1.
PROTECT FUTURE GENERATIONS.
"We have not inherited the Earth from our fathers. We are borrowing it
from our children" - Lester Brown.
The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. The food choices you make now will impact your child's health in the future.
2.
PREVENT SOIL EROSION
The soil conservation service estimates that more than 3 billion tons of topsoil
are eroded from the United States croplands each year. That means soil is eroding
seven times faster than it is being built up naturally. Soil is the foundation
of the food chain in organic farming. But in conventional farming the soil is
used more as a medium for holding plants in a vertical position so they can
be chemically fertilized. As a result, American farms are suffering from the
worst soil erosion in history.
3.
PROTECT WATER QUALITY
Water makes up two-thirds of our body mass and covers three-fourths of the planet.
Despite its importance, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates
pesticides - some cancer causing - contaminate the groundwater in 38 states
polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's
population.
4.
SAVE ENERGY
American farms have changed drastically in the last three generations, from
family-based small businesses dependant on human energy, to large-scale factory
farms highly dependant on fossil fuels and other high inputs. Modern farming
uses more petroleum than any other single industry, consuming 12 percent of
the country's total energy supply. More energy is now used to produce synthetic
fertilizers than to till, cultivate and harvest all the crops in the United
States.
Organic farming is still mainly based on labor-intensive practices such as weeding by hand and using green manures and crop covers, rather than synthetic fertilizers to build up soil. Organic produce also tends to travel fewer miles from field to table.
5.
KEEP CHEMICALS OFF YOUR PLATE
Many pesticides approved for use by the EPA were registered long before extensive
research linking these chemicals to cancer and other diseases had been established.
Now the EPA considers that 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides
and 30 percent of all insecticides are carcinogenic. A 1987 National Academy
of Sciences report estimates that pesticides might cause an extra 1.4 million
cancer cases among Americans over their lifetimes. The bottom line is that pesticides
are poisons designed to kill living organisms and can also be harmful to humans.
In addition to cancer, pesticides are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage,
and genetic mutation.
6.
PROTECT FARM WORKER HEALTH
A National Cancer Institute study found that farmers exposed to herbicides had
a cancer risk six times greater than non-farmers. In California, reported pesticide
poisoning among farm workers suffer the highest rates of occupational illness
in the state. Farm worker health is also a serious problem in developing nations,
where pesticide use is poorly regulated. An estimated 1 million people are poisoned
annually by pesticides.
7.
HELP SMALL FARMERS
Although more and more large scale farms are making the conversion to organic
practices, most organic farms are small, independently owned and operated family
farms of less than 100 acres.
It's estimated that the United States has lost more than 650,000 family farms in the past decade. And with the U.S. Department of Agriculture predicting that half of this country's farm production will come from 1 percent of farms by the year 2000, organic farming could be one of the few survival tactics left for family farms.
8.
SUPPORT A TRUE ECONOMY
Although organic foods might seem more expensive than conventional foods, conventional
food prices do not reflect hidden cost born by taxpayers, including nearly $74
billion in federal subsidies in 1988. Other hidden costs include pesticide regulation
and testing, hazardous waste disposal and clean-up, and environmental damage.
Author Gary Null says, "If you add in the real environment and social costs of irrigation to a head of lettuce, its price can range between $2 and $3."
9.
PROMOTE BIODIVERSITY
Mono-cropping is the practice of planting large plots of land with the same
crop year after year. While this approach tripled farm production between 1950
and 1970, the lack of natural diversity of plant life has left the soil lacking
in natural minerals and nutrients. To replace these nutrients, chemical fertilizers
are used, often in increasing amounts.
Single crops are also much more susceptible to pests, making farmers more reliant on pesticides. Despite a tenfold increase in the use of pesticides between 1947 and 1974, crop losses due to insects have doubled - partly because many insect pests have become resistant to certain pesticides.
10.
TASTE BETTER FLAVOR
There's a good reason why many chefs use organic foods in their recipes- they
taste better! Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil which
eventually leads to the nourishment of the plant and, ultimately, our plates.
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Last
update this page: 09/10/02