Organic Versus Chemical?
By Clifford WoodsThe world, for almost the past two decades, has become highly aware and concerned about health and environmental issues. Though people were concerned about such issues earlier as well, they definitely lacked the means of raising their voice in this regard. With social media becoming one of the most influential tools in educating people, the advocates of organic have become very active in this dominion and quite rightly so, because there is no reason to doubt the accessibility and effectiveness of this medium.
So, what exactly is it about this organic food?
Well, in the simplest scientific explanation, any food substances that are carbon based, which are known to be the basic building block of life, are referred as being organic. Many carbon compounds that are human-made, or synthetic are organic compounds too. Plastics are organic, and so are most synthetic wonder drugs, as far as chemists are concerned. So a Chemist would even say most of the synthetic fertilizers, the ones that “organic” gardeners don’t use, are organic too. This is because synthetic fertilizers are made of molecules that are made of mostly carbon atoms. By this definition, almost everything that we consume as food is technically organic.
However, it is the agricultural context of food consumables that differentiates organic from inorganic or chemical produce. Organic food must not contain synthetic chemicals at all, starting right from the ground level, as early as a farmer preparing his fields for cultivation of any kind. He needs to stay away from using in his soil any petroleum based fertilizers or any other material that is chemically altered. To make it easily understandable, compost and manure are to be resorted to as natural fertilizers, but Miracle-Gro is to be totally avoided. As a matter of fact, the use of chemicals is unacceptable even for disease and pest control.
When treatment is needed, the farmer is expected to treat the crops with insecticidal soap as well as Neem oil, but the store-brought chemical based sprays are prohibited when it comes to organic. Organic food has to be all natural and totally free of any kind of genetic alteration. Instead of achieving the desired results through unnatural ways, organic produce requires resorting to conventional hand pollination and selective breeding procedures.
The GMO foods (genetically modified) are known to have gone through some tempering at a genetic level. For example, in order to produce higher yields or making the crops drought resistant, the genetics of GMO food products are tempered with, which makes it devoid of organic certification. As a matter of fact, it is not only about how organic produce is farmed; one also needs to make sure that organic food does not come into contact with non-organic food. For that, one also needs to ensure separate packaging and shipment of organic food, avoiding any contact with any types of chemical ingredients at any level.
People advocating organic produce not only recommend it for its chemical free nature, but they also deem it as more nutritious and tasty, as also backed up by the results of several studies and researches taken in this regard. For instance, a study conducted at the Newcastle University, United Kingdom reported a boast of about 40% in various nutrients (such as zinc, iron, as well as vitamin C) in organic produce compared to inorganic produce.
Though there is ample room of further research in the domain of organic versus chemical, one cannot deny various health benefits resulting from following natural ways and staying away from chemicals and any genetic modifications.
Clifford Woods is the CEO of Effective Environmental Services and Organic Environmental Technology
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