why organic
You don’t want a SAD salad. Turns out, the same pitfalls (excess calories and defi cient nutrients) underlying the Standard American Diet (SAD) apply to the plant foods themselves. Conventionally grown plants are fed their own junk food: nitrogen fertilizer. “A big part of what’s wrong with the American diet can be traced to farmers using too much nitrogen fertilizer to keep pushing yields higher,” Benbrook says. Bigger plants and higher yields do not add up to more nutrition, he warns. Rather,
nitrogen-spiked plants produce more simple carbohydrates—sugars and starches. “T is increases the likelihood that whatever antioxidants, vitamins, or minerals [are present in the vegetable or fruit] are going to get bound up with sugar,” Benbrook says. And the more sugar present in a food or in your digestive tract, the less your body can access a food’s nutrients.
You delight in variety. Organic farmers are, by nature, innovators, Wilmot says. “Where I live, it’s the organic farmers who off er diff erentiation in produce,” she says. “People don’t just want an organic apple, they want an organic Jonagold apple.” T at’s another personal reason I buy organic: the experience, especially when shopping with my kids. T ey’re young and still fi guring out what they like (and don’t like) about food, and it’s delightful to explore the produce aisle with them as they pester me with questions. T is year they even brought home a nice juicy organic jicama for Mother’s Day. Food diversity pleases adults, too; if you get locked into eating one type of tomato and just the basic russet potato, you’re bound to get bored. Organic farmers off er the chance to expand your culinary horizons and to tap into your inherent curiosity and creativity—which leads to a joy in simple, good, healthy foods. And that, to me, is a huge part of what organic is all about.
Editor in Chief Radha Marcum and her family enjoy organic for all of these reasons— and so many more. Connect with her on Twitter @radhamarcum.
42 deliciousliving | september 2012
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