If you are an advocate of growing organically, you cannot avoid getting asked the question “is organic food better?”. I love to be able to honestly answer “yes” to that one!
But you can not get away with such a simple answer when a more complex one is actually called for. So let’s take a deeper look into the issue.
Nutrients One claim often heard about organic food is that it contains more vitamins and antioxidants than non organic food. This is indeed true, which has been shown in several studies. Organic vegetables grow slowly, compared to conventionally grown; thus making it possible for them to accumulate more of these nutrients before getting harvested.
Less chemicals Growing organic vegetables means using other methods than strong chemicals to protect your crop. The chemicals used in non organic farming are not only toxic to the targeted pests and weeds but to all living organisms, including you and me. And what’s really scary is that we are exposed to so many different substances that all mix in our bodies, and no one really knows what kind of synergy effects that occur. Choosing to eat organic means cutting out at least some of the chemicals in the mix.
Better taste This is of course a subjective assumption, but most people seem to find that vegetables grown organically do taste better. I believe the reason for this is the same as for the fact that they contain more nutrients; the vegetables have grown more slowly and thus been able to accumulate more of the substances giving them their delicious taste.
The environment One obvious reason that organic is better is the fact that it is better for the environment. There are more reasons for this than the absence of chemicals, but I will not go deeper into this subject in this article
Conclusion My belief is that there is no doubt that the answer is YES to the question “is organic food better?”. Hopefully, there is no doubt in your mind either after this information!
