Eating organic as much as possible is far healthier and safer for you and your family, with so many chemicals now in our everyday lives, it’s important to reduce your risk of toxic build up whenever possible. Making this choice also helps the environment and the farmers that grow organic fruits and vegetables therefore making their businesses thrive and encouraging more of the same.

This article discusses the importance of healthy soil, without which cultivating healthy food is virtually impossible. Holistic Health and Fitness Coach, Elly McGuinness, has passionately researched this topic and I’m really pleased to be sharing her knowledge with you here. Check out Elly’s site ellymcguinness.com for information on everything from Fermented Foods to Pregnancy Fitness and Nutrient Therapy.

“Many people are now choosing organic as one way to help optimise their health and wellbeing.  The vitamin and mineral content of fresh produce and other foods will vary based on how the soil is cared for, the environment they are grown in, and how they are processed, among other things.
In organic farming, caring for the soil is of the utmost importance, because it forms the basis for health, for all life forms.  As Sophie Grigson and William Black explain, “Healthy soil encourages healthy plants, plants which are strong and disease resistant, which means there is less need for artificial pesticides in organic production”.  Their book “Organic – a new way of eating” highlights the fact that if we feed the soil, the plants will look after themselves.[i]
Sally Fallon reiterates this in her book “Nourishing Traditions”, when she explains that nitrogen fertilisers used in conventional (non-organic) farming produce high yields, in part by pulling minerals from the soil.  In turn, the food suffers because the vitamin and mineral contents are depleted.  She explains that vitamin and mineral content between conventional and organic crops can vary hugely, and that some commercially raised oranges have been found to contain NO vitamin C![ii]
The old saying ‘you are what you eat’ really does ring true.  If you are consuming food that that was once a sickly animal who was fed routine courses of antibiotics and a genetically engineered diet of pesticide sprayed grains that it is unable to digest, how healthy do you think you will be?
If you are eating food that has been sprayed copious times with a herbicide that has been engineered to kill EVERYTHING around it, except that particular crop, how do you think this affects the health of the soil, and the subsequent health of your body?  Similarly, with the skin being the largest organ in the body, and readily absorbing anything you rub on it, have you considered what is entering your system via this method (by way of creams and lotions)?
Yes, our bodies are amazing, and yes they can process and eliminate a certain degree of ‘rubbish’.  But when they become overloaded they are unable to summon the resources required to neutralise the onslaught of poisons entering them.  Therefore it makes sense to limit our intake of toxins wherever we are able to do so; for example by making organic choices.
Organic farming helps ensure you are receiving the best quality for your body, allowing your cells to be as healthy and strong as possible.  Growth hormones, protein rich feeds and the routine use of antibiotics are not allowed, nor are synthetic chemical fertilisers, fungicides, herbicides or pesticides.
If you consider health as a holistic word encompassing people, animals, and the planet, then choosing organic is a positive step in this direction.  Stay tuned for our 3rd article in this series, exploring the benefits from an environmental perspective.”
[i] “Organic – a new way of eating”.  Sophie Grigson and William Black.  Headline Book Publishing 2001
[ii] “Nourishing Traditions.  The Cookbook that challenges politically correct nutrition and the diet dictocrats.  Revised second edition.  Sally Fallon with Mary G. Enig. Ph.D.  1999, 2001 New trends Publishing Inc.
For more information go to ellymcguinness.com