April 22nd may be Earth Day, but we really think that it’s the month of April, as winter’s snow begins to thaw and tulips and daffodils peak their heads for the first time this year, that our collective mother deserves to be honored. Ditch your car for a day, a week or longer. Get going in your garden. Donate to a wildlife preserve. Turn off the lights. Go green in your eating. While the ways to show the earth you care are endless, there’s one habit that can make a difference on Earth Day, Earth Month and all year: Going Organic. Organic food doesn’t just taste better and have more nutrients than conventionally grown food, it’s also much healthier for the planet. We call this a win-win.
Here Are The Top 5 Reasons Mother Earth Is Down With Going Organic.
1. Organic Food Is Not Toxic
Our food should not be toxic. That seems like a pretty obvious statement, but in today’s agro-business world those may be fighting words. Most crops are heavily doused with toxins to fend off insects and kill weeds. In the case of genetically modified crops (GMO), these toxins are getting more and more potent as toxin resistant species evolve. Needless to say, this influx of poison (because let’s face it, that’s what it is) not only kills the weeds and insects it’s intended for but many other species thus threatening biodiversity and leading to scary side effects in humans.
2. Organic Farming Supports Wildlife
Aside from the inherent benefits of no pesticides and herbicides in animal habitats, organic farmers often rely on birds and other predators to keep pests at bay thus making a home for them on farmland.
3. Organic Farming Requires Less Water
Our dwindling water supply is a real deal. Because organic farmers don’t rely on chemical fixes to crop challenges, they often work in consort with the land and rely on mulch and soil data to support their fields. Going organic in this way is healthier land requires less water. “A study released by Cornell University Professor David Pimentel in 2005 reported that organic farming produces the same corn and soybean yields as conventional farming and uses 30 percent less energy and less water,” reports the Organic Consumers Association.. “Moreover, because organic farming systems do not use pesticides, they also yield healthier produce and do not contribute to groundwater pollution.”
4. Organic Farming Requires Less Energy
Conventional crops require a lot of fertilizer and that fertilizer comes from energy-intensive sources. “[The Rodale Institute] ] grows organic and conventional corn, wheat and soy side by side on test plots and measures the energy inputs for each,” reports, The Washington Post. “According to the nonprofit organization’s numbers, farming one hectare (about 2.5 acres) of organic corn requires 10,150 megajoules of energy. (That’s the approximate amount of energy in 78 gallons of gasoline)). By contrast, one hectare of conventionally grown corn requires 17,372 megajoules, 71 percent more than the organic crop.”
5. Organic Farming Reduces Global Warming
Ever wonder how organic farming can help global warming? The soil used to grow organic crops uses more carbon from greenhouse gas to produce food. This means, in sucking more greenhouse gas out of the air, organic crops actually reverse the effects of climate change. "If only 10,000 medium-sized farms in the U.S. converted to organic production, they would store so much carbon in the soil that it would be equivalent to taking 1,174,400 cars off the road, or reducing car miles driven by 14.62 billion miles," reports research conducted by the Rodale Institute.
