“Try organic food… or as your grandparents called it, food!”

Have you ever seen this magnet or eCard online? It’s true, what we now call organic food is what our grandparents and their grandparents before them and every person consumed since the beginning of time.

Chemicals didn’t become so widely accepted until the 1940s. “In the late 1940s, DDT became the “safe” chemical to use on the food we consume.  DDT, by the way, does the same thing that crop rotation and getting the correct microorganisms and pH levels into your soil does…..without the harmful side effects.  We’ve just forgotten this over time because we are used to buying a chemical that we can spray to eradicate these problems.  It’s easier and requires less work.” (Rodale’s Organic Life)

Until there were chemicals, a potato was a potato. A tomato was a tomato.  But now that chemicals are so widely accepted, the government requires farmers to label potatoes and tomatoes grown without chemicals as “organic.”  For a farmer to be able to carry an organic label, an operation must put multiple organic practices into place and pay fees.  All of the costs add up resulting in higher prices for organic products.  Some of these costs include a requirement to build barriers in order to prevent pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides from coming into contact with our chemical-free produce.  Additionally, water runoff from chemical farming operations is an issue which can also result in a costly expense.

Before chemical use became the norm, organic food was the only option on grocery store shelves. Now we must pay premium dollar for organic foods if we want to rid our diets from chemicals.  Food that isn’t really food or has no nutritional value is inexpensive and readily available.  But having food that is pure, without chemicals and full of nutritional value is difficult to find in our area and it is expensive.  The entire system seems a little backwards.  Why should we have to pay more for the food we really should be consuming?

So how do we get back on track….get back to our roots? Organic farmer Mary Jane Butters has it figured out.  “I think we need to take back our language.  I want to call my organic carrots ‘carrots’ and let other farmers call theirs a chemical carrot.  The other farmers can list all of the ingredients that they used instead of me having to be certified.  The burden is on us to prove something.  Let them prove that they used only 30 chemicals instead of 50 to produce an apple.”  Here at #CleanAcresLLC we say right on!

In order to “take back our language” we will need to go up against big corporations that have deep pockets. Leading a healthy lifestyle shouldn’t be motivated by money or politics or be a social or ethical debate.  Unfortunately that is the backwards way our current food system works.  We can turn it around with one simple decision.  Be informed, be educated, and make a stand to buy organic or chemical-free as often as you can.

Anyone who doesn’t buy organic believes they can’t afford it. But is it really that expensive when you take everything else into consideration?  There are so many hidden costs when it comes to purchasing and consuming processed/chemically-laden foods.  One major cost is the lack of nutritional value of processed foods.  Our health is increasingly at risk due to the way in which foods are packaged since chemicals used in packaging materials can leech into food.  Furthermore, the mechanization of processed foods means more handling and shipping causing greater risk for contaminated foods.

There are hidden medical costs associated with consuming non-organic and processed foods. It’s been documented that heart disease, diabetes, cancer, metabolic disorders, asthma, learning disabilities, neurological disorders and obesity cases have significantly increased over time.  “Google it” and you will find that many respected agencies have reported on links between chemicals in our foods to poor health.

Not only are chemicals negatively affecting our health, they are detrimental to the environment. The United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization conducted a study in 2007 and noted that 1.6 billion tons (approximately 40%) of food is wasted contributing to an equivalent of 3.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide emissions.  Food waste sitting in landfills also “break down anaerobically and produces methane; methane is 21 times more potent than CO2 as a greenhouse gas.” (Environmental Protection Agency)  Other environmental concerns are loss of biodiversity, excessive use of water, and reduction of soil fertility.

There is strength in numbers and power in money. Join the movement in going back to our roots.  Government and industry is driven by consumer demand.  Together we can drive the price of organic down simply by applying the economic principle of supply and demand.  Be prudent in your food purchases.  Your own health and the health of your family, friends, and loved ones all depend on your decision to buy or grow chemical free and organic.

Submitted by Tabitha Elder Tabitha is a Central Illinois resident and co-owner of Clean Acres Produce.  Follow their journey of starting a Community Supported Agriculture program in the chemical free fresh food desert of rural Piatt County at www.cleanacresproduce.org, www.facebook.com/cleanacresproduce or @CleanAcres.