Your Guide to Organic Food

Organic food options have come a long way. Usually exclusively sold in backyards and stalls, they've gone commercial and has long been introduced to the bigger markets.

But what's the deal? Why pay more for the same products compared to the commercial brands that prevail in markets? What exactly can you eat?

Myth: Organic food has been closely associated to being "natural" or "grown" that its easy to assume that we're exclusively talking about food that grows from the ground.

Fact: Organic food not only includes fruits, vegetables, poultry and meat.

Benefits of going organic include: it being a legally defined standard, there are high standards before it gets stamped with approval as "true" organic food, it operates in the highest level of animal welfare, no fertilizers / pesticides for grown products and there are no drugs, growth hormones and additives fed to the animals.

But why is it so expensive? Industrial farming relies on crop monocultures, plantings of a single crop over a span of thousands of acres of land. Monocultures are vulnerable to pest and disease, requiring large quantities of fertilizers and pesticides on the land. While organic farms boast greater diversity when it comes to crops, they often go through a process of natural growth, lessening the input and output from the farmers, and the costs for maintaining organic farming outweighs the price of commercial industrial growth, meaning, to make their farming even remotely viable, they have to raise prices for the superiority of their organic products. When buying your organic food, remember to look for certification seals, as they have standards to keep you from eating bacteria-laden, unclean organic food.

Health Benefits from organic food consumption: (From The Atlas of Food)

* Soluble fiber content of oats - reduces LDL (harmful!) cholesterol.
* Lycopene in tomatoes - helps reduce the chances of caner.
* Cranberry juice - helps prevent UTI. (Urinary Tract Infection)
* Soy protein - Promotes heart health.
* Antioxidant vitamins - (A, C and E) help prevent heart disease.

So what exactly can you eat? If you're wondering about the taste, here's a couple of organic food samples, and the lowdown on 'em:

Apples - Everyone loves apples! (Remember Eve?) According to a 2001 Washington Apple study, they found that organic apples are sweeter, have a richer taste, and better over-all texture compared to the more commercial, conventionally-grown ones.

Tomatoes - Aside from the lycopene mentioned above, a 10-year study on tomato comparison has proven that organic tomatoes have higher levels of flavonoids, which protects against cardiovascular disease.

Organic Meat - Animals are fed 100-percent organic feed, without the ground-up animal parts - this safeguards from such threats as mad cow disease. Also, they aren't holed up in pens, and instead, are allowed to free-range and graze. Not only is this a more humane way to treat animals, but also, it allows them to eat up more grass and bugs and whatnot that they probably won't find in a cage - leading to healthier meat.

Beer! - Not only is beer probably the oldest alcoholic drink, it's also a remarkable testament to using only nature's ingredients. There are refineries that are dedicated to using only the purest, and finest, ingredients in their brew. Who says organic food means no fun?