Organic Food and Its Benefits

With a recent resurgence in organic practices, sustainable farms and community-supported agriculture groups, many Americans are embracing organic products and using them to feed their families. Fresh produce is expensive; organic produce is even more expensive. Are the reported benefits of organics--more nutritious, safer and more sustainable--worth the higher price tag? Organic farmers across the country and the people whom they feed certainly think so.

Toxin-Free

Organic foods are completely free of all pesticides and toxins. These chemical agents are often used in conventional food production and farming to prevent blights and promote bountiful crops, but many pesticides stay on food even after it is washed. The Mayo Clinic notes that pesticide sprays can leave residual traces on produce but acknowledges that the residues are not significant enough to pose a great health risk. With organic food, however, no pesticide residue is present.

Organic.org cites a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistic that only 0.5 percent of American crop and pasture land is devoted to organic practices. That means that more than 99 percent of farmland in the United States could be exposing crops to noxious chemicals.

Environmental Benefits

The USDA regulates farms and producers that market their products as organic. For a product to be certified "organic," according to the USDA, it must meet certain standards for farming and sustainable production. The official USDA Web site suggests that one reason U.S. producers and farmers are using organic methods is to increase reliability on renewable resources and environmentally friendly practices. Since organic systems rely on procedures that are sustainable, they can help reduce pollution and conserve resources.

Mark Bittman, a popular food columnist for "The New York Times," notes that organic foods do not contain synthetic substances, antibiotics or hormones and contain nothing that has been genetically modified.

If your family is concerned about living sustainably and supporting businesses that promote environmentally friendly practices, buying organic produce is often a better choice than choosing traditionally grown produce. Ed Maltby, executive director of the Northeast Organic Dairy Producers Alliance, stresses that buying organic products is a gesture supporting a way of life just as much as it is supporting a product.

Taste and Nutrition

Though a London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine study found that organic produce has no notable nutritional benefits over traditional produce, many people continue to buy organic products because they believe the produce has a better taste. The Mayo Clinic remarks that fresh foods have the biggest impact on taste--a factor that may lead many people to purchase organic produce, since fresh, in-season local produce from farmers' markets is primarily organic or grown according to organic practices.