• Skip to content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • Shop ModernMom
  • Become An Insider

ModernMom

The premiere destination for moms

  • Parenting
    • Pregnancy
    • Baby
    • Kids
    • Tweens and Teens
    • ModernMom Monday Videos
  • Cooking
  • Living Healthy
    • Breast Cancer
    • Health & Fitness
    • Body after Baby
    • Beauty
    • Relationships
    • Love
  • Lifestyle
    • Crafts
    • At Home
    • Education
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Decorate
    • Money
    • Brooke Burke
  • Celebrate
    • Holidays
      • Easter
      • Valentine’s Day
      • New Year’s
      • Christmas
      • Hanukah
      • Halloween
      • Thanksgiving
    • Birthdays
    • Parties
  • Must Have
  • Contests
  • Entertainment

Reasons to Eat Organic Foods

October 11, 2009 by ModernMom Staff Leave a Comment

Would you like a side of chemical residue with your food? Probably not. Unlike conventionally-produced food, organic foods are grown without the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers, pesticides, growth hormones and genetic modification. Even though organic food is more expensive than conventional food, organic food packs in a whole slew of benefits. Here are just a few reasons to buy organic.

Organic Foods Are Safer

There are over 850 pesticide active ingredients registered with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that are routinely sprayed alone or in a chemical combination onto the conventional produce available at your supermarket. Many of these chemicals have been linked to human and animal cancers and other negative health implications. Conventional produce contains residues of these chemicals that the consumer (you) ends up ingesting. No one is sure the full impact of these chemicals. If you want to protect yourself from being a guinea pig, eat organic food, which doesn’t contain any chemical residues since no toxins were used in the growing process.

Organic Foods Are Healthier

Though there is still debate whether organic food really is more nutritious than conventional food, research is suggesting that it is the healthier option. A study published in the “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry” showed that organic vegetables and fruit contained higher levels of antioxidants than its conventional counterparts. Organic corn had 58.5 percent higher levels of antioxidants than conventional corn and organic strawberries contained 19 percent more antioxidants than the non-organic variety.

Organic food was also shown to contain more flavanoids—up to three to four times more—than conventional food. According to the University of California, Davis, flavanoids are micronutrients that play an important role in preventing cancer and heart disease. Flavanoids also protect plants and taste awful to insects, acting as a natural pesticide.

Organic meat doesn’t contain antibiotics, which have led to the increase in antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Organic Foods Are Better for the Environment

Yes, it’s true. If you want to go green, you’ll have to ditch conventional foods and go organic. Or better yet, go local. Locally-grown organic foods support your local community and cut down on inefficient and energy-consuming travel times. Food travels an average of 1,300 miles from the field to your plate. Imagine how much fuel would be saved if food traveled 13 miles instead.

Contrary to popular opinion, conventionally produced food is not necessary to feed the world. In fact, according to a 22-year study at Cornell, crops raised organically produced the same yields as conventionally grown ones, but used 30 percent less energy and less water in the process. Organic food works with the environment, rather than against it, and it maintains soil quality without releasing toxins into the environment. Now ask yourself if organic food is worth the extra money.

Comments

comments

Filed Under: Health/Fitness

About ModernMom Staff

Reader Interactions

Primary Sidebar

Tell a friend

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Search

ModernMom Boutique

ModernMom TV

Featured

It’s One of Those “I Suck” Days…

Do you ever just have one of those I suck days? I do - a … [Read More...] about It’s One of Those “I Suck” Days…

Must Have

winter

Pre-Holiday Must-Haves

"It's beginning to look  a lot like Christmas..." The … [Read More...] about Pre-Holiday Must-Haves

Did you know?

Fruit Salad Recipes With Fewer Than Five Ingredients

Fruit Salad Recipes With Fewer Than Five Ingredients

How Early to Take a Pregnancy Test

How Early to Take a Pregnancy Test

Calories Burned Sitting in a Steam Sauna

The Calories Burned Sitting in a Steam Sauna for 15 Minutes

Health Benefits of Drinking Kombucha

The Health Benefits of Drinking Kombucha

Signs of PMS or Pregnancy

Decoding a Man’s Hug

Decoding a Man’s Hug

Painful Intercourse During Pregnancy

Painful Intercourse During Pregnancy

Footer

  • About Us
  • Contact ModernMom
  • Advertise With Us
  • Press
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Contributors

Copyright © 2021 Modern Mom. All Rights Reserved.

Reproduction of any portion of this website only at the express permission of Mom, Inc.

The information provided on ModernMom is for educational use only. It should not be used as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.