This week, I received an email from Food & Water Watch asking me to send a letter to President Obama urging him to stop what the U. S. Department of Agriculture is about to do: approve Monsanto’s genetically engineered (GE) alfalfa, despite the fact that it’s likely to contaminate other crops, including organic alfalfa. If this is approved, organic dairies and our ability to choose organic dairy will be impacted. Organic dairies need organic alfalfa as feed for their cows, and organic standards don’t allow the use of GE crops. Contamination of organic crops from GE crops can destroy markets for organic farmers.

Contamination is a real threat–all it takes is for the wind to blow GE seeds or for the seeds in a GE-seed laden truck to blow out onto organic or non-GE lands and those organic or non-GE crops are contaminated. Birds take the seeds and drop them non-discriminately across croplands. Plants can be impacted through pollination. You get the picture. It’s virtually impossible to keep organic lands pure if GE crops are being grown in the vicinity.

The USDA tried to approve GE alfalfa before and the decision was challenged all the way up to the Supreme Court, which made the agency re-assess the environmental impact GE alfalfa could have on the environment. Now the USDA has rushed through this process because big agribusiness wants to be allowed to plant GE alfalfa this spring.

This is a real threat today. I have sent a letter to President Obama urging him to stop the approval of GE alfalfa. I used the letter prepared by Food & Water Watch and then voluntarily added my own comments at the end. Today I ask you to join me and take a stand. You can go to this link to participate.

The mission of Food & Water Watch, as stated on their website, is as follows: “Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.”

The work of Food & Water Watch, as stated on their website, is the following:

“Food & Water Watch is a non-profit organization founded in 2005 that advocates for common sense policies that will result in healthy, safe food and access to safe and affordable drinking water. Everyone is dependent on shared resources like clean water, safe food and healthy oceans. It’s essential that these shared resources be regulated in the public interest rather than for private gain.

Fish: We promote policies that maintain the environmental quality of the ocean and its resources. As an important source of food, it is important not to misuse it by creating massive factory fish farms, operating dangerous oil platforms or creating policies that lead to the privatization of ocean resources.”

Please also join me today by getting on their mailing list to stay abreast of what is happening and stand up for our health and the health of our planet. Go to Food & Water Watch to sign up.

I want to continue to eat organic foods. I want to continue to support organic farming. I want to continue to have access to fresh, clean water, and I want to see others throughout the world have that same access. I also want to see the oceans, waterways, and the fish we consume protected. How about you?

My Body & Soul magazine arrived a couple of days ago–immediately, an article caught my attention. It’s entitled, “Is Organic Really Better For You?” The article analyzes some recent findings on this subject.

Apparently, the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition released a report finding that organic food is no more nutritious than conventional foods. The authors of the report looked at 55 studies from the past 50 years and proclaimed that “despite a few findings to the contrary, organically and conventionally farmed crops and animal products don’t significantly differ in nutrient quality. The British government agency funding the report claims ‘no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food.’” As I read those words, I was mortified–how could this be? Well, read on!

According to Elizabeth Barker of Body & Soul magazine who is quoting Charles Benbrook, Ph.D., chief scientist of the Organic Center, a pro-organics nonprofit that tracks and generates studies on organic food, the older studies that were included in this report/review didn’t measure the antioxidant factor, since we didn’t start measuring antioxidants in food until the 1990s. Antioxidants are a significant indicator of the nutritional value of foods. According to Dr. Benbrook, the review also didn’t address the major differences between organic and conventionally grown food. Included in that comparison would be evaluation of phosphorous (which is an essential mineral and usually is at lower levels in conventional crops) and nitrogen (which appears to be higher in conventional crops and is considered a health hazard because of its potential carcinogenic effects). This review also included studies that never looked at factors that can impact nutrient density.

The Organic Center did its own review of the same studies, with the exception of studies that seemed unreliable. They determined that on average, nutrient levels in organic food were 25% higher than conventional. A recent study that was conducted this year by another organization indicated that “organic foods contain more antioxidants, minerals, and healthy fats than their conventionally produced counterparts.”

A huge area of concern for me which was not explored by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition report was the use of pesticides–it did not address pesticide residue in food. The Body & Soul article states that “many view pesticide exposure as a key incentive to go organic.” For me, this is absolutely a true statement. Knowing that pesticides are linked to an increased risk of certain cancers is cause for me to avoid conventional foods. This article also states that there are new studies coming out that might also link neurological disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s to pesticide exposure. There may even be a link to type-2 diabetes!

The place to go to learn more about which foods retain the most pesticide loads, go to the Environmental Working Group’s Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides which can be found at FoodNews.org. However, as Anna Lappe’, coauthor of Grub:Ideas for an Urban Organic Kitchen is quoted as saying at the end of the Body & Soul article, “We shouldn’t just be looking at whether an individual orange has fewer pesticide residues or more vitamin C, but how our diet as a whole affects our health, the health of the farmers who grow our food, and the health of our planet.”

After seeing first-hand this past September what the farm workers are exposed to when they work on a conventional farm, I am convinced–and so is my entire family, including my teenage daughters–that we should stick with organic foods simply because of pesticide usage. One last reason for me to eat organic foods is that they cannot contain genetically engineered or modified ingredients (GMO’s). We now know that GMO’s pose a health risk to people, animals, and natural ecosystems. Unless a food is organic, there is no way to know whether or not that food contains GMO’s.

Just about every reason for eating organic comes back to better health–for our families, our communities, those who grow our food, and Mother Earth herself. Maintaining and supporting a healthy state leads to quality life and longevity for all. Could there be any better reason?

Last night our family was having a discussion about why it’s important to eat organic food. My husband and I were talking about some of our concerns with buying produce and meats that are not organic. One of my 14-year old daughters said, “Well, why didn’t you tell us this a long time ago? If you’d told us about some of these issues we would have understood. Telling us it’s healthy means nothing!”

So, out of the mouths of babes (or should I say “out of the mouths of teenagers?”)! Long ago, my husband and I didn’t share our deepest reasons for eating organically because we didn’t want to frighten our girls. I don’t believe trying to make people (or children) change out of fear is the right way to approach any issue. Over the years, we’ve mentioned things like pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and feed, but not in a real graphic sense. What my daughter was telling us last night, though, was they need some “gory details” (teenager perspective) to understand why they should make sure what they eat is organic. Duly noted!

After our trip to California this past September, my girls saw first-hand what it looks like when fruits and vegetables are being bombarded with pesticide spray. They saw what the farm workers were being exposed to. And they now have a real image to hold in their minds as to how it looks for those beautiful fruits and vegetables to be dusted more than once a week with chemicals intended to keep the vegetation free from pests. So far, my girls do not have graphic images of what is being done to animals but, suffice it to say, they now understand more of the inhumane and harmful methods that are used to “manufacture” non-organic poultry and meat and “farm” fish.

In doing a little investigation on reasons for eating organically, I came across an article published in August 2009 by Maria Rodale, author of the upcoming book Organic Manifesto (due out in March 2010). I’m including a portion of the article below.

“What’s the first reason? The REAL reason we should eat organic foods? The real reason to eat organic food is that the thousands of chemicals used to grow chemical foods are causing horrific health and environmental problems. In my book (due out in March 2010) I discuss multiple well-documented studies from reliable sources showing that chemical pesticides, fungicides, herbicides, and the GMO’s used in chemically based food production, are implicated in, if not causing, the following health problems: diabetes, obesity, cancer, autism, Parkinson’s disease, male sterility, genital deformities, female infertility, miscarriage, infant deformities, ADHD, hormonally caused gender confusion, asthma, allergies, accelerated aging, and smaller penises in boys, amphibians, and other wildlife.

Sounds crazy, but it’s true. You’ll have to wait until the book comes out to find out the details. But in the meantime, for your sake, for your kid’s sake, and for the planet’s sake, keep on eating organic!”

To read the entire article, go to The Huffington Post.

There are others who have written their own “Top 10 Reasons to Eat Organically.” One of my favorites was written by Dr. Andrew Weil in 2005. You can go to Organic Consumers Organization to read his list in its entirety.

I believe the more we educate ourselves and our children about why eating organic food is important, the more we’ll see that this is a change that makes sense for the present and the future. Through educating ourselves, we learn and are able to then make decisions based on our response to the information rather than from a place of fear. Although I’m convinced eating organically is a must for me and my family, I ask you to do your own research and then sit with that information in order to come to a decision that is right for you and your family. That’s the best we can each do for ourselves and the ones we love.

One of the disturbing images from our trip to California was seeing how non-organic fruits and vegetables are grown.

But let me digress for a moment…My teenage daughters have, for the past few years, believed that I am a little off my rocker. They actually call me “voodoo mom” because of my beliefs when it comes to the foods, household products and body care products I am willing to allow in our home. I admit that I’ve had to relent a bit in the past couple years to keep a certain amount of peace in our home (as much peace as is possible with twin teenage daughters). However, I am still very careful about most of the food we purchase in our home–especially when it comes to fruits and vegetables. I believe that we should be eating organic produce and therefore that is what’s in our home.

So…back to our vacation. Quite a bit of agriculture is farmed along Highway 1 in California. While staying at the beach, we were very close to some of those farms which were primarily growing strawberries. During the week, we witnessed at least two days of ground spraying and an additional day of aerial spraying using helicopters over the same fields. We noticed that the people doing the ground spraying wore protective clothing–gloves, masks and headgear. My teenage daughters were shocked and frightened by what they saw. And they finally “got it!” They realized why I have not in the past wanted to buy the less expensive non-organic fruits and berries. They also commented on the farm workers who were picking the ripened fruit–they noticed that the workers wore no protective clothing and were actually concerned for them.

I am proud to say that I didn’t do a big “I told you so” but discussed with them what we were witnessing and why this is of such concern.

Since I already buy organic produce, I’m thinking about what more I can do with regard to pesticide usage. One area I have begun to research is how we handle “pests” in and around our own home. We normally avoid spraying or using any chemicals and pesticides; however, occasionally we are faced with the need to take action for specific infestations. I am looking into IPM and talking to a company that will work with us using IPM practices. IPM stands for Integrative Pest Management–it is the best way to prevent pest problems without routine spraying of herbicides, insecticides, rodenticides or fungicides. As I learn more and make decisions for our home, I will share my findings here.

DID YOU KNOW…

More than 500 insects and 270 species of weeds have now developed resistance to one or more pesticides.

In 2005, San Francisco successfully fought the West Nile Virus with IPM. Instead of aerial spraying with pesticides (which I personally experienced in the Bay Area in the early 1980′s), they trained bicycle messengers to drop packets of biological insecticides into the city’s 20,000 storm drains. The insecticide acted as birth control for the mosquitoes.

FOR TODAY…I will continue my research on IPM. I will pursue a partnership with a company willing to help us manage pests in and around our home through non-toxic, earth-friendly means. I will continue to buy organic produce, food, and personal care products. I will also look into buying organic clothing, bedding, linens, garden supplies and plants. Buying organic is healthier for people, wildlife, and the future of agriculture!