Organic fruits & vegetables
As summer approaches, it's a good time to add organic fruits and vegetables to your diet. Studies have shown that organic fruits and vegetables have higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and cancer-fighting antioxidants than do conventionally grown varieties. Why is this? Soils rich in humus contain higher levels of nutrients, which plants incorporate. It’s also believed that plants produce antioxidants to fight off pests. Without man-made chemicals to destroy pests, organic fruits and vegetables must produce more antioxidants in order to protect themselves. It’s better for them and better for us! 
Organic fruits and vegetables are becoming more widely available, as more and more farmers realize that organic farming methods encourage biodiversity (a good thing), and that pollutants are kept out of our soil, air, and water. In fact, the Chairman of the Rodale Institute (whose grandfather coined the term “organic” in 1942) has called for 100,000 farmers to become certified organic by 2013. Currently, about .5% of U.S. farmers are certified organic (Source: The Gourmet Retailer, 8/03/03).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. To read about the "Alar scare", go to the alar and apples page. If you prefer to order organic fruits online, you may do so at the websites below. These companies will also send organic fruit baskets as gifts. Cherry Moon farms How do you like to shop for your organic fruits and vegetables? Please let us know by dropping us a confidential line below.
|
Blink
Del.icio.us
Digg
Furl
Google
Simpy
Spurl
Technorati
Y! MyWeb