Why Bother?

10 Reasons to Buy Organic

1. PROTECT GENERATIONS A child can receive four times more exposure than an adult to pesticides in food.
2. PREVENT SOIL EROSION Care of the soil is one of the fundamentals of organic farming. In conventional farming, the soil is often used more as a medium for holding plants in a vertical position so that they can be chemically fertilized. North American farms are experiencing the worst soil erosion in history.
3. PROTECT WATER QUALITY The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that pesticides contaminate the ground water in 38 States, polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half of the country's population.
4. SAVE ENERGY Modern farming uses more petroleum than any other single industry, consuming 12 percent of the country's total energy supply. More energy is used to produce synthetic fertilizers than to till, cultivate and harvest crops in North America. Organic farming is more likely to use labor-intensive practices, and cover crops, natural fertilizers and rock powders instead of synthetic fertilizers.
5. KEEP CHEMICALS OFF YOUR PLATE Many pesticides approved by the EPA were registered before research linked them to cancer and other diseases had been completed. Now the EPA considers many of these substances to be carcinogenic; some are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic mutations. The bottom line is that pesticides are poisons designed to kill living organisms and can also harm humans.
6. PROTECT FARM WORKERS A National Cancer institute study found that farmers exposed to herbicides had six times more risk than non-farmers of contracting cancer. Field workers suffer high rates of occupational illness.
7. HELP SMALL FARMERS Most organic farms are small, independently owned family farms. It's estimated that North America has lost more than 650,000 family farms in the past decade. Organic farming could be one of the few survival tactics left for family farms.
8. SUPPORT A TRUE ECONOMY Although organic foods might seem expensive, conventional food prices don't reflect hidden costs, including federal subsidies, pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and cleanup.
9. PROMOTE BIODIVERSITY While mono-cropping has tripled farm production between 1950 and 1970, the lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the soil lacking natural minerals and nutrients. Single crops are also much more susceptible to pests, making farmers more reliant on pesticides. Between 1947 and 1974 crop losses due to insects doubled at the same time pesticide use increased.
10. BETTER FLAVOR There's a good reason why many chefs use organic foods in their recipes; they taste better. We believe foods grown in a nutrient rich soil and picked fresh have a richer flavor. (Not to mention the freshness, variety and regional economic benefits of locally produced food.)

Source: Maple Creek Farm (Michigan Certified Organic Community Supported Agriculture)