is a guarantee for life
4 The water we drink, and our animals and pets drink, will be clearer and purer
5 You can really TASTE organic food and its better for you!
6 Your plates don't become edible chemistry sets
7 Organic food production helps reduce global warming, as it uses less energy
8 Less chemical fertilisers and pesticides reduce harmful soil erosion
9 Buying organic means helping organic farmers
10 Biodiversity is enhanced

Chemicals Vs Organic

Many different chemicals are widely used in INTENSIVE FARMING to speed up the growth of plants and animals, and to kill bugs and stop diseases. One of the main problems is that although these chemicals work in the short term, they do not just disappear and stay in the food that we eat. Our food is thus contaminated with chemicals. Soil used to grow the plants will also be contaminated and have chemicals living in it for a very long time. Animals which eat the grass which has had chemicals sprayed on to it will absorb them into their blood and therefore their flesh and brain. They too become contaminated.
INTENSIVE farmers spray chemical fertilisers directly on to their crops usually by using a spraying tractor. This helps the crops grow by giving them all the nutrients they need but these are artificial. ORGANIC farming actually uses the natural process that nature has harnessed over millions of years where the soil itself carries all the neccesary nutrients and food the plants need, ready for it to be sucked up in to the plant as and when it needs it. Insects underground are always working on making the soil good through the natural nitrogen cycle. By using a process called CROP ROTATION, the farmer can keep a good soil for many years without resorting to chemicals. Instead he uses manure, kitchen waste and compost.
ORGANIC farmers treat their animals with a lot more care for their welfare. The animals must all be free range which means they are not crammed in to one building together. For example, battery hens are squeezed in to these long sheds where you can get thousands of hens caged up like they are in a prison. They can hardly move and can't avoid eating each others droppings. Because there are so many in the same place they are ALL fed antibiotics that only a few of them may need! Also, non-directly, chemicals used in INTENSIVE farming and the factories that produce them are slowly killing off the nearby wildlife.

NO GMO's (Genetically Modified Organisms)

A newly discovered technique in the food industry is that of Genetic Modification and GMO's. This is where, through science, a tomato can have a gene from fish added to it to make it have a longer shelf life. Also, the same technique can be used to make newly born animals grow quicker and fatter to make more meat more quickly. All of this sounds good but by changing the way these organisms are made up, we are altering nature in a very unpredictable and dangerous way. We simply do not know what the long term effect will be. Today it is possible to get any food to look or taste exactly how it is wanted. This is so unnatural and nobody yet knows what may happen in 50 years time if our food is being changed for good.
GENETIC MODIFICATION HAS NO PLACE IN THE WORLD OF FOOD

Animal Health & Welfare

Organic livestock are fed, housed and looked after with a great deal of attention focused on their welfare. Organic farmers make sure that the animals have bedding (usually straw) and have lots of space to move around. By taking good care of the animals and feeding them well with a natural diet they have a much healthier life.
This is in great contrast to the terrible conditions factory farmed and intensively reared animals live in.
Standards have been set which aim to keep livestock in good health by promoting good standards of animal welfare, appropriate diets (herbivores should never eat animal proteins) and good day-to-day care.
If animals are ill, the farmer must make sure they are treated properly. Antibiotics and other medicines are sometimes used but only when there is no alternative treatment available or where they need to save an animals life or reduce its suffering. if treatment has been given, no product from the animal can be sold as organic for some time after the medicine was used. Very often, farmers use homeopathic treatments to help keep their animals healthy. The organic approach is a "preventative" approach by providing a better environment for the animals in the first place..
Organophosphorus pesticides can never be used to treat animals which are sold as organic.
There are much stricter rules in place for when animals are transported or slaughtered to ensure humane conditions.

This is a Nutritional Information chart for the different vitamins and minerals that are found in our foods. A balanced diet should include at least some of each of the groups below.

PROTEIN
Tofu & Rice, Beans / Pulses and Wholegrains (e.g. Beans on toast), Soya Milk & Cereals, Tahini & Pulse, Beansprouts

VITAMIN A

Carrots, Spinach, Green Leafy Vegetables, Watercress, Peppers, Yellow Vegetables, Fruit, Dried Apricots
VITAMIN B
Green Leafy Vegetables, Wheatgerm, Brewer's Yeast, Wholegrains, Beansprouts, Bananas, Avocados, Peanuts, Mushrooms, Currants, Sosmix, Yeast Extract
VITAMIN B12
Many Fortified Products like Soya Milk, Sosmix, Breakfast Cereal, Margarine. Soya Mince, Seaweed, Miso, Yeast Extract
VITAMIN C
Green Leafy Vegetables, Broccoli, Cabbage, Parsley, Potatoes, Frozen peas, Oranges, Blackcurrants
VITAMIN D
Sunlight on the skin, Fortified Cereals, Margarine
VITAMIN E
Vegetable Oils (especially Corn and Sunflower), Wheatgerm, Tahini, Nuts & Seeds, Avocados
VITAMIN K
Green Leafy Vegetables, Seaweeds, Kelp, Blackstrap Molasses, Vegetable Oils
MINERALS
IRON Best absorbed with Vitamin C
Tofu, Beans & Pulses, Spinach, Cabbage, Wheatgerm, Wholegrains, Parsley, Prunes & Dates, Dried Apricots, Pumpkin Seeds, Millet, Blackstrap Molasses
CALCIUM
Milk, Tofu, Tahini, Green Leafy Vegetables, Parsley, Watercress, Broccoli, Swede, Almonds, Brazils, Figs, Soya Milk
ZINC
Wholegrains, Wholegrain Rice, Lentils, Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame Seeds, Almonds, Wheatgerm, Oats
IODINE
Green Leafy Vegetables, Seaweeds, Kelp
MAGNESIUM
Green Leafy Vegetables, Soya Beans, Cashew Nuts, Almonds, Broccoli, Wholegrains, Wheatgerm, Bananas, Prunes
PHOSPHOROUS, SULPHUR, POTASSIUM
Wholegrains, Wheatgerm, Pinto Beans, Chick Peas, Pumpkin Seeds, Potatoes, Yeast Extract, Many Fruits & Vegetables, Nuts
OTHERS: FLUORINE, COPPER, COBALT
Brewer's Yeast, Green Leafy Vegetables, Bananas, Potatoes, Wholegrains, Almonds, Legumes, Beans & Pulses, Seaweeds

CARBOHYDRATES
Wholegrains (Rice), Wholemeal Bread, Potatoes, Beans & Pulses, Cereals, Oats, Pasta (Spaghetti)

FIBRE Fibre is very important for your health
Wholegrains, Nuts, Beans & Pulses, Wheatgerm, Oats, Lots of Fruit and Vegetables
ESSENTIAL FATTY ACIDS - VITAMIN F
Vegetable Oils (especially Soya, Corn and Sunflower), Avocados, Margarine, Nuts, Olive Oil (Olive Oil is the best overall oil - high in mono-unsaturates, excellent for digestion and absorption)

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Page Updated Wed Jan 3, 2001 6:04am EST