Why Eat Organic?
Organic certification is the public's assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without the use of persistent toxic chemicals, irradiation, or genetically modified organisms.
It's common sense - well-balanced soils grow healthy plants that taste great!
Many government pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, earth, and water that sustain us.
The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, done in combination with soil building, protects and conserves water resources.
Soil is the primary focus of organic farming. We're facing the worst topsoil erosion in history due to chemical intensive, mono-crop farming.
Organic agriculture respects the balance demanded of a healthy ecosystem: wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fence rows, wetlands and other natural areas.
Organic farmers have led the way, largely at their own expense, with innovative on-farm research aimed at minimizing agriculture's impact on the environment.
The loss of a large variety of species (biodiversity) is one of our most pressing environmental concerns. Organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds, and growing unusual varieties, for decades.
Agricultural production is becoming highly concentrated in fewer and fewer farms. Organic farming may be one of the few survival tactics left for the family and the rural community.
Now every food category has an organic alternative. And non-food crops are being grown organically - even cotton, which most experts felt couldn't happen.
This info was produced by the Organic Trade Association and adapted to the Canadian consumer by Pro Organics Marketing Inc.