How to Eat Organic and Change Your Life

If you are looking for some incentive to start getting into the healthy organic food lifestyle, look no further! We are here to help! We want to give you enough information (and many reasons) so that you will change your habits and your family’s habits at once.

It’s a no brainer. Read below and discover the benefits of consuming organic products!

What is organic food?

An organic product is any product, animal or vegetable, obtained without the use of chemicals or synthetic hormones that promote growth unnaturally. Soil is the basis of organic work. In the case of plants, the soil is no longer a mere support for the plant, becoming a source of nutrition - free of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, or genetically modified seeds. In the case of animals, the use of growth hormones, steroids, or other drugs such as antibiotics is prohibited.

One great advantage, in addition to producing healthier and natural food, is the preservation of the soil, which is more fertile and free of toxicities. Organic production allows sustainable management of the environment in a balanced way, facilitating the preservation and the harmony of all the elements together and ensuring human health.

We have listed a few benefits of organic foods and the processes that are involved in the growth and production of organic products.

1. Help you avoid health problems caused by the ingestion of toxic chemicals. Research and studies have shown that pesticides are harmful to our body and the residues that remain in food can cause allergic and respiratory reactions, hormonal disorders, neurological problems and even cancer.
2. More nutritious. A rich and balanced soil with natural fertilizers produces food with higher nutritional value.
3. Tastier. Flavor and aroma are more intense - in its production there are no pesticides or chemicals that can alter them.
4. Protect future generations of chemical contamination. The intensive use of chemicals in food production affects the air, soil, water, animals and people. Organic farming excludes the use of fertilizers, pesticides or chemical and is based on working to preserve natural resources.
5. Organic Agriculture prevents soil erosion. Through organic techniques such as crop rotation, intercropping, composting, etc., the soil remains fertile and productive remains year after year.
6. Protect water quality. The pesticides used in plantations run through the soil, reach the water table and pollute rivers and lakes.
7. Restore biodiversity, protecting animal and plant life. Organic agriculture respects the balance of nature, creating healthy ecosystems. The wildlife, essential part of agricultural property is preserved and natural areas are preserved.
8. Help small farmers. Most of the organic production comes from small, local farmers that work hard to connect with nature and feed families. By keeping the fertile soil for many years, organic farming binds man to the ground and revitalizes rural communities.
9. Save energy. Organic farming exempt pesticides and chemical fertilizers, intensively using mulching, the incorporation of organic matter to the soil and the manual handling of the beds. It is the opposite procedure of conventional agriculture that relies on oil as pesticide and fertilizer inputs and is the basis for the intense mechanization that characterizes it.
10. The organic product is certified. The quality of organic product is provided by a Certification Seal. This seal is provided by organic farming associations or by independent certifying bodies that check and supervise the production of organic food from production to marketing. The Certification Seal is the consumer's assurance of getting healthier products and free of any toxic residue.

The process of certification is conducted by the USDA according to its own regulations. It regulates farmers, retailers, and even restaurants. These regulations establish the standards that will protect the environment and the level of sustainability within the processes.

Also, it is good to make clear the difference between organic and natural, since natural foods are not necessarily organic.

If you looking to make those life changes you’ve been planning for so long, perhaps the best way to start is by improving the way you eat. And what’s great is that by doing so we are helping to keep our planet’s sustainability.

In fact, the organic trend is a way for humanity to start making up for decades of misusing the soil and other Earth resources. In the late 60s people believed that hundreds of thousands would starve to death simply because, despite all efforts, there wouldn’t be enough food for our planet’s fast growing population.

As we all know, however, if there’s starvation the world today, it isn’t because of lack of food. What people didn’t count, especially economists, is that an agricultural revolution was under way, fomented mainly by lab fertilizers that powered the growth of plants and chemical pesticides and herbicides, capable of destroying insects, fungi, and other enemies of crops with unprecedented efficiency.

The result couldn’t have been better. The productivity of crops grew exponentially. Today it is possible for two thousand square yards to feed one person. Before, it was twenty thousand.

Chemicals have saved humanity from hunger, but it took its price. Fertilizer waste tends to escape into rivers and lakes near the plantations and become food for aquatic vegetation. The result is the growth of algae that consume oxygen making fish choke. Fertilizers are also a great contributor for the greenhouse effect. Pesticides are even worse. They are not terrible only for insects that destroy crops, but also harm butterflies and birds and other forms of life. Furthermore, when farmers exaggerate the dose, residues are left in food - toxins that cause cancer.

Therefore so many people are choosing to buy organic, ditching pesticides and chemical fertilizers on behalf of integrating agriculture with nature. So basically there are two great reasons for opting for organic food: helping save the environment and stop eating poison as seasoning.

Where to buy organics?

Specialists say that the best way is always buying directly from the producers. However this is not so easy, so the second best option is to become member of a producer’s cooperative. You don’t actually need to be a producer to become a member. All you need to do is support them by shopping there, since most work like grocery shoppings. Of course we all know the many wholefoods chains that are also an option. The downside is that you’d missing one of the greatest points of the organic culture, which is to support local farmers.

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Organic Producers Co Op in San Diego, that sells everything organic from food, to cosmetics, to clothes

If you have room in your house, you can always start a vegetable garden. If you don’t have the yard space for one, you can also start one in your very own kitchen. Planting your own food is like planting money, some say, even though money is not the greatest benefit from that. There is a great rewarding feeling when you cook something that you grew yourself.

It’s also important to say that the term organic doesn’t only apply to foods, but to several other products like clothes, cosmetics and even architecture. We hope this guide has opened your eyes to the many benefits of making the switch to organic products so you can live a long, healthy life!