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.

1. Amy’s Kitchen
2. Annie’s
3. Applegagte
4. Clif Bar
5. Bronner’s
6. Earthbound
7. Egg Innovations
8. Hain Celestial
9. Handsome Brook Farm
10. Happy Family
11. Honest Tea
12. Horizon Organic
13. INFRA
14. Kamut
15. Late July
16. Lundberg Family
17. MegaFood
18. Merryfield
19. Nature’s Path
20. NCG
21. New Chapter
22. One Degree
23. Orgain Inc.
24. Organic Valley
25. Pacific Foods
26. Patagonia
27. Pete and Gerry’s Organics
28. Plum Organics
29. Rudi’s
30. SeaSnax
31. Stonyfield
32. Traditional Medicinals
33. Uncle Matt’s Organic
34. WalMart Foundation
35. Whole Foods Markets
36. AgriSystems International
37. AgroThrive, Inc.
38. Albert Lea Seed House, Inc.
39. Astral Extracts Ltd
40. Aurora Organic Dairy
41. CJ’s Premium Spices LLC
42. Coyuchi, Inc.
43. Crofter’s Food Ltd.
44. Dhana, Inc.
45. Florida Crystals Corporation
46. Food State
47. Foodguys
48. S. Haly Company
49. Gallant International, Inc.
50. Good Earth Natural Foods
51. Greenology Products, Inc.
52. Grund America
53. Harmless Harvest
54. JAMES WEDEL FARMS, DOUBLE W FARMS, INC
55. Lang Pharma Nutrition
56. Lehigh Valley Organic Growers (LVOG, Inc.)
57. Linda Cabot Design
58. MakingCosmetics, Inc.
59. Marrone Bio Innovations, Inc.
60. Mercaris Corporation
61. MetaWear
62. Mother’s Market & Kitchen
63. Natracare
64. Naturepedic Organic Mattresses
65. Nature’s Sungrown Foods, Inc.
66. New Hope Network
67. On the Mark Public Relations
68. Once Again Nut Butter
69. Oregon Tilth (OTCO)
70. Organic India
71. Organic Produce Network
72. Organics Unlimited
73. OV Fresh
74. Pleasantview Farm
75. Quality Assurance International (QAI), an NSF International Company
76. Taylor Brothers Farms, Inc.
77. Textile Exchange
78. The J.M. Smucker Company
79. True Organic Products, Inc.
80. Vitalis Organic Seeds
81. WearPACT LLC
82. Left Coast Naturals
83. Beetnik
84. Garden of Life
85. Alden’s
86. Back to the Roots
87. Dave’s Killer Bread
88. Ocho Candy
89. Good Culture
90. Ethan’s
91. Coomb’s Family Farm
92. Delilah Home
93. W. Knudsen
94. TruRoots
95. Earth’s Best
96. General Mills
97. Forager
98. Seed to Style
99. Farm to Home
100. 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!