Organic vegetables, organic ketchup, organic cakes… Nowadays, almost all conventional foods have their “organic” equivalent, but why should we eat organic? What are the benefits of this type of food? Here is a small overview of the benefits that we can get from organic food.
Eating organic allows us to eat more healthily
Eating organic means eating food with more vitamins and minerals than many products from traditional agriculture. So more antioxidants (vitamin C, carotene, flavonoids), more iron and more unsaturated fatty acids and omega 3 to help you take care of your health!
We consume less pesticides in organic
The term organic means that cereals, fruits, vegetables and even animal feed are not processed and are therefore healthier. Reports from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) have shown that organic products contain lower levels of nitrates and pesticide residues than non-organic products. Eating organic food therefore reduces the amount of pesticides present in the body.
We don’t consume GMOs!
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are plants into which genes from a different species have been introduced to give them new characteristics to resist a disease or an insecticide for example. Their use is strictly forbidden in organic agriculture. As the safety of GMOs has not been proven, the organic sector has chosen to exempt them in the name of the precautionary principle. Note that a label indicating the presence of GMOs is mandatory for products whose composition is greater than 0.9{0728d68cb2198b6d88310b8a6775ece8d37f059edbc54afb64e46dbd0be3c148}.
We eat tastier food
Although it is very difficult to scientifically prove that a food tastes better, products from organic vegetable crops, especially fruits and vegetables, are harvested more ripe than their conventional counterparts and therefore have time to concentrate on flavors, resulting in a more savory taste. In addition, foods grown in the field grow with the sun, morning dew, and draw their nutrients and water from untreated soil.
It’s good for the environment
Organic farming protects the soil and limits erosion. Indeed, to treat his soils, the organic farmer uses animal or plant organic matter. He does not use chemical fertilizers and alternates crops on the same plot of land. Organic agriculture also preserves water. By choosing varieties adapted to local conditions, or less water-intensive, organic farming requires less irrigation and therefore less water.
Finally, organic agriculture acts daily for biodiversity. While the rate of extinction of living species is currently 1000 times higher than before the industrial era, organic farming, which uses local varieties and breeds that are old and sometimes almost extinct, helps to maintain a certain biodiversity.
We can finally be sure to know what’s on our plate!
Eating fruit, vegetables or even organic meat is also a choice of food safety. And yes: in order for a product to be labeled “organic”, it must meet a certain number of conditions, and it will be subject to numerous controls throughout its “life”. It is therefore possible to consume them with your eyes closed, without fear of hidden defects!
Organic farming respects farm animals and therefore our meat.
Animals raised in organic farming benefit from comfort, organic food, space and natural light to live in. They offer healthy meat, free of residues of growth hormones, antibiotics or other medicinal substances (usually administered as a preventive and curative measure in conventional animal husbandry). Organic production favours the variety of breeds and terroirs for a greater diversity of taste. Meat is also tastier and less fatty.
It is not necessarily more expensive…
Well, we’re not going to lie to ourselves: an organic vegetable is more expensive than its equivalent in the conventional sector. Normal: the specifications of organic products are more demanding than those of industrial products; to produce organic, it costs a little more, so organic products are necessarily sold a little more expensive.
But then, if we take into account the fact that organic products are more nutritious, more qualitative, we realize that they actually offer a much better quality/price ratio than industrial products. And consuming treated products, with additives and pesticides, may be cheaper on the receipt, but question health the addition can be salty …
We contribute to a social and solidarity economy
Eating organic is not only an ecological act; organic also implies economic objectives, and eating organic is choosing to consume in favor of a more social and solidarity-based economy. Such as favoring small producers and small businesses rather than large groups, opting for sustainable partnerships, respecting equity between all actors in the production chain… Fair trade, quite simply.
Eating organic means being committed!
Eating organic is good for us, but it is also good for all the people upstream, at the origin of the production of organic products. People who do their utmost to establish a sustainable agriculture, an agriculture that does not pollute water or air and preserves biodiversity, an agriculture that creates jobs (organic farming requires more labor), an agriculture that values well-being and health rather than profit.