The Organic Chicken or the Free Range egg? Part 2

Continuing from yesterday post (part 1), we take a further look into what organic really is and the future of organic food.

What is Organic?

Organics is a fascinating and large topic. There are many different views held on organics and the reasons for buying and using organic products.   A healthy debate is constantly on-going in the media and other circles about the benefits and cost of organic products.

The main components of an organic farming system are the avoidance of artificial fertilisers and pesticides and the use of crop rotations and other forms of land management to maintain soil fertility and control weeds, pests and diseases.

Livestock also form an integral part of the majority of organic farms, although there are some successful stockless systems. Organic standards do not allow intensively housed stock or systems where a large amount of total feed has to be bought in. Pigs and poultry must be managed extensively under an organic system, with extensive outdoor access.

In most EU cases land must be managed organically for a minimum of two years (three years for top fruit orchards) before it is granted approved ‘organic’ status and is eligible for organic certification. Producers can then sell their produce as ‘organic’ and organic livestock breeding can commence.

Only food that has been produced in accordance with organic standards by farmers/producers registered with an approved inspection body may be legally sold as ‘organic’ within the EU. The inputs and practices used in organic farming are strictly regulated in accordance with EU Regulation

The UK government has appointed the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) to define and monitor the laws surrounding organic certifications and standards.

Does Organic have a future?

If you eat food, you should make the effort to consider where that food has come from?  Are you supporting the big agriculture companies who are destroying our soil and producing high quantity low quality produce?  Or are you supporting the organic farmers who are producing sustainable produce and trying to take care of our land and our longevity?  (see: What is Organic)

Organic farming is not cheap as real whole natural foods take time to grow and often use more resources than genetically modified (GM) foods or factory produced animals.

Everyday health professionals talk to clients about the benefits of eating organic fruit and vegetables, and grass-fed animal products.  In my experience most clients make the effort to change their habits and start sourcing organic foods wherever possible.  However, some clients question the financial cost of buying quality organic foods.  For instance, they can walk into a high street supermarket and purchase three beefsteaks for £5 or a whole chicken for less than £5.  One organic beefsteak will often cost more than £7 and an organic chicken can easily be over £10.  The financial hit to the pocket is a wall some people just don’t seem to want to climb… at their own peril.

I am never going to win the argument about the short-term financial cost of quality organic foods.  Non-organic animal products come from animals that are kept in small cages, pumped full of antibiotics to prevent illness, and are typically fed on GM-foods to make them fatten up quickly.  Non-organic fruit and vegetables can also be GM-foods, sprayed with pesticide, herbicides, and fungicides to kill insects and “protect” the plan from disease.

Personally, I don’t really want to sit down to dinner with a plate full of chemicals and meat designed to fatten me up and make me ill! Not to mention the taste difference between quality grass-fed animal products or organic fruits and vegetables.  Some people just don’t seem to care about what they are putting in their mouth.  Just because it cost you less at the cash register does not mean it cost you less in the future.

Many of us don’t stop to ask ourselves what we are actually eating and where is came from.  Do you know what half the ingredients are in your food?

Do you spend money on a personal trainer, a gym membership, medical check ups and other important things to make you look, feel and perform better? Would it not make sense to do the same with your food?

You get out of life what you put into it.  Plants and animals are no different, they are living, breathing, and growing organisms just like us.  Feeding them GM-food, covering them with chemicals, alter their genes, and growing them in confined areas (animals get zero exercise) is garneted to make them sick and fat.  But hey, they grow super fast and are cheap to buy so make sure you enjoy every mouth full.