Organic Farming
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Food is one of the most intimate things we do as people, which is why we should take special care in what we consume. Over 10,000 years ago civilizations began cultivating foods. They began gathering, planting and irrigating their own sustainable food systems. They believed in a huge variety of food and a balance with the Earth, food, and their bodies. Over the past century, industrialization has occurred in our food systems and, in turn, resulted in the loss of nutrition and local farming. Organic farming provides not only an alternative safe and healthy farming model, but a way to correct the flaws in our current system.
There are many benefits of organic foods and organic farming. Organic foods are free of harmful chemicals, artificial flavors, and preservatives. Conventional farmers use over 300 different pesticides to grow non-organic foods. The current process used in food production render little to no nutritional value left in the food, one is basically only paying for these chemicals in their food. Organic farming can actually save farmers money and give them significantly better returns on land and resource utilization as compared to conventional farming. Conventional farming uses more petroleum than any other industry and consumes almost 12% of the United States energy supply. (Yelm Worms)
There are many health benefits to eating and farming organically. Eating organic foods may in fact, reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and cancer for individuals who abstain from consuming products produced by conventional farming methods. Biochemists are continually researching the inherent benefits of organically grown foods and discovering the consequences of consuming products loaded with toxins and chemicals which, until recently, have only begun to be introduced to humans. The fact is you ultimately are what you eat.
While there are many benefits of organic farming, there are also some negatives. One such drawback of organic