Wondering if you should go the whole hog and make the change to healthy organic food for your family? To help you make a decision, I have put together a summary on some of the latest research into why it’s best to do so. Thanks to some amazingly switched-on people in this fabulous real ‘additive free’ food community of ours, information about chemicals and additives in our food is starting to emerge with some scientific basis. I have plenty of information to help you learn about the benefits of going additive free for your family. Click here to have a read. This blog is about that ‘next level’ – going organic – and whilst it’s not for everyone, if you are thinking of making the change, this info may help….
Personally, I don’t find the need to always have scientific verification or justification for the reasons I am doing something – a lot of the time intuition, observation and the sharing of ideas and experiences with others is enough to spur me on to try something out and see the results for myself. In the long run, a bunch of scientists aren’t living in my house and seeing the little food werewolves I (sometimes) have running around, so who are they to say what’s right and wrong for me and my family?!
That said, there is an inherent part of me that loves a good bit of research and analysis to come up with the reason why and how it is best to go about things. So I use this eclectic balance of intuition, experience and recognised knowledge to form my own conclusions – and to save you the work and research, I’ll share what I’ve discovered 🙂
So here’s some wonderfully informative and up to date reasons why I choose to go organic…. Mostly this information is thanks to a 2012 report/guide by Friends of the Earth – awesome lobbyists and purveyors and educators of all things good for us and the earth (see source info for link below to read the full report))
6 GOOD REASONS TO GO ORGANIC
1. THE CORRELATIONS AND LINKS TO MAJOR HEALTH PROBLEMS ARE JUST TOO DARN SCARY TO IGNORE
Scientists have shown there are links between major health problems and pesticides commonly detected on Australian Food. What sort of problems? ADHD, learning and behavioural issues, Leukemia in children, cancer, foetus development, hypothyroidism, hormone interference, autism, endocrine disruption and Parkinsons Disease. None of which are nice by any means, so no matter how definite they are with this stuff, I’d rather err on the side of caution and avoid the possibility of any of these issues being a concern for my family.
2. IT’S OUR KIDS THAT ARE MOST SUSCEPTIBLE
Children up to the age of 7 are most at risk,
as they may not be able to produce a detoxifying enzyme that helps to break down any pesticide toxins in their bodies from foods. Research has also shown that:
- Problems in brain development are linked to pesticides*
- “Pesticides can lead to a reduction of a child’s IQ by up to 7 points” **
- “Children living in agricultural regions, who are exposed to agricultural pesticides applied near their homes have up to twice the likelihood of developing acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)” ***
In short, our kidlets little pure bodies just aren’t equipped to break down these toxins, which means they’re more susceptible to the long list of nasty health problems listed above.
3. CURRENT REGULATIONS AND TESTING METHODS ARE DODGY
When it comes to the regulations and testing of pesticides and foods, there just isn’t adequate coverage in Australia . For example, only 5% of imported foods are tested for pesticide residue. And with 14% of our total food imports being fruit and vegetables, that’s a lot of pesticides being ‘missed’… The top 5 countries from which we get food imported are NZ, USA, Vietnam, Thailand and China. Of the top 10 countries breaching chemical MRLs (maximum residue limits) for 201-2011, Thailand and China are in the top 3… What does this mean? Basically, we can’t trust the current regulations for non organic foods – there’s too many loopholes that can mean we are eating foods with unacceptable and unhealthy levels of toxins.
4. THE ACCEPTABLE DAILY INTAKE (ADI) SYSTEM OF MEASUREMENT FOR TOXINS IS PROBLEMATIC
‘Authorities’ use a system of measurement to work out whether a certain amount of pesticides or toxins in our food is going to cause us harm. The problem is, this calculation of ‘acceptable’ intake every day for an average lifetime fails to account for:
- individual reactions and sensitivities
- chronic or long term toxicity
- different ages
- impact on endocrine disruption or effects on immune system
- synergism (the impact of ‘chemical cocktails’ ie: more than one chemical at play together) and
- the reactions between chemicals differing when in lower or higher dosages
What does this mean? It means “they” think a set ‘acceptable’ number of toxins in our food will apply to all people, or all ages and sizes, irrespective of individual differences or how much is consumed together with other chemicals in foods. (Personally, I think some things as close t zero as possible is an acceptable level, especially considering what these toxins can do to us and our kids, but that’s just me :-))
5. WASHING AND PEELING FOODS IS NOT ENOUGH TO ELIMINATE PESTICIDE EXPOSURE
Common thinking is that peeling and washing will get rid of toxins, but these actions aren’t always effective for removal of pesticide residue. Why? These methods don’t help with systemic pesticides – which are pesticides toxins within the food itself (from the soil or structure of the plant/seed) not just on the skin, and also because some pesticides are designed to adhere to the plants and not wash off in the rain, making a wash under the tap an inadequate process of elimination. Also, the nutrients and goodness in fruit and veges is often found within the skin you are peeling off!
6. IT’S JUST DOWNRIGHT NICER ENERGY!
Organic and biodynamic farming practices are all about getting back to basics. It’s about utilising the universe, earth, mother nature and all the little (and big) creatures and plants that work together (biodiversity) along with natural processes and techniques to create pure real food that is healthy and harm free to all. Can’t get more peace, love and mungbeans than that really, can you?! Appeals and feels right to me 🙂 Want to know more about what is organic food? Click here for a fact sheet.
All in all, there is one main reason to go organic. As succinctly put by our FoE source,
“Eating organically grown produce is the safest way to reduce exposure to pesticides” ****
Based on the evidence given above, that’s enough to convince me. How about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this sometimes controversial topic, so please feel free to comment below or on Facebook by clicking here.
Do you have specific questions about going organic and how to do it? If so, let me know – I’d love to help!
Help your family be happy and healthy in the long term and go organic!
Loren x
PS If you are ready to make the change to organic food and want to start small, click here list of the Top 20 foods in Australia containing pesticides and the Top 15 foods to avoid for Toddlers. The EWG also have a few lists to help you out for foods in the US. Click here to view the EWG Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen lists.
Source *p35 **p38 ***p50 ****p5
