Organic Food vs Inorganic Food

Organic Food vs Inorganic Food For the past two decades the world has become so health conscious and taking so many preventive steps to be environmental friendly. These days, consumers think that they have a control to suggest a change with an important tool at their disposal. Let me take you through the importance and benefits of organic food over the inorganic food.

Organic Foods Organic food are the food items which are produced naturally without using any chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In addition to not consuming synthetics during the production process, organic foods are not inherently modified and do not include any chemical food additives. Most of the developed countries including the United States of America need special certification for producers to list foods as organic. So, organic food is different from private horticulture/cultivation or natural foods. Organic denotes to both the food and the food production procedure used to harvest the finished food product. Organic food deliver a number of health benefits, also organic farming decreases the exposure to contaminants such as pesticides and metals usually found in food.

A recent study completed on 94,000 food samples in which there were at least one pesticide filtrate on almost 75% of inorganic fruits & vegetables. In comparison to organically grown fruits and vegetables had approximately 25% pesticides. Organic food have higher level of protein, vitamin C, mineral levels. Food is one of the important aspect in our day to day lives to be healthy and fit, so the quality of food is very important for our health.

Organic Must Buy Environmental Working Group has reported that 99% of apples, 98% of peaches & 97% of nectarines are all tested positive for minimum of one pesticide residue. Also, some of the inorganic grapes & bell peppers tested positive with 15 various pesticides, while cherry tomatoes, strawberries and peas tested positive for 13 dissimilar pesticides. In order to avoid such harmful pesticides and bacteria, it is always better to spend extra money to buy organic food which are rich in protein and nutrient.

A list of foods which are suggested to consume organic, as they contain high level of nutrients. Below mentioned are all being grown using pesticides, in this case it is always better to buy these fruits and vegetables as organic.              

Apple Strawberry Grapes Celery Spinach Cucumbers Peaches Bell Peppers Potatoes Hot Peppers Soybeans Zucchini Papaya Eggs

Organic On A Budget Even after knowing the health benefits, most of the people are uncertain about consuming organic food, it is purely because of the expenses which are costly than inorganic food. I would recommend few steps to be followed in order to consume more organic food at our budget.

1. Grow fruits and vegetables at your home Try to construct a terrace garden at your house and also bring some awareness in your surroundings about this and make sure everyone does the same, because one cannot grow all the vegetables and fruits in one place, it will cost you more. If people around you accept for terrace gardening, then make a plan in such a way that each one of you grow 2-3 types of vegetables, fruits and you can share these resources on exchange basis. In this way, your expenses will come down and you will have even more safer food as you are growing at your presence.

I understand this will be a tedious process but I am sure this method will be a safer and less expensive way to have organic food.

2. Compare different brand’s prices of Organic food It is always good to make a list of food items that you need to buy before going to the grocery store. In this generation, we have so many facilities such as Internet, Online shopping etc. Search for best organic brands available, make a list of each and every items with their price and go for cost effective brand. There are some brands who mainly concentrate on people’s health and not money minded, they provide healthy organic food at cheaper prices. We have to explore and buy. Do no fall for fancy advertisement, packing materials or expensive price.

3. Stop wasting food Always plan and buy the required amount of food needed, some vegetables can be fresh for 1 week longer if you store it in fridge, some will not. So do not buy too much at a time and throw it off when it becomes bad. Wastage of food leads to pollution as well as waste of money.

4. Reduce meat consumption Reduce organic meat consumption and consume more of organic vegetables and fruits. Yes, it will be difficult for all meat lovers but we have to sacrifice few things for better health. One cannot avoid meat very easily, in that case we can reduce it instead of stopping it. For example, follow vegan meal plan for your breakfast, snack time and dinner whereas have meat plan for your lunch.

Organic Labels You can see many standardized labels mentioning organic food products, few I have listed here, understand the meaning of each label before buying it if you are too cautious about buy pure organic food.

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100% Organic - Should contain 100% organically produced food ingredients Organic - Should contain at least 95% of organic ingredients Made of organic ingredients - Should contain at least 70% of organic ingredients Have some organic ingredients - May contain less than 70% of organic ingredients

Pros   

Organic farming procedure is excellent for our environment Organic farm produce less waste and consume less energy No harmful synthetics

Cons  

Expensive Lack of scientific research done on this

Inorganic Foods Inorganic Foods uses chemical fertilizers and pesticides to produce the finished food products. Moreover, producers can also alter inorganic food items at a molecular or genetic level. This permits producers to crossbreed the crops to produce stronger strains with greater quantities. In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration regulates inorganic food items and determines the acceptable levels of synthetics that finished food products can contain.

Dangers of Inorganic Food The World Health Organization estimates 3 million cases of pesticide poison every year, in result there are 220,000 death counts in developing countries. Common health issues are asthma, allergies, and hypersensitivity, also cancer, hormone disruption cases are very common. Most affected one’s are the children because they consume a lot of food compared to adults. Their organs grow quickly, in result of it they become more vulnerable.

Usage of organophosphate in the home or school, can be very dangerous to the children. Animal tests of pesticides are commonly used class of chemicals which show small single dosage on a day of development which can cause hyperactivity and permanent changes in neurotransmitter receptor in the brain. Chlorpyrifos is one of the commonly used organophosphates which reduced DNA synthesis in the brain which results in shortages in cell numbers. Pyrethroids can also result in permanent hyperactivity in animals.

Pros   

Synthetics used in this will help to control contamination with dangerous toxins and bacteria Less expensive Nutrient level is consistent while producing inorganic food

Cons  

Synthetic substances cause damage to our environment as well as humans who consume it Less nutrient compared to natural nutrient in organic

Conclusion After considering all the aspects of organic and inorganic foods, I strongly recommend everyone to concentrate on organic farming at your place itself in order to reduce the expenses of buying organic food outside. So if you need a cleaner environment and healthier food, you should choose organic products and promote organic farming in your surroundings.