At the Monument Market we are committed to carrying only organically and locally produced items. But what is so great about organic produce anyway?
First,
let us define "organic." At the base organic food has been grown without the use of
synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides or pesticides, but the essence of the difference between organic and conventional food systems is really about a difference in mind set about the relationship between humans and nature. Instead of hubristically trying to fight, sterilize and tame nature with chemical inputs, organic farmers work in tandem with, and learn from nature's cycles. Organic farmers know that nature is not something to conquer, but something to nurture as it nurtures us. In practice this manifests in soil building with the use of compost, returning from the soil what we have taken in harvest, and in creating biodiversity instead of monocultures so that pests and diseases have less room to take over. A diverse system is much more resilient than one of uniformity.
This holistic approach to agriculture produces food that is better for you and your children, better for the environment, and can produce more nutrition per acre than conventional food.
Better For You And Your Children
According to the EPA:
"Laboratory studies show that pesticides can cause health problems, such as birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that might occur over a long period of time."
"Pesticides may harm a developing child by blocking the absorption of important food nutrients necessary for normal healthy growth. Another way pesticides may cause harm is if a child's excretory system is not fully developed, the body may not fully remove pesticides. Also, there are "critical periods" in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual's biological system operates."
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| The 12 most pesticide laden foods to be sure to buy organic! |
Earlier this year the Environmental Working Groups released a shopping guide that highlights the fruits and veggies with the most and the fewest pesticide residues - the "Dirty Dozen" and the "Clean 15." You can download it
here.
There have also been a variety of
health issues reported to be caused by Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO's). It is believed that as much as 80% of processed foods in the average grocery store contain GMOs. You can assume that anything that contains conventional corn, soy, canola, or sugar beets probably has some GMOs in it. Because there is no law demanding that producers label their products if they contain GMOs, the only way to know for sure that what you are not eating them is to buy organic.
Our food is only as nutritious as our soil is healthy. Because organic farmers spend so much time and effort caring for the soil, that wide range of nutrients produces a healthier and more nutritious vegetable. Not to mention the health benefits to growing your own organic food!
Better For the Environment
A healthy and fertile topsoil is one of the most important, and most ignored natural resources we have. Soil is a living dynamic ecosystem that we rely on everyday to provide the nutrition we need to survive. The number one task for the organic farmer is care for this precious resource, cycling what would otherwise be waste back into the soil to then become the fodder for the next round of growth.
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| The edge of the Dead Zone in the Gulf of Mexico |
Instead of this holistic cycling of nutrients, conventional farming relies on synthetic nitrogen, often in excess, which then can runoff into water ways, feeding algae blooms in rivers and lakes as well as the Gulf of Mexico. If the algae bloom is big enough, the algae use up all the oxygen in the water, creating a "dead zone" where no other life can exist. This year the
dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico measured 3300 square miles, the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined.
GMO's also add to environmental pollution. A large portion of GMO crops are "Round Up Ready," meaning they can be sprayed with Monsanto's Round Up herbicide without being harmed. This has caused a new breed of Round Up resistant "superweeds" to be appearing in field across America. This causes even more herbicide to be used. since 2006 herbicide use has gone up 48%, according to a study by
the Organic Center.
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| This is not the image I associate with food! |
And don't get me started about
terminator seeds. Straight from science fiction, these seeds have been bred to not reproduce, so farmers cannot save the seeds of their harvest and have to buy more from Monsanto. Aside from the disregard for basic human rights and food sovereignty, the biotech companies are flirting with environmental disaster with this one. It is already been documented that genes from GMO crops can transfer to similar species - such as between canola and wild mustard. Just imagine what could happen if terminator genes spread between species. This foolishness alone makes me want to do what I can to boycott GMOs.
More Nutrition Per Acre
Motivated by a continuing rise in global food prices, in 2004 the UN began a
study of organic agriculture and food security in 24 countries in East Africa. Over the course of the next 4 years the UN documented a
116% increase in crop yields when the farmers switched to an organic growing system. They also found that the farmers could save money on chemical inputs, favoring locally available organic inputs, thus having more money to spend on education and health care. This study confirms that the assertion that we need conventional agriculture and GMO crops to feed the world in nothing more than a well publicized myth.
Another study
“Health per Acre: Organic Solutions to Hunger and Malnutrition” by Dr Vandana Shiva and Dr Vaibhav Singh released earlier this year, looks at organic farming in India. This study encourages food researchers to measure agricultural wealth, not in yield per acre, but nutrition per acre and posits that when studied under this lens, intensive, diverse organic farming can provide much more of the nutrients necessary for human health per acre than conventional agriculture.
Some, but not all of the producers at the market are
"Certified Organic" meaning that they have been vetted by the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP) to confirm, as quoted from
the NOP's website "that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved methods that integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity. Synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, irradiation, and genetic engineering may not be used."
If the producer is not certified organic, we review their practices to make sure that they meet our standards. Many small farmers grow using organic methods but do not have the finances or time to go through the rigorous paperwork required to be certified by the USDA. That's one of the great things about buying from local farmers, you can always go to their farm to confirm for yourself that they are growing sustainably!
