{"id":16,"date":"2010-08-23T23:32:19","date_gmt":"2010-08-23T23:32:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/08\/going-organic-global-impact.html"},"modified":"2010-08-23T23:32:19","modified_gmt":"2010-08-23T23:32:19","slug":"going-organic-global-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/08\/going-organic-global-impact.html","title":{"rendered":"Going Organic – Global Impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

So
\nwhen we last left our Organic food blog, we talked about the Clean 17
\n(the ‘cleanest’ produce) and the Dirty Dozen (the most chemical-laden
\nproduce).  <\/span>Chemical toxins were a big part of that
\ndiscussion as the first factor that most people have to consider when
\ndeciding which foods to buy organic.  <\/span>If you missed first two blogs in this series, I strongly encourage you to take a step back and follow along from the beginning.  <\/span>
<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n


<\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

I really believe that the decision to buy organic foods is not as simple as it seems.  <\/span>Sure, it would be easy for me to say, “Everyone should buy organic, always…period…end of story”.  <\/span>However, over the years I have come to realize that the reasons for buying organic are not always the same for everyone.  <\/span>There seem to be four key reasons why people ‘go organic’ and we’re delving into each of these reasons.  <\/span>Use this blog series as a workshop in “Developing YOUR Organic Philosophy”.   <\/span>If
\nyou recall from previous posts, my four key factors to consider
\ninclude Chemical Toxins, Global Impact, Ethics, and Nutrition.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

So, let’s talk about the Global & Environmental Impact of organic farming.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

In
\nJanuary, 2010 the USDA reported that 93.7 million cows live in the US.  Some are dairy cows and others will make their way to our dinner tables.  <\/span>The US consumes over 33 million of these cows annually.  <\/span>Stick with me here; I promise this is not about vegetarianism!  <\/span>Now, each of these 93.7 million cows is fed a strict diet of growth hormones, antibiotics and in some cases, sex hormones.  <\/span>Growth
\nhormones grow big cattle.  Antibiotics keep them from spreading disease,
\nand sex hormones keep them making milk at an incredible rate.  <\/span>All of these chemicals are eliminated in the urine of these animals.  <\/span>The urine makes its way into the water table where it is affecting the fertility of fish and other wild life.  <\/span>Eventually, the water makes its way through our processing plants and eventually into our drinking water.  <\/span> <\/span>By
\nthe way, those faucet filters, refrigerator filters and even our
\ncommunity water treatment facility cannot prevent these chemicals from
\ngetting through to our families.  <\/span>WE based this exercise only on American cattle.  <\/span>Imagine what the statistics look like when we include pork, chickens, turkey, farmed fish, etc.  <\/span>Now extend your thinking globally!  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Last
\nyear, the FDA uncovered that 2 of the largest producers of farmed
\nsalmon in the world were using two antibiotics and one pesticide that
\nwere not approved for use in the United States.  <\/span>The pesticide is known to be “very toxic to aquatic organisms” and “may cause long-term adverse effects in the environment”.  <\/span> <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Across the world, we’re seeing more antibiotic resistant bacteria than ever before.  W<\/span>e’re witnessing the sexual development of girls earlier than ever before.  We’re witnessing infertility rates like never before.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Organic livestock are not allowed to be given antibiotics or hormones of any kind.  <\/span>This is largely why organic meats are so expensive…the organic farmer has only natural<\/i> means to raise their livestock.  <\/span>An organic farmer must keep cleaner living quarters for his animals so that disease cannot spread.  <\/span>They must not overcrowd the animals.  <\/span>They must feed them healthier (aka, more expensive) diets to prevent disease.  <\/span><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n

 <\/font><\/p>\n

Another few ecological points to consider from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Reports…<\/p>\n

<\/font><\/div>\n

    \n
  • \n
    If
    \nall the grain currently fed to livestock in the US were consumed
    \ndirectly by people, we could feed nearly 800 million people.  <\/span>If those grains were exported, it would boost U.S. trade by $80 billion a year. 
    <\/font><\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    Animal protein production requires more than 8x as much fossil-fuel energy than the production of plant protein.<\/font>  <\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  • \n
    <\/span>Grain-fed
    \nbeef production takes 100,000 liters of water for every kilogram of
    \nfood.  Chickens take 3,500 liters of water to make a kilogram of meat. In
    \ncomparison, soybean production uses 2,000 liters for each kilogram of food
    \nproduced; rice, 1,912; wheat, 900; and potatoes, 500 liters.<\/font><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    I always like to end each topic with a few items that anyone can take action on right away.  <\/span> <\/span>If Environmental and Global Issues are a major reason to change to organic, here are a few actions to consider<\/font>:<\/p>\n

    <\/p>\n

      \n
    • Buy more organic meats and dairy or replace the meat\/dairy you eat most often with organic<\/font><\/li>\n
    • Cook a vegetarian meal one, two or three times per week<\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
      Consider it a way to work on getting those 9 servings of fruits and veggies per day!<\/font><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      So when we last left our Organic food blog, we talked about the Clean 17 (the ‘cleanest’ produce) and the Dirty Dozen (the most chemical-laden produce).  Chemical toxins were a big part of that discussion as the first factor that most people have to consider when deciding which foods to buy organic.  If you missed…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":220,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-global-health-wisdom","category-healthy-eating"],"yoast_head":"\nGoing Organic - Global Impact - Medicine to Move You<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/08\/going-organic-global-impact.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Going Organic - Global Impact - Medicine to Move You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"So when we last left our Organic food blog, we talked about the Clean 17 (the ‘cleanest’ produce) and the Dirty Dozen (the most chemical-laden produce).  Chemical toxins were a big part of that discussion as the first factor that most people have to consider when deciding which foods to buy organic.  If you missed…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/08\/going-organic-global-impact.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Medicine to Move You\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-08-23T23:32:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dr. Shilpa P. Saxena\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Going Organic - Global Impact - Medicine to Move You","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/08\/going-organic-global-impact.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Going Organic - Global Impact - Medicine to Move You","og_description":"So when we last left our Organic food blog, we talked about the Clean 17 (the ‘cleanest’ produce) and the Dirty Dozen (the most chemical-laden produce).  Chemical toxins were a big part of that discussion as the first factor that most people have to consider when deciding which foods to buy organic.  If you missed…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/medicinetomoveyou\/2010\/08\/going-organic-global-impact.html","og_site_name":"Medicine to Move You","article_published_time":"2010-08-23T23:32:19+00:00","author":"Dr. Shilpa P. 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