Many studies have found that organically-grown foods contain more nutrients than what is in the same foods that are grown using farming chemicals. A study by the University of California, Davis found that organic tomatoes contain two times the amount of flavonoids. Organically grown fruits and vegetables also grow stronger, and are less likely to be susceptible to pest infestation. In other words, conventionally grown foods are weaker, less vibrant, and provide fewer nutrients.

 

Every minute enormous amounts of toxic pesticides, fertilizers, fungicides, insecticides, and other agricultural chemicals are being spread over farmland throughout the world. These chemicals are known to cause birth defects, hormonal imbalances, learning disabilities, cancers and other diseases in both humans and wildlife. Farming and industrial chemicals also accumulate in water, poisoning it, and resulting in large areas of the seas that are void of natural life. Inland, there are people who are told not to drink the tap water because it contains such high levels of chemical fertilizers that drinking the water can cause brain damage.

 

Low-paid farm laborers are exposed to toxic farming chemicals, and often get sick from them. Many of the workers have no idea what the dangers are of the chemicals they are being exposed to. For example, the fumigant chloropicrin that is used on farms contains the same active ingredient as tear gas. A chemical called Nemagon had been used for decades on sugar cane, pineapple, and banana farms. It caused cancers and a variety of terrible ailments in the farm workers. Women repeatedly exposed to it had miscarriages and stillbirths, and their babies that lived often were born with horrible deformities. Today there are similar chemicals being used that are poisoning workers on farms around the planet. When farm workers who are exposed to toxic chemicals do get sick they may not know what caused it. If they are able to visit a nurse or doctor they may be misdiagnosed, or their concerns are dismissed or become lost in translation. Long-term exposure can result in numerous health problems in the workers and in their children.

Farming chemicals damage soil organisms, such as mycorrhizal soil fungi, which play a major role in soil health and help plant root systems obtain nutrients and water from the soil. There are many hundreds of billions of chemical reactions taking place in a handful of soil as various forms of microorganisms live and interact through their life processes. If the genetically engineered plants and/or various toxic chemicals produced by industries begin to kill soil organisms or lead to a bacteria that largely damages or kills soil organisms, it could stop all plants from growing. If the obscene development of genetically engineered food plants isn’t bad enough, there are companies that are developing genetically engineered bacteria. This should be stopped.

 

“The amount of pesticides and non-organic fertilizers used in farming today is shocking, and it is being ingested by us and Earth and damaging us both – for example, conventional strawberries use 300 pounds of synthetic pesticides, herbicides, fertilizer, and fungicides per acre.”

– Terces Engelhart, co-author with Orchid of I Am Grateful: Recipes & Lifestyle of Café Gratitude;  http://www.CafeGratitude.com

 

“Many new studies prove we can grow more food per acre on small organic farms than big chemically addicted agribusiness farms and that organic food is more nutrition than industrial food, so a lot of what we know instinctively is now backed by science. Which is great. What is good for our bodies and our communities is good for the planet.”

– Deborah Koons Garcia, director of the documentaries The Future of Food and In Good Heart: Soil and the Mystery of Fertility

 

Beyond Pesticides, http://www.BeyondPesticides.org  

Organic Consumers Association: http://www.OrganicConsumers.org

Organic Seed Alliance: http://www.SeedAlliance.org

Pesticide Action Network: http://www.PANNA.org