Healthy Soil for Healthy Foods
The Health Benefits of
Organic Growing
on the Most Fertile Soils
By Neal Kinsey
Growing food that tastes good can be a great source of pleasure. For anyone willing to put forth even small amounts of time and effort it soon becomes evident that the rewards are numerous. As seeds begin to sprout and grow, as they leaf out beautifully and some begin to flower and set fruit, a feeling of exhilaration takes over and anticipation of the harvest to come can all be extremely rewarding. Many growers in fact begin to experience these feelings from the time they start selecting the seed for the next cropping season. Still, others begin growing food because they see the many benefits, whether it is the nutritional value from harvesting fresh produce, or knowing what has been done to properly raise the food and process it correctly for the ultimate in health-giving benefits.
To see just how much freshness matters even for taste, squeeze one glass of fresh orange juice and let it set for ten minutes. Then squeeze another glass and drink it immediately. Now taste the one you have let set for ten minutes. Can you taste the difference? When it comes to fruits and vegetables, the fresher they are, the better the life-giving benefits for us all.
So, yes, growing fruits and vegetables for better nutrition and health is a serious undertaking. Though it takes effort to assure success, the joys and benefits of organic growing can far outweigh the sacrifices of time and perspiration that are sometimes required. Growing organically (natural, sustainable, biological and other similar terms may also be used to describe it) simply put, means growing food in cooperation with the natural principles of soil fertility, using only those products that will promote life and health in both the soil and the plant and those who eat its produce, while avoiding products which poison or permanently harm the soil and the biological organisms required for the health of soil and plants.
Avoiding potentially harmful residues in our foods by growing them as naturally as possible can help all of humanity. The benefits are especially important for children. The National Academy of Sciences reports that chemicals can have up to ten times greater toxic effects in the developing bodies of children. (See National Academy of Sciences, “Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children,” Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press, 1993.)