Conventional farming today has lost most of it’s natural processing. Scientific advancement has led to using chemically enhanced fertilizers mixed with fossil fuels, genetically engineered seeds and organisms, pesticides and herbicides, and a process called irradiation. That is all before it is sold to buyers who then process it more to make what we see in most grocery stores aisles, lined up box after box after box.
But there is a resistance to the status quo. People are learning how unhealthy the foods being offered actually are. With links to cancer, diabetes as well as heart, bone and digestive tract conditions; what we put in our body from the time we grow teeth is essential to developing a healthy functioning body.
All fresh fruits, vegetable and meats are going to be a healthier choice than processed foods, but organic farming goes one step further by eliminating all chemicals and preservatives and encouraging the use of natural processes. If every community participated in and supported local organic farming there would be less demand for processed food, meaning less demand for the energy it takes to make them. This would also decrease demand for produce shipped thousands of miles on fossil fuel.
It has been shown that conventional methods do produce more yield than organic methods. However if other sustainable and healthier ways to get food are supported, the demand for conventional farming would decrease. Conventional farms could eventually be converted to local organic farms and focus on meeting the needs of their own communities rather than grocery stores in other countries.
Buying organic produce at your Farmer’s Market is one way to support organic farming methods
Organic farming has shown to have more soil fertility and biodiversity than conventional means. The latter depletes the soil much faster through it’s overuse of additives like synthetic fertilizers and herbicides. These chemicals leave residue that builds up in the microorganisms in the soil and disrupts their function. Organic fields use less or no chemicals in the manure collected from the farm as well as other organic fertilizers such as compost, worm castings and seaweed to name a few. These methods help produce a higher variety of floral and fauna systems within the crops. This helps the soil thrive making top soil erosion less likely.
Overall, the benefits of organic farming on our health as a species and the role in which our ecosystem will play for developing our future as a sustainable earth community, vastly outweigh the overly processed food made foremost for profit and furthermore for large scale distribution and higher shelf life. But if no ones buys it, there would no longer be a need for it. Wouldn’t that be the day. -KATIE FLYNN