Why is shopping organic so important?

Growing up with a parent that always prioritized organic produce, I was both blessed with the opportunity to consume it and also completely blind to all the reasons why it is important. When kids made fun of my organic lunches, I secretly wished I also had a bag of highly refined crackers or a lunchable. Some part of the organic-ness must have stuck with me though, because I pursued a medical career with a strong emphasis on nutrition. And to this day, I believe what we eat is absolutely foundational to health and well-being. Along with relationship to self and others, I’d say eating clean, non-processed food is right up there as the #1 thing you can do to improve and maintain your health.

Let me tell you, shopping organic is important. Super important. Not just for you, but for our planet. The term organic signifies that those products are grown without the use of pesticides and harmful chemicals. By nature, they are also non-GMO (not genetically modified to resist weather conditions and pesticides). Industrial farming heavily relies on the use of pesticides because the soil is so devoid of nutrition that crops are vulnerable to disease(s). This is a vicious cycle as pesticides = microbial destruction and soil depletion (into dirt) = more pesticides needed. This is interestingly quite analogous to what is happening in the human body in modern America and other countries that have adopted Western patterns of eating; we continue to nurse away symptoms of imbalance with various chemicals as chronic disease continues to rise.

One of the most heavily sprayed pesticides, glyphosate (Roundup) is so ubiquitous that it has found its way into our water supplies. We are exposed to it on a daily basis. These chemicals that are used to kill bugs on our food are also destroying crucial bugs in us that we have relied on for ages (for stable mood, for vitamins.... for a whole lot). More on the microbiome coming later. By shopping organic, you greatly reduce your exposure to these chemicals AND you support farmers that are attempting to grow foods without them. Also, on a related note, industrial farming is rapidly causing our earth to become a desert. Check out the documentary Kiss the Ground if you want to learn more or are interested in advocacy. There is a future in Regenerative farming!   

If you are feeling overwhelmed by making this shift, know that every little bit counts! If shopping organic causes more financial stress than perceived benefit, check out EWG’s “dirty dozen.” This is a short list of the crops most heavily sprayed and those that are relatively clean, aka the “clean 15.” My hope is that one day vegetables will not have to be labeled as organic, but rather conventional broccoli labeled with its chemicals, as only then would you truly be making an informed decision. Until then!

Regenerative farming · organic · organic · organic produce · sustainable · regenerative agriculture