Posts Tagged ‘Pesticides’

Organic food is food that has been grown without the use of toxic chemicals, pesticides or fertilizers. The food is as natural as can be, safer for the environment and usually tastes better too. Most importantly though, eating this food is healthier for you and may provide many health benefits, which is what this article is all about.

Even though further research needs to be done to gain a better understanding of the benefits of organic food, there is still much valuable information to share with you.

Before we discuss the actual health benefits of eating whole food, lets take a look at the advantages it has over non-organic food.

It’s a fact that this food is highly nutritious and contains higher levels of vitamins and minerals. Vitamin C and minerals like magnesium, calcium and iron are just some of the nutrients organic food contains higher amounts of.

Whole foods also contain higher amounts of antioxidants, which help reduce the risk of developing cancers.

You may be surprised to know, but the vegetables we eat today are nowhere near as nutritious as they were 50 or even 15 years ago. Farmers tend to take shortcuts when growing food, and the fastest way is generally not the best way to do something. This trend is expected to continue, so if eating highly nutritious food is important to you, looking into organic foods is something worth considering.

If you were wondering why organic food hasn’t exactly taken the world by storm, it’s mainly due to the extra cost associated with organic growing. Demand is greater than supply and as a result, you can expect to pay about 20% extra for this kind of food..

Numerous studies have been conducted to find out the benefits whole foods can provide us humans. Many results are still fairly inconclusive however there have been many reported cases of benefits when animals are fed organic food.

The reason for the vagueness in health benefits is due to many reasons such as: incorrect method of testing and the lengthy time it takes to determine results of this nature. However several studies have shown benefits such as:

Decline in colds and other conditions
Improves dental health
Improves flow of your overall system
Greater chance of sprains and fractures
Reduces chance of injury
Better over health

As mentioned, the subject of organic food vs non organic food is very iffy and many researches believe that this food provides little to no health benefits.

Thinking about it logically, surely food that has been grown as it was intended to and that contains no added toxic chemicals has to be considerably healthier for us.

Whether the extra cost associated with organic food is worth the money is entirely up to the person. There is insufficient evidence to say something like “eating whole foods will reduce the likelihood of getting heart disease”.

Even though it’s likely that eating organic food will produce significant healthier benefits long term, as of now it comes more down to ones opinion than solid fact.

Do you want any information on the merits of organic gardening? Then have a view.

1. The foods that are grown in an organic manner do not contain chemicals.

This implies that the intake of food containing chemicals that can pose hazards to our health can be avoided. The major aim of pesticides is the destruction of lives, whether it is human beings or the pests. So the control of pests must be done in such a way that it is safe for every one – the plants, animals as well as human beings.
Organically grown foods are not sprayed with chemicals

In normal cases, the children intake the pesticides that can cause cancer in them which accounts for five times the intake of the same in adults. By using the organic foods, this can be avoided.

Even though the organic foods are not appealing in terms of colour and presentation in the shops, they are good for the health of adults as well as children as they are very tasty and nutritious.

2. The savings associated with the cost incurred while using organic fertilisers are more than using the artificial ones.

One can use coffee grounds and stale coffee as organic fertilisers. You need not opt for any costly pesticides or fertilisers.

The usage of artificial chemicals will fail the aim of using organic gardens and vegetables.

The aim of pest control in organic gardens is based on strategies, rather than using chemicals. Compost manufactured form the waste of vegetables is good. One can add egg shells, skins of banana as well as tea leaves to the compost.

3. Poses no major harms to our natural environment

Organic growing helps the protection of the top soil. It also helps in maintaining the residual ground water.

By doing organic gardening, we will become closer to nature and can thus safeguard the future generations from hazards.

Many people in America have started buying organic foods. Organic food sales have shot up from $180 million in 1980 to over $6.5 billion last year, not only in health food stores but in grocery stores as well. Actually, grocery stores sales made up fifty-six percent of organic food sales in the past year. Although organic food sales only make up two percent of national food sales, the organic market has definitely begun soaring, especially on Wall Street. Experts expect the figure to more than double by the year 2010. The USDA has finally released an official definition of what qualifies as “organic” food in response to the great increase in sales. It is also developing labeling standards which should be in effect by this summer. Up until the past couple of months, a definition of what actually qualifies as organic foods did not even exist. Throughout the past decade farmers and conventional farming organizations have been debating the need for federal organic labeling. Fear that the organic labels would create an unfair bias against conventional products kept conventional farmers from encouraging labeling. In December, the Grocery Manufactures of America actually complained about the new organic standards, claiming that the new labels will mislead consumers into believing that organic products are safer and more nutritious. The agricultural secretary denies the accusation of bias stating that although the organic seal will give more validity to organic products, the seal will not imply that organic foods are safer or more nutritious. Of course, users of organic foods often believe that organic foods are safer, since they contain fewer pesticides, more nutritious because they contain more trace minerals and nutrients, and also better for the environment because organic growing practices are kinder to the soil, sky, and water.

The new USDA standards mean you will get better organic food for your buck due to an official and national standard for what foods can be called organic. You will now know with certainty that the organic foods you purchase contain no synthetic pesticides and no added chemicals. Organic farmers will also use no genetic engineering, no irradiation and no sewage fertilization. Additionally, live-stock raised under these standards will be given 100 percent organic feed and will not be treated with antibiotics. Before the standardization, consumers often had to trust misleading labeling claims on organic products. Even with the new standards, the question is whether it is worth it to purchase organic. Americans who consume organic foods often have substantially higher monthly grocery costs. Actually, in 1998 average costs of organic foods were fifty-seven percent higher than conventional foods. Additionally, a recent report on 20/20 stated that organic foods contain dangerous bacteria such as E. coli and salmonella. However, more and more doctors believe that organic foods are safe and are well worth the additional cost. Those doctors who support organic eating often believe that the cumulative effects of toxins in our food, water, and air can be extremely harmful to our health. They also believe that anything we can do to reduce the toxins is well worth it.

If you only have a small budget but would like to go organic, there are still some things you can do. Some foods are more known for pesticide residue than others. Start with buying these if you can only buy limited amounts of organic foods. Citrus foods are usually not a high risk because of their thick skins, as well as asparagus, bananas, broccoli cauliflower, cherries, corn, onions, pineapple, sweet peas, and watermelon. These are considered by the FDA and EPA to be the ten cleanest foods. Additionally, make sure to wash all the produce you buy, whether or not it is organic. You can regularly take an antioxidant supplement which will help the body to remove any toxins that are on the produce. Most importantly, be sure to keep eating fruits and vegetables, as they are essential to good health.

Herbs are a plant that people use or have used for a specific purpose. Nowadays herbs are most usually known for their culinary, medicinal, aromatic and decorative qualities. In the past, people relied on herbs for greater number of uses, some were utilized in dyeing and cleaning fabrics and many were used in everyday life as flavorings for food and drink to promote good health and to cure illness.

In many cases it is the green part of the plant that is used as a herb, but different parts, such as roots, fruits, seeds and flowers, even the woof of some trees are utilized according to the species.

Herbs are plants that people have found useful right through history. The majority of herbs are safe to handle and consume but not all of them. Some herbs can be toxic to humans and animals even in small does, so they need to be treated with respect. Never use anything that you are not sure is completely safe and consults a medical herbalist first if you want to use herbs for their medicinal properties.

Herbs are easy to raise in natural world, walk into any herbs garden for a sensory experience, the plants it contains will have been selected for their smell as well as their appearance and have rich relations with human history. Herbs are plants that have over many centuries helps people to sleep, soothed pain, repelled insects and flavored exciting drinks. Herbs are still worth growing today for their useful qualities as well as for the fact that they are beautiful to look at.

Herbs are easy plant to grow, and in many cases free from pest and disease problems. Growing them yourself means that you can have fresh supplies to hand when you need them and using organic methods means you can be sure they have not been treated with pesticides. Growing herbs of any kind will increase the multiplicity of a garden, one of the key principles behind a winning organic system. With such a huge range of herbs to choose from, there is almost definitely one for every situation.

Herbs can be selected to climb, creep, tumble, form solid carpets or trained up walls. Some will be happy in muddy soil, others on top of walls, in between road surface stones, under trees and in meadows- success depends on matching the right plant to the accessible conditions. They also vary in size, from the tiny, ground-hugging Corsican mint, to stately giants such as angelica or lovage reaching 2m high. Herbs can be grown fro their appearance alone. Some plants have spectacular flowers, some are valued for their foliage and they all have something to contribute to a garden.

Many herbs attract wildlife; birds eat the seeds and berries, butterflies and bees enjoy the nectar and pollen, while beneficial insects will lay their eggs near sources of aphids and other pests. Some example are given above. Dense plantings of ground-covering herbs such as thymes provide habitats for many beneficial creatures including beetles, spiders and even frogs and toads.

Herbs convey a huge range of flavors to both sweet and flavorful dishes. They can be added to soups, sauces, stews, salads, casseroles, pies flans and anything else you can eat!. Although it is possible to dried herbs, their flavor is far better when used fresh. Recipes that list dried herbs can be adapted for fresh herbs just by doubling the quantities given. With practice, you should be able to judge quality according to taste. A good suggestion is to start with just one or two herbs in a recipe until you become familiar with the flavors and learn how to combine them for the best effects.

Another tradition is the use of aromatic herbs to repel moths or insects and to keep stored clothes lines smelling sweet. These mixtures are effective and still popular today either sewn into bags or stored loose in containers as pot-pourri.

Herbs are also an important part of the cosmetic industry, finding their way into oils, shampoo, cream and lotions. Many old-fashioned preparation are simple to make yourself and much cheaper than buying products off the shelf.

The role of herbs in rituals and ceremonies with more evident in early times, but what is left is still remain, such as the way we decorate our homes with mistletoe, ivy and holly in midwinter. Other herbs are today appreciated simply for their decorative role either in the garden or in fresh or dried flower arrangements.

Organic cotton is cotton that is grown without pesticides from plants which are not genetically modified.

Testing for harmful substances is a must.

The trend for consumers to prefer organic and fair trade products are the important aspects to be considered while designing  products made of Organic Cotton.

Cotton is grown in more than 100 countries and some 350 million people are employed in this industry world-wide.

As of 2007, 265,517 bales of organic cotton were produced in 24 countries and world-wide production was growing at a rate of more than 50% per year.

Though organic cotton has less environmental impact than conventional cotton, it costs more to produce. Side-effects of conventional production that are avoided in organic growing methods include:
High levels of agrochemicals are used in the production of non-organic, conventional cotton. Cotton production uses more chemicals per unit area than any other crop and accounts in total for 16% of the world’s pesticides.
The chemicals used in the processing of cotton pollute the air and surface waters.
Residual chemicals may irritate consumers’ skin.

Naturally colored cotton has also been grown successfully with organic methods.

Despite price, demand for organic cotton is higher than ever.

Demand for organically grown cotton has increased continually in recent years. Excluding pesticides,genetically-altered seed,and sustainable method of crop-rotation are,however,not without cost. Organic cotton is almost twice as expensive as conventionally grown fibres. As in the past,the major portion of the annual harvest of some 60,000 tonnes is grown in selected projects located primarily in India and Turkey.

Compared to conventionally grown cotton, which has annual harvest of 25 million tonnes, the amount of organically grown cotton produced each year barely accounts for a shadow on the scale. Even in the long-term, this is not expected to change, because for producers, the cost of switching to organic production and the residual risks of maintaining sustainablity criteria are too high.

A further positive development is beeing driven by the entry of traders coming onto the scene who ensure organic farmers will retain markets by commiting themselves to use continually organic cotton for processing into specially labelled shirts and jeans. Cotton that has been raised organically does not differ chemically from its conventionally grown counterpart. As a result, evidence that cotton has been organically grown, processed,and worked into a final product in a sustainable way can only be documented conclusively by certificates issued by independent,third parties.

Are you wondering what all the hype is about organic food? Do you actually know what it is? If you are interested in going organic, or just plain curious then read on…

The organic food industry has seen tremendous growth within recent years. Increased demand has led to increased production, creating a need for general standards and a legal definition of organic food.

Most countries have adopted their own laws and standards for uniformity within organic production and processing. This eliminates confusion while protecting consumers and manufacturers.

Organic Food Definition

Under most circumstances, organic foods are those grown without the use of synthetic (and often toxic) chemicals, pesticides, fertilizers and other inputs. Livestock intended for domestic consumption is not given hormone injections (artificial growth), and is not given antibiotics as routine. Processing is also a chemical-free procedure.

Organic foods are produced and processed using techniques that benefit the whole environment; soil, water, air, animals and humans.

The Origin of Organic

The organic food market was around long before a legal definition of organic existed. Natural, chemical-free cultivation has been common practice for centuries among small farms. Before the recent increase in demand for organic products, local farms and markets were the only source for fresh organic food.

Today organic standards and certification laws regulate the market, ensuring consumers a product that is truly organic, but there are still many small farms that use strictly organic growing methods without certification. Not all organic farms can afford the costs of certification, meaning their foods will not bear the organic label although produced to the same standards.

What Foods are Organic?

When you think of organic food, fruits and vegetables are the items that typically come to mind. Now, there is much greater variety in the organic market. There are organic options for almost everything today! Organic meats; organic dairy products; organic grains for pasta and cereal; you can even find organic desserts, chocolate, beers and wines.

What is Certified Organic?

In most countries, foods grown and processed according to the set standards and regulations can apply for organic certification. The application process is quite costly and time-consuming. Certified organic farms must present reports regarding the land use for both the past and the future. Stringent records must be kept and annual on-site inspections are carried out to ensure quality and authenticity.

The organic label can only be displayed by manufacturers or growers that have passed government certification. This protects consumers as well as producers by creating expectations for any product considered organic.

The main certification body in the UK is the Soil Association. In the US it is the USDA.

What is Organic Farming and Production?

Organic standards and regulations govern all aspects of organic production, including both crops and livestock. The key to successful organic production is to use as few non-renewable resources as possible whilst promoting healthful practices for wildlife, soil, water, and air.

Organic farming involves synthetic chemical-free growing techniques using organic seeds. Crops are farmed without irradiation or the use of genetic modification. Organic foods enjoy chemical-free processing as well, without artificial (synthetic) additives, preservatives, or other ingredients.

In addition to freedom from the use of hormones and antibiotics mentioned above, animals reared for organic food production enjoy open spaces, spacious shelter and an organic diet. Consequently meat and dairy are free of synthetic chemical residues.

Organic food is a new term for natural products that have been around for centuries. Recent advancements in the organic market have brought global attention to the benefits of an organic diet, proven by research, and the laws put in place by most governments ensure consumers are getting a true organic product.

I dont want to have any pesticides and stuff in my compost.
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You can easily grow a lot of fresh organic herbs and vegetables in your back yard. This is a great idea because the organic vegetables you grow in your garden are free from all the harmful chemical and pesticides. It is also cost effective to grow your business own vegetable as compared to purchasing organic foods from the local market.

Organic vegetables are cultivated in a different manner. The use of the most primitive type of agriculture is prominent in this procedure. The most interesting part is that no chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used in organic vegetable cultivation.

An innovative steam seam technology of Cascadian Farm is utilized to cultivate organic vegetables. The technology is efficient enough to the fresh vegetable. Organic vegetables are tastier, healthier and pretty.

Several organic plants such as marigolds, dill and sunflowers are capable of attractive beneficial insects to help controlling the population of pests. If you can grow tomatoes in an organic manner, you can get the most delicious and nutritious tomatoes. You can even grow tomatoes in a container if you do not have a garden in your house.

If you have no clue on how to grow organic plants, here are some in this regard.

a) Tip 1:

You can easily purchase certified organic mixes for your gardening pots from any good commercial supplier or mix them on your own.

b) Tip 2:

Grow many organic plants in yard via using Organic vegetable seeds to know exactly what went into the soil when growing the plant.

c) Tip 3:

Store many Organic vegetable seeds with just a little care to use them as per your desire.

d) Tip 4:

Check carefully whether the bulk Organic vegetable seeds you purchase from a commercial supplier have undergone organic certification. You can easily get to know about this through the documentation available with the supplier.

e) Tip 5:

Make doubly sure of the fact that the grower can warrant the absence of transgenic germplasm. This means that need to show the proof that they have not genetically modified the seed.

You can find bulk Organic vegetable seeds at the following places:

a) Local nursery or local garden store:

These places sell many bulk organic vegetable seed. You can easily check your local phone directory and call some of these to ensure the seeds you want.

b) Seed catalogs:

You can easily order bulk organic vegetable seeds from seed catalogs and get all these delivered right at your doorstep.

c) Online source:

Several online sources sell Organic vegetable seeds. You need to browse through the World Wide Web efficiently and look for the best. Make sure that you make a thorough research on the companies, products, authentication and prices prior to actually purchasing from them.

Organic vegetable seeds are very helpful when it comes to providing the best of nutrition to you. Order