11 Facts About Organic Living

A four-year, $25 million European Union funded study found that with regards to organic food compared to "regular" food:
- There are 40% more antioxidants in organic food
- Milk that is taken from organic herds contains 90% more antioxidants
- There are higher levels of beneficial minerals like zinc (something almost everyone is deficient in) and iron in the organic produce.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA), an advocacy group, recently tested 100 personal care and cleaning products that are advertised as 'natural' or 'organic.' Of those one hundred, 47 of them contained dioxane, a petroleum-based compound that is a byproduct of the processing that is used to soften harsh detergents, which is ‘organic’, but can cause eye and respiratory damage.
Organic farming helps our environment by increasing soil fertility, encouraging natural organisms to flourish, and allowing plants and animals to boost their natural resistance to disease instead of relying on antibiotics or fungicides.
Research suggests that pesticides have harmful effects on humans, specifically pregnant women and children. One study found that the frequency of leukemia in children was 650% greater in homes where indoor and garden pesticides were used.
Studies show that pesticides can adversely affect the nervous system, increase the risk of cancer, and decrease fertility.
Synthetic fertilizer drifting downstream is the main culprit for dead zones in delicate ocean environments, such as the Gulf of Mexico, where its dead zone is now larger than 22,000 square kilometers, an area larger than New Jersey.
The Stockholm Convention, signed by 176 countries including the United States in 2005, commits the signatories to eliminate the world’s 12 most dangerous Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), organic compounds that are resistant to environmental degradation.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC), a coalition of 171 countries including the US, allows seven of the 12 agreed upon killer POPs to be used in the production of foods as varied as milk, soy, oils, cotton seed, fruits, eggs, poultry, cereal grains, pineapples, leafy and root vegetables, legumes and others, all of this despite the Stockholm convention agreement.
POPs remain intact in the environment for long periods of times, become widely distributed geographically, accumulate in the fatty tissue of living organisms and are highly toxic to humans and wildlife. They increase brain, bladder, lung, breast and other cancers, cause damage to the kidney, liver, adrenals and thyroid, can cause decreased fertility, immune suppression, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, fatal skin lesions especially in children and nursing infants (“pink sore”), headache, dizziness, nausea, general malaise, and vomiting, followed by muscle twitching, and convulsions.
According to Organic Farming Research Foundation, as of 2007 there are approximately 13,000 certified organic producers in the U.S. compared to about 2500 as tracked in 1994.
Scientists now know what we consumers have known all along: organic food tastes better. It makes sense that strawberries taste yummier when raised in harmony with nature, but researchers at Washington State University just proved in taste tests when the organic berries were consistently judged as sweeter.