Why I've gone Organic

by Helen
(Littleport, Cambs.)

A friend of mine used to tell me, quite often, "Helen, you are what you eat". I listened but didn't take a lot of notice and bought my food without a thought as to how it was produced. However, now that I have been told I am unwell I have decided to start helping myself and the most effective way of doing this is to study what I am putting into my body.

I have read about the conventional growing of vegetables and fruit and what is done to them to make them grow, give them a nice long shelf life and make them look perfect.

Pesticides, herbicides and synthetic fertilisers are used for this but these pollutants are absorbed by the growing fruit and vegetables and we then ingest them when we cook the vegetables and put them on our dinner plates or shine up a nice looking apple to eat.

So we too are being pesticised, herbicised and synthetically fertilised (no pun intended) but we do not get a longer shelf life and it must be bad for our long-term health.

Now, I am "into" organic fruit and vegetables and they taste wonderful. I have also discovered that broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, cauliflower and turnips are "brimming" with a natural chemical that can significantly lower the risk of cancer ("Nature's cures for 21st century ills").

Would they be so effective if they had been doused in pesticides and herbicides? It has also been shown in studies that organic fruit and vegetables contain higher levels of vitamins, nutrients and cancer-fighting anti-oxidants and, last, but not least, I have also discovered that organic vegetables taste wonderful and are a culinry delight when steamed.

Remember, you are what you eat!