Written by: Aleksandra Lyanskaya

Many people come to ponder the question of whether or not eating organic will benefit their health in the long run. There are so many things we do not know about within the making of our food we buy at local grocery stores every day. Knowing that we should eat more fruits and vegetables is great knowledge to be had, but these fresh foods we are buying could also be toxic to our health.

In the Annals of Internal Medicine Review, it was stated that “Between 1997 and 2010, sales of organic foods increased from $3.6 to $26.7 billion” (348). While they prices may have varied on these fresh products, consumers and buyers are becoming more apt to buying something that costs more but that which will also benefit their health as well. The nutrients in these pesticide-free grown products are seen as being much healthier for us than eating those products grown on farms where everything is about quantity rather than quality.

To be even safer and more conscious of what we are allowing to enter our system, some individuals have chosen the route of growing their own home grown gardens and only eating the food they have seen grow in their own gardens under their own soil, untouched by any other. However, we’re never completely blocked off from pesticides. With all that is carried throughout our air and transmitted from bugs of all types coming from many different places and coming in contact with other things, even the soil we buy at a local store can turn out to not be the most clean thing either. It’s important to keep trying to bring ourselves back to how the times used to be. Home-grown food and health-conscious lifestyles would be health enhancing and life preserving.

So next time you head out to the grocery store, maybe stop by the farmers market first and see what they have to offer. Buy a few seeds and start your own garden. Even seeing and knowing that what you’re eating is all your own effort and love will make the taste and satisfaction greater in the end.

Smith-Spangler, C., Brandeau, M. L., Hunter, G. E., Bavinger, J., Pearson, M., Eschbach, P. J., & … Bravata, D. M. (2012). Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?. Annals Of Internal Medicine, 157(5), 348-366.