Choosing Organic: How You Can Help The Environment Just By Eating Right

Up to 94% of Americans agree that it’s important for farms to have measures in place to ensure the safety of food consumption. Despite this high percentage, many Americans are still choosing to eat non-organic food.

Whether or not you want to make any changes to your overall diet, choosing to eat organic food is a smart idea. Organic food is free from harsh chemicals, tastes better, and can help you fight back against cancer.

Need more than health benefits to persuade you? Here are some of the most common environmental reasons why choosing organic food from sustainable Kentucky farms should be one of your resolutions come next year.

Ecosystem preservation
According to the EPA, more than 600 chemicals are registered for agricultural use throughout the United States. This adds up to billions of pounds of chemicals every year.

These chemicals and pesticides affect our bodies as we eat the food treated with them. They also affect the environment and ecosystems in which they’re sprayed.

Organic farming keeps chemicals and pesticides away from the environment, which helps to keep farmland and soil healthy. It also keeps dangerous pesticides away from birds, soil organisms, insects, and other wildlife that are important to the sustainability of the environment.

Agricultural diversity preservation
It can be dangerous to rely on only one type of crop. Yet, up to 75% of the genetic diversity of American crops has disappeared over the course of the last 100 years. This is problematic because of the disastrous effects that can occur should a disease or insect attack this crop.

For example, the Irish potato famine involved only a few varieties of potato crop. The blight tore through the entire crop resulting in the starvation of millions of people.

Organic farming uses crop rotation as an effective technique to improve soil fertility and reduce the need for chemicals like pesticides. What’s more is that organic food is often grown in assortments to grow crops that are able to combat against pests and droughts.

Eating organic poultry, organic beef, and organic crops can do wonders for your health. You consume less fat and you’re not eating growth hormones or pesticides. However, eating organically can also do wonders for the environment. Therefore, the next time you go shopping, consider how to the foods you choose can impact your local ecosystem.