Our goal at Only Organic is to help remove all the obstacles to choosing organic over conventional food. We are excited about the growth of organic and the organic brands, farmers, and influencers we work with. In this blog, we are highlighting the importance of skipping the chemicals and choosing organic when shopping for products.
Poor diets lead to disease
To start we must highlight the importance of a healthy diet. Studies have shown “poor diets and sedentary lifestyles of the American public have led to high rates of obesity, overweight, and diet-related chronic diseases, including cardiovascular disease, hypertension, dyslipidemia, type 2 diabetes, osteoporosis and certain types of cancer.”
Reasons To Eat Organic
One of the most compelling reasons to eat organic is that organic farmers don’t use toxic persistent pesticides and that’s better for all of us. That doesn’t mean they don’t use other strategies to keep pests from destroying their crops, they just go about it in a safer way. In short, all pesticides aren’t created equal, read more in this blog here.
Additionally, conventionally produced foods contain over 700 chemicals, many of which are not allowed in food products in other countries. So, it’s not just pesticides you’re avoiding when you opt for organic products.
When you choose organic you’re skipping over 700 chemicals. In addition, eating organic is the best way to avoid genetically modified, or GMO, foods, ingredients and contamination. The use of GMOs is prohibited in organic products. In addition, no artificial preservatives, colors or flavors are allowed in organic food. Fewer than 40 synthetic substances can be used in organic packaged foods, and only after they have been reviewed by independent and government experts. Cleaner food means cleaner diets which leads to a cleaner bill of health.
Organic is better for your health
Organic food is not just better for the environment but it’s also better for your health. Organic food contains more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and micronutrients than conventionally raised food. The nutritional differences between conventional and organic crops have always been a much-debated topic, but recent studies have been increasingly showing the benefits of organic.
There is a growing body of evidence documenting how farming methods can influence the nutritional content of foods. For example, a new meta-analysis out of the United Kingdom and published in the British Journal of Nutrition analyzed over 300 studies and concluded that organic crops have significantly higher antioxidant levels when compared to conventional crops.
Eating organic can reduce your risk of cancer. A new study in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine found that those who ate organic foods frequently lowered their overall risk of developing cancer. Specifically, those who primarily eat organic foods were more likely to ward off non-Hodgkin lymphoma and postmenopausal breast cancer compared to those who rarely or never ate organic foods.
Organic is better for the environment
Organic farming creates healthy soil which creates healthy food and a healthy environment. Healthy soil is the basis for organic agriculture. Organic farmers use natural organic fertilizers and soil amendments like organic matter. Organic farming supports carbon sequestration, which helps to mitigate rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels. The primary benefit of organic crop and livestock production, compared to conventional agriculture, is that it is focused on soil-based production with underlying principles of maintaining or improving soil quality. Healthy soil counteracts climate change by pulling carbon out of the atmosphere.
Organic farming also never uses sewage sludge. Sewage sludge is a product of wastewater treatment and contains numerous known and unknown hazardous materials – including everything that is flushed into the sewer system.
Swap conventional products for organic
The solution is to swap conventional for organic brands. Thankfully it’s easy to locate organic products. When certified organic foods hit the market they were only found in a small section of a produce department or a small section of the health food aisle. Now it’s easy to find certified organic! In fact, “U.S. organic product sales climbed 12.4%in 2020, breaking the $60 billion mark for the first time and more than doubling the previous year’s growth,” according to the Organic Trade Association.
“Organic food and nonfood product sales totaled $61.9 billion last year, vaulting over 5% growth to $55.1 billion in 2019, OTA said in its 2021 Organic Industry Survey. Sales of organic food rose 12.8% to $56.5 billion in 2020, well above the prior-year gain of 4.6% to nearly $50.1 billion.”
If organic is harder to come by in your neighborhood use our access blog to locate organic. We also identified ways to save money on organic in this blog as well.
Here are 100 reasons to skip the chemicals
We’ve demonstrated so far there are hundreds of reasons to choose certified organic. Now, you can find organic versions of every kind of food even favorite U.S. snack companies have created organic options like organic Doritos and Reece’s Peanut Butter cups. But, it’s not limited to snack foods, you can literally swap any kind of conventional food for organic.
For example, you can get delicious organic grains from Lundberg Family Farms or organic meats from Applegate farms and organic salad greens from Earthbound Farm. We regularly highlight organic recipes from our supporting brands to take the guesswork out of the equation.
- Organic picnic recipes
- Organic BBQ recipes
- Organic spring recipes
- Organic back to school snack recipes
If you’re new to organic and haven’t found the perfect organic swap for your conventional choices, here are 100 organic brands that give you every reason to skip the chemicals and just go with organic.
- Amy’s Kitchen
- Annie’s
- Applegagte
- Clif Bar
- Bronner’s
- Earthbound
- Egg Innovations
- Hain Celestial
- Handsome Brook Farm
- Happy Family
- Honest Tea
- Horizon Organic
- INFRA
- Kamut
- Late July
- Lundberg Family
- MegaFood
- Merryfield
- Nature’s Path
- NCG
- New Chapter
- One Degree
- Orgain Inc.
- Organic Valley
- Pacific Foods
- Patagonia
- Pete and Gerry’s Organics
- Plum Organics
- Rudi’s
- SeaSnax
- Stonyfield
- Traditional Medicinals
- Uncle Matt’s Organic
- WalMart Foundation
- Whole Foods Markets
- AgriSystems International
- AgroThrive, Inc.
- Albert Lea Seed House, Inc.
- Astral Extracts Ltd
- Aurora Organic Dairy
- CJ’s Premium Spices LLC
- Coyuchi, Inc.
- Crofter’s Food Ltd.
- Dhana, Inc.
- Florida Crystals Corporation
- Food State
- Foodguys
- S. Haly Company
- Gallant International, Inc.
- Good Earth Natural Foods
- Greenology Products, Inc.
- Grund America
- Harmless Harvest
- JAMES WEDEL FARMS, DOUBLE W FARMS, INC
- Lang Pharma Nutrition
- Lehigh Valley Organic Growers (LVOG, Inc.)
- Linda Cabot Design
- MakingCosmetics, Inc.
- Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc.
- Mercaris Corporation
- MetaWear
- Mother’s Market & Kitchen
- Natracare
- Naturepedic Organic Mattresses
- Nature’s Sungrown Foods, Inc.
- New Hope Network
- On the Mark Public Relations
- Once Again Nut Butter
- Oregon Tilth (OTCO)
- Organic India
- Organic Produce Network
- Organics Unlimited
- OV Fresh
- Pleasantview Farm
- Quality Assurance International (QAI), an NSF International Company
- Taylor Brothers Farms, Inc.
- Textile Exchange
- The J.M. Smucker Company
- True Organic Products, Inc.
- Vitalis Organic Seeds
- WearPACT LLC
- Left Coast Naturals
- Beetnik
- Garden of Life
- Alden’s
- Back to the Roots
- Dave’s Killer Bread
- Ocho Candy
- Good Culture
- Ethan’s
- Coomb’s Family Farm
- Delilah Home
- W. Knudsen
- TruRoots
- Earth’s Best
- General Mills
- Forager
- Seed to Style
- Farm to Home
- Yes And
We have over a hundred supporting organic brands listed on our website. Get to know what these brands have to offer by clicking their logo here. You can even swap your textiles such as clothing, beds, and bedding using our textile guide.
We’ve demonstrated in this blog there are hundreds of reasons to choose organic so what are you waiting for? Dig into an organic recipe, find a good swap and share this blog with a friend. Together we will make organic the first choice for everyone and secure an organic food future!
