There are many different options in the marketplace today for food and cleaning items. You have organic, natural, and semi-natural products to choose from. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference and know which one is the best choice for you and your family, so here we are going to cover the differences between each of these categories.
What is Organic?
Organic refers to the way agricultural foods and fibers are produced
and processed.
It is a commitment to agricultural practices that strive
for a balance with nature, using methods and materials that are of low
impact to the environment. The primary goal is to optimize the
health and productivity of interdependent communities of soil life,
plants, animals and people.
For the Animals
Your Health
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The Union of Concerned Scientists estimates that of the 35 million pounds of antibiotics administered each year in the U.S., 70% goes to healthy livestock to stimulate growth and prevent disease. This massive usage could help develop super-strong strains of drug-resistant bacteria that can spread to people. Developed countries around the world, except for the United States and Canada, have set regulations restricting such use.
No Added Growth Hormones
No Dangerous Pesticide Chemicals
However, a 1998 Consumer Reports study concluded that fresh fruits and vegetables labeled organic had either no pesticide residues or fewer, lower-level pesticide residues compared to those produced conventionally. Another study published in Food Additives and Contaminants found that conventional produce, when compared with organic produce, was three times more likely to have any pesticide residue and six times more likely to have residue from multiple pesticides.3
The issue of pesticide residues is particularly pertinent to children, who consume more food per pound of body weight than adults. They are also likely more sensitive to the effects of pesticides and other chemicals in food, due to their rapidly developing nervous systems.
A study from the University of Washington and published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that children who ate a predominantly organic diet had far lower levels of pesticide residue in their bodies than the children who mostly ate non-organic foods. In fact, the children who ate more non-organic foods had pesticide metabolite levels six to nine times higher than those on organic diets.
- AMA Annual Meeting Resolution 508 Antimicrobial use and resistance. June 2001.
- Yu, Herbert and Rohan, Thomas. Role of Insulin-like Growth factor Family in Cancer Development and Progression, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, v.92, September 20, 2000.
- Baker, BP, Benbrook CM, Groth, E. and Benbrook, KL. Pesticide residues in conventional, integrated pest management-grown and organic foods: insights from three US data sets. Food Additives and Contaminants, 19:442-447, 2002.
