Thursday, October 29, 2009

Ask Dr. Green T: Living Life the Organic Way

Dear Dr. Green T,
How can we know if something is "organic" or not?

-Jennie Kim, Green News Editorial Board

So you want to eat green, huh? Finally coming to terms with the potential harm that arises from purchasing foods with pesticides and growth hormones? I've learned from my Environmental Science class in high school that there are many risks that come from purchasing "non-organic" items. An example is milk which contains RBST growth hormones, a drug injected into cows to increase their milk output. Unfortunately, these growth hormones affect the growth rate of consumers as young children end up growing at a faster and unatural rate. Not a good thing at all...

Now what? Well, Organic products are plainly noted as coming from a more natural state, and thus no added chemicals in their process. Simple, right? Well, it may not be for those who are in the market shopping for an organic grocery item or dish at a restaurant.

Fortunately, organic dishes at restaurants can be "Whole restaurant certified" where every dish produced is organic or they can have a couple of items that are organic like lasagna with organic beef. You also have every right to ask to see how they can prove that their beef is organic by viewing if they've paid an organic farm. The food is going in YOUR mouth and into YOUR body, so stand up for your health.

As far as grocery shopping goes, you may distinguish an organic product from that not of by locating a specific sticker, mainly the "Certified Organic" sticker. This specific logo means that:

"The product has been grown according to strict standards that are verified by independent state or private organizations. In the U.S. these third party agents are accredited under the USDA's National Organic Program (NOP). Certification includes annual inspections of farm fields and processing facilities, periodic testing of soil and water to ensure that growers and handlers are meeting the standards which have been set. For a product to receive the USDA Organic seal, a minimum of 95% of ingredients are certified organic. The remaining ingredients must appear on the National List of Approved Materials" (Seo).

You may learn more about why organic food is better by Click Here!!

Peace&Love,
Dr. Green T

Works Cited:
Seo, Danny. "Eco Friendly Goodness." wholearth beaty+beath. 2009. 4 Nov 2009. http://www.wholearthbeauty.com/usda_eco_info.php.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

"An example is milk which contains RBST growth hormones, a drug injected into cows to increase their milk output. Unfortunately, these growth hormones affect the growth rate of consumers as young children end up growing at a faster and unnatural rate. Not a good thing at all..."

I never knew that! Maybe that's why people in recent generations have gone through puberty sooner.....Thanks for your blog, I like reading it. :]

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