Regardless of the season, it's still possible to add local organic fruits and vegetables to your diet. A recent
July 29, 2009 study by the British Food Standards Agency
has come under fire after it claimed that organic fruits and vegetables did not have higher nutrition levels than do conventionally grown varieties. (Great Britain has a small percentage of organic farmland.) Things like vitamin and mineral content are subject to such variables as soil type, weather conditions, cultivar type, and the type of fertilizer used. Other studies have shown that soils rich in humus contain higher levels of beneficial minerals, and that crops grown organically or biodynamically benefit from earth-friendly, integrated pest management. It’s believed that plants produce antioxidants naturally as a defense against pests. Without man-made chemicals to destroy pests, organic fruits and vegetables must produce more antioxidants in order to defend themselves, resulting in higher antioxidant levels.
Take black raspberries, for example. Not only are they rich in vitamins A, C, E, folic acid, selenium, zinc, and calcium, but they have a high concentration of phenols like coumaric and ferulic acid. These are recognized as "chemopreventive agents." Studies have shown that these agents can help prevent esophageal and colon cancer.
The issue of pesticide use on crops will be covered in detail on the News You Can Use page of the website. Suffice it to say that farmers who use toxic chemicals tend to develop more illnesses, especially cancers. So it can’t be good for the rest of us, can it? Are you concerned about pesticide residues? Click on the link below for some tips:
California is currently the state producing the largest quantity of organic produce (about 60% of our produce comes from California), so we will keep our eye on the goings on there, like the attempts to irradiate organic almonds, and the infiltration of non-organic chemicals into organic fertilizer, that have sparked concerns among organic farmers.
An organization known as Farm Aid (www.farmaid.org), founded by Willie Nelson, has given farmers over $27 million to help local farmers remain on their land. (Source: Organic Style, 9/05.)
More recently, there is a more compelling reason for buying organic produce: GMO’s, or genetically modified organisms (see Organic terms page). If you would like to know more about how this affects you, go to the
genetically modified organisms information page.
We would encourage you to visit your local farmer’s market or coop to purchase organic fruits and vegetables. By buying locally, you help to reduce the amount of produce that spends time traveling in produce vans. At the
Local Harvest website,
you can locate farms and coops in your area that carry organic produce. Or why not buy shares in a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture). For more information on this, you can visit Local Harvest or the
Alternative Farming Systems Information Center.
Although the season for fruit is short, organic frozen fruit is available, and contains just as many nutrients as the fresh variety due to flash-freezing.
If you like bananas, visit the
Dole organic banana webpage
for information about what Dole is doing to bring organic, fair trade bananas to a supermarket near you.
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