Did you ever wonder what eating organic food really means? When you see the organic label, what are the requirements?
Organic food must be produced without the use of herbicides, pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and chemicals. Organic food has been proven to be more nutritious and taste better. Organic farming promotes good enironmental farming practices. The regulations for organic labels are pretty strict so when you eat organic food, you can guarantee better food is going into your body.
Organic food is not genetically-modified. I'm learning a lot more about this and am totally appalled by the trend of food. Genetically modified (GMO) food is food that has been created by a "fake" seed, a genetically produced seed, a copy of the real thing. It has altered DNA of the real thing. The effect of GMO's in our diet are untested. We've been eating GMO food without realizing it. Any food you pick up that is not organic most likely contains food that has been genetically modified. And why?? It all comes back to the same thing...money! GMO food is cheaper to make and mass produce so it's more money for the food companies. Because GMO's have been untested, they are particularly dangerous. In fact, Europe does not accept American GMO imports. Corn and soybeans are one of the largest GMO crops and they are in just about all processed foods in some form or another. Animals eat feed with GMO corn or soy and then it ends up in your meat. The best way to avoid GMO's is to eat whole unprocessed food as much as possible. Buy local and support quality farming.
As you experiment with reading labels and testing out the organic aisle in your local store, use these guidelines:
1. If a food is labeled 100% organic, that means 100% of product must be organic or contain organically produced products.
2. If a food is only labeled "organic," then 95% of the food must be organic.
3. Made with organic ingredients means at least 70% of the food must be organic.
4. If it says "all natural" or made with "all natural" whatever, it means NOTHING. There are no
guidelines for the natural label. So read the ingredients!
5. Conventional produce has 4 numbers on the PLU code. Organic produce has 5 numbers starting with 9. GMO produce has 5 numbers starting with 8. But just because you might only see 4 numbers doesn't mean it's the best for you because it still was produced with pesticides and chemicals. Local and organic are the best!
Some will argue that not all local produce is better for you because farmers might use unsafe practices. I think if you want to know, just ask them. Many farmers use organic practices but are not certified organic because the standards are very high and it is an expensive process. I'd rather buy something local when it's in season then something shipped across the country which uses more energy than a local farmer. But that's just my personal and humble opinion!
Since it's my blog, I get to write that!
2 comments:
I love buying local and am always sad when the road side stands close in the winter. I really miss all the fresh fruits and vegetables and get quickly bored with winter fare.
If you don't belong to a CSA, you can still get your family involved in the harvest. In our area, local farms and orchards allow you to pick fruits ranging from strawberries to apples, depending on the season. There's something very satisfying about feeding my kids an apple they picked from a tree themselves.
I really enjoy buying local in particular. I enjoy interacting with the folks who made or grew the food I buy. It's become a challenge to see how little I need to buy from the grocery store. I've read some interesting arguments that buying nonlocal even if it is organic may be inferior than local due to fuel involved in shipping and also due to preserving the food for longer distances.
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