Organic Foods

I was recently doing some research regarding an investigation by USA Today about the USDA and the meats they make available for school commodities. It made me quite disgusted with the USDA’s practices or lack thereof of testing meat. This investigation, along with a number of other articles over the last few weeks have sent my personal food scale shifting mightily to the side of home grown or organic foods which my husband and I should eat. I have been increasingly discouraged by the levels of pesticides, herbicides and fungicides being sprayed on our foods, but also of the hormones and feeds being given to the beef and chicken we eat and to the cows that supply the milk, cheese, yogurts and other dairy products we consume.

It is no wonder that cancer and other diseases are increasing. It is also no wonder there is an increase in many antibiotic resistant strains of disease emerging. One article discussed how potatoes are one of the 7 foods many researchers will not eat due to the level of toxins. Growers spray herbicides to kill weeds off the fields before planting, then as the plants grow, they spray fungicides and pesticides to keep the plants healthy and discourage any disease. Then, when the farmers are ready to harvest, they will spray the fields once more with an herbicide to kill off the plant so they can easily dig up the potatoes.

Dairy farmers feed their milk cows feed that contains large levels of rBST, a type of hormone, so the cows will produce higher quantities of milk. This rBST is in the dairy products we consume. Research is also finding considerable adverse effects using hormone additives for both the animals and for humans.

Bottom line, the foods we eat significantly contribute to the health of our bodies. When we give our bodies foods rich in nutrients and free from harmful additives, we give our bodies what it needs to be healthy. A healthy body is able fight against disease and enables us to live a long life.