When I went home last weekend my family sat down at the table for an organic chicken dinner. My mom had never encouraged me to eat organic foods before, but one of her friends told her organic chicken tastes better. I have to say it tasted good, but I'm not so sure I could tell the difference.

Organic food stores have been popping up all over the country. Whole Foods, Wild by Nature and Syracuse's Natur-Tyme are just a few of them that specialize in organic foods and stress optimal health.

"Non-organic foods are treated with toxins such as chemicals and pesticides," said Susan Scholl, a faculty member of the Department of Health and Wellness at Syracuse University.

But eating organic comes at a cost, and many people aren't interested in paying the extra money. Proof is in the fact that the organic food store located in my hometown rarely has a full parking lot.

"I think it's important to pay more, but I don't think we should have to," Scholl said. "Myself and others are willing to pay more to avoid contamination of fertilizers and pesticides, but as the public demands more organic foods, farmers will respond by bringing down the prices."

Most of the stores that specialize in organic food also cater to special lifestyle diets. Natur-Tyme sells organic foods in addition to products for vegans and people on gluten-free and wheat-free diets.

There are many reasons to make the choice to leave the chemicals and go all-natural. Foods like peppers are good sources of vitamin C, but when they are grown with pesticides the vitamins do not make it into the end product. Organically raised cows don't produce milk with the potentially harmful antibiotics and growth hormones that other cows give off in their milk.

Eating organic is also better than consuming the genetically modified foods that are easy for farmers to produce. Bananas, green beans and corn are all foods that get loaded up with chemicals and, according to kidsorganic.com, peaches have the highest rates of illegally applied pesticides in them.

Apples are one of the best foods to eat organically, because apples are typically grown with poisons that are used to kill pests and grow alongside funghi.

"A banana isn't necessary to buy organic, opposed to an apple, which is," Scholl said. "Pesticides would still be on the skin of an apple after you wash it, so it would be an excellent choice to buy organic."

The skin of an apple is one of its most nutritious parts, so having to peel off the skin makes the apple lose part of what really makes it healthy.  

>>> Read the Full Article

For more information on this topic or related issues you can search the thousands of archived articles on the OCA website using keywords:

Become an OCA Member! Sign up below:

First Name
Last Name
Email
Email Preference	HTML EmailText Email
Phone
Street
Street 2
City
State	Select One... Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware D.C. Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Other
Zip
Country	United StatesAfghanistanAlbaniaAlgeriaAndorraAngolaAntigua and BarbudaArgentinaArmeniaAustraliaAustriaAzerbaijanBahamasBahrainBangladeshBarbadosBelarusBelgiumBelizeBeninBhutanBoliviaBosnia and HerzegovinaBotswanaBrazilBruneiBulgariaBurkina FasoBurundiCambodiaCameroonCanadaCape VerdeCentral African RepublicChadChileChinaColombiaComorosCongoCongDemocratic Republic of theCosta RicaCroatiaCubaCyprusCzech RepublicIvory CoastDenmarkDjiboutiDominicaDominican RepublicEast TimorEcuadorEgyptEl SalvadorEquatorial GuineaEritreaEstoniaEthiopiaFijiFinlandFranceGabonGambiTheGeorgiaGermanyGhanaGreeceGrenadaGuatemalaGuineaGuinea-BissauGuyanaHaitiHondurasHungaryIcelandIndiaIndonesiaIranIraqIrelandIsraelItalyJamaicaJapanJordanKazakhstanKenyaKiribatiKoreNorthKoreSouthKuwaitKyrgyzstanLaosLatviaLebanonLesothoLiberiaLibyaLiechtensteinLithuaniaLuxembourgMacedoniFormer Yugoslav Republic ofMadagascarMalawiMalaysiaMaldivesMaliMaltaMarshall IslandsMauritaniaMauritiusMexicoMicronesiFederated States ofMoldovaMonacoMongoliaMoroccoMozambiqueMyanmarNamibiaNauruNepalNetherlandsNew ZealandNicaraguaNigerNigeriaNorwayOmanPakistanPalauPanamaPapua New GuineaParaguayPeruPhilippinesPolandPortugalQatarRomaniaRussiaRwandaSaint Kitts and NevisSaint LuciaSaint Vincent and The GrenadinesSamoaSan MarinoSao Tome and PrincipeSaudi ArabiaSenegalSerbia and MontenegroSeychellesSierra LeoneSingaporeSlovakiaSloveniaSolomon IslandsSomaliaSouth AfricaSpainSri LankaSudanSurinameSwazilandSwedenSwitzerlandSyriaTaiwanTajikistanTanzaniaThailandTogoTongaTrinidad and TobagoTunisiaTurkeyTurkmenistanTuvaluUgandaUkraineUnited Arab EmiratesUnited KingdomUruguayUzbekistanVanuatuVatican CityVenezuelaVietnamWestern SaharaYemenZambiaZimbabwe