People don’t often mind where their food comes from or how it was produced. In the present, the fruits, vegetables, dairy, meat, and everything that people eat are, more often than not, have been drenched, treated, or directly injected with different chemicals and toxin that are not only harmful to the human body, but also to the environment. For a more healthy and sustainable diet, go organic! Organic foods are products that are grown and processed without the use of synthetic pesticides, genetically modified organisms (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizer, sewage-based fertilizers, artificial ingredients, ionizing radiation, and other synthetic additives.
Here are 13 reasons why people should convert to an organic plant-based diet:
On the environment
- Reduces pollution
Going organic uses less to no chemicals for fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, and other farm inputs that the soil easily absorbs and/or run-off that pollute streams, rivers, etc.
2. Increases soil quality and integrity
Organic farming includes crop rotation, companion planting, and reduced use of chemical inputs to take into consideration the health of the soil and other living organisms.
3. Conserves water
The preservation of the quality and integrity of the soil increases its capability to hold water and also lessen the plants’ need for higher amounts of water.
On the farm
4. More energy efficient
Results from studies illustrate that organic farming use less fossil-fuel energy making it a more energy efficient mode of production compared to conventional farming
5. Promotes a self-sustaining cycle
Farming inputs for producing organic produce can be made available from the farm itself. Fertilizers can be acquired from composting and animal manure, pest control is done through biocontrol, and weeding is done by hand, mulching, tilling, or crop rotation.
6. Lessen farm costs
Since farm inputs can be readily available in an organic farm, this lessens the expensive chemical/synthetic inputs used in a conventional farm.
On the people
7. It is less noxious
With minimal presence of synthetic fertilizers and other chemical residues in the produce, the human body is taking in less and less chemicals that are considered toxic for human consumption.
8. It has more nutrients
Studies show that organic produce has small to moderate increase in nutrients they possess wherein the average improved nourishment level of 5% to 20%.
9. It has less heavy metal content on food
Synthetic/chemical pesticides used in conventional farming has heavy metal content that increases risks for multiple sclerosis and anemia.
10. It reduces risks for health diseases and disorders
Synthetic farm inputs that are used in conventional farming increases the risks for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) by six times for women and children and double a child’s risk for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Synthetic farm inputs are also associated with health complication including headaches, nausea, cancer, reproductive harm, developmental delays, endocrine disruption, birth defects, and impaired brain development. Having an organic plant-based diet lowers the risk for the complications mentioned and also diseases like heart disease, diabetes, obesity, and high blood pressure.
11. It lowers mortality
High plant protein intake was observed to be decrease mortality since eating meat is considered to be carcinogenic to people and increases risk for colorectal cancer.
12. Provides fresher produce
Unlike non-organic produce, organic produce is harvested when ripe. Non-organic foods are often injected or sprayed with different preservatives.
13. Increase health-care related savings
A healthy life is a long life. Having an organic plant-based diet may seem expensive due to the slightly higher price of organic products but an unhealthy lifestyle is more expensive. The risks for diseases are lower. Therefore, the people will have less time going back and forth the hospital for living a healthy lifestyle.
References
Everything you need to know about organic foods. (n.d.) The world’s healthiest foods. Retrieved from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=faq&dbid=17 on 10 April 2019.
MacDonald, C. (n.d.). The organic diet and physical health. Health Psychology Center. Retrieved from https://healthpsychology.org/the-organic-diet-and-physical-health/ on April 10, 2019.
Myers, A. (n.d.). A doctor’s top 4 reasons to eat organic. Mindbodygreen. Retrieved from https://www.mindbodygreen.com/0-14763/a-doctors-top-4-reasons-to-eat-organic.html on 10 April 2019.
Parker-Pope, T. (2 December 2008). One man’s 3-year experiment in eating organic food – all the time. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/04/health/04iht-snparker.1.18329349.html on 10 April 2019.
Robinson, L., Segal J., & Segal, R. (September 2018). Organic Foods: What You Need to Know. Helpguide. Retrieved from https://www.helpguide.org/articles/healthy-eating/organic-foods.htm/ on 10 April 2019.
Song M, Fung TT, Hu FB, et al. Association of Animal and Plant Protein Intake With All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality. JAMA Intern Med. 2016;176(10):1453–1463. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2016.4182