Eating organic food merely “seems” the best action for most of us. It’s slightly more expensive than standard food, and it’s ingrained in our minds that it’s just better for us.
Few of us decide to delve further into the topic, and in truth, why would we?
However, organic farming is attracting more attention. Joshua Manocherian has been one of the latest individuals to spark conversation about the subject after discussing the water conservation aspects of the practice.
This made us question what else organic farming offers that few of us know about. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits in detail.
It works wonders for the soil.
Let’s start by looking at the effect of organic farming on the soil.
Before we delve into the specific benefits, it’s worth pointing out that soil is our food chain’s bread-and-butter (no pun intended). The vast majority of our product is derived from the ground, and as such, the better condition it’s in, the better food will be passed to the shelves.
Organic farming can right the wrongs of what has become traditional farming. Over the years, we have been used to all sorts of chemicals being sprayed over our soils, which has the upshot of making them severely lacking in minerals.
As well as not relying on these harsh chemicals, farmers will tend to add even more goodness through organic fertilizer and mulch – which makes the overall effect huge.
Nutritionally it’s far superior.
Following on from the last point, let’s point out that organic food is far superior from a nutritional standpoint.
This has a lot to do with the additional minerals and vitamins that it contains, with much of this due to the lack of chemicals and other “ingredients” that organic farmers will use.
While it might be coming something of a cliché in the industry, health plans will result in healthy people. In one sense, this is all organic farming is – making plants as healthy as possible and removing all synthetic substances that have tainted them over the years.
It reduces energy use significantly.
This is one of those advantages that few people seem to realize. While most of us have grown to understand the nutritional benefits of organic farming, few realize that it has other superb effects on the world.
It’s understood that an organic farm can use up to 50% less energy than a conventional one. Ultimately, it can slash its carbon footprint significantly and tick many boxes regarding climate change.
On this note, the methods used by organic farmers can boost the environment in another way and again reduce the greenhouse effect. Techniques such as using cover crops and rotations and including nitrogen-fixing legumes mean more carbon will return to the soil. As anyone who has studied climate change will testify, this can significantly affect the environment.
