5 (More) Reasons the Benefits of Organic Food Are so Incredible

In many cases, organic food does cost more than the conventional options. But the benefits of organic food for you, your family, the farmers and our environment, make it not only a worthwhile expense, but also a true investment into our future.

Need more reasons to make sure you’re getting all the benefits of organic food? Check out some of these latest stories in the news:

1. Pollinators love Organics: We know that pesticides and herbicides are detrimental to our pollinator friends, especially honey bees. And now, new data published in the journal Animal Conservation finds that pollinators actually prefer organically grown flowers. The insect-flower interactions were significantly and consistently higher in organic vineyards than they were on conventional vineyards.

2. Organic Food Reduces Pesticide Exposure: Sure, this sounds like old news—one of the original arguments for the organic movement in the first place. But new research published in a recent issue of the journal Environmental Research found that the benefits of organic food reduce pesticide exposure in just one week. Study participants who ate at a diet that was at least 80 percent organic for a 7-day period reduced their pesticide metabolite levels by as much as 96 percent!

3. Everyone Benefits from Organic Food: Certain “synergistic effects” exist in organic food that have a benefit far beyond your own plate, found researchers at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences in a study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Conventional foods just don’t measure up to the phenolic compounds and lower pesticide levels in organics, the researchers discovered.

4. Organic Tomatoes Have More Antioxidants: Recent research published in the IOSR Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Science found that the antioxidant levels in organic tomatoes were higher than samples of conventional tomatoes.
 
5. Can Organic Soil Stop Global Warming? Climate Change, Global Warming…whatever you call it, know this: organic soil may help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as 40 percent and sequester as much as 71 percent of carbon, finds a report from the Rodale Institute.