Agribusiness is all about profits, not your health. It is an industry that has developed a system of food production that’s completely forgotten what food is all about: nutrition and health — not to mention taste. It’s gotten so bad that it’s becoming difficult to even call the stuff that agribusiness produces food. It would be more honest if they were to call it “stuff for ingestion” and include a warning label.
The voice of those of us who are not interested in what’s now called “conventional” farming is ever increasing. We’re not interested in consuming chemicals, toxins, or GMOs. What are we interested in? Organic food. Why? It’s better. Here’s a quick list of six reasons why you should make it a point to consume organic whenever possible.
1. No GMOs
Genetically modified organisms, including GM foods, are a horrible mutation of real food. The claim that GMOs are just like any other method of improving foods is simply nonsense. Never before have genetics been manipulated by taking the genes from one species and inserting them into another.
Animal genes are spliced into plants, and plant genes into animals, something that cannot happen in nature. The claims that GMOs and breeding are virtually identical and safe are clearly nonsense, with studies like the one done by Gilles-Eric Séralini showing that rats fed a diet of Roundup-Ready GM corn developed massive tumors and died younger. 
Although other countries in the world have rightfully shut the door on GMO junk being sold within their boundaries, organic foods are the only foods that people in America can be reasonably sure are GMO free!
2. Better Nutrition
Conventionally grown “stuff for ingestion” is produced in played-out soil under the delusion that all the nutrients you require can be replaced by artificially-produced fertilizers. There is a fallacy that bigger and prettier produce is synonymous with healthy produce. The fact is that study after study has proven that organic food is more nutritious. By the way, more nutritious food usually tastes better, too.
Here are some nutrient facts reported by Organic.org: 
- One study showed that organic fruits and veggies contain 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium, 13.6% more phosphorus, and 18% more polyphenols.
- Salicylic acid is an important and health-promoting substance. Researchers have found that there is an average of 600% more salicylic acid in organic soups, and that organic carrot and coriander soup contains 1,040 nanograms of it, compared with only 20 nanograms in typical nonorganic soups!
- Organic meats are less fatty, and the fats are healthier.
- The only US beef that has been free of the fatal prion brain disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob, is organic.
The science is clear: organic food is more nutritious.
3. No Pesticides or Herbicides
Pesticides and herbicides are poison. It’s that simple. Their function is to poison things. Food that’s grown with the use of pesticides and herbicides are, therefore, poisonous. Don’t kid yourself into believing that you can effectively wash it off. You cannot. For lack of better words, it’s in all the nooks and crannies. It’s taken up by the roots and soaked in when it’s sprayed. Nearly all pesticides function by harming the nervous system. So, if you eat foods that were grown by agribusiness, you are eating neurotoxins and gradually poisoning your nervous system. 
The way to avoid these poisons is to eat only organic foods.
4. Higher Quality Meat and Dairy
When you see studies claiming that meat is bad for you, take note that they never distinguish between organic husbandry and the stuff that comes from concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs). If you eat most of the stuff sold for ingestion that supermarkets sell, then you should pay attention, because that stuff is truly bad for you. It’s loaded with antibiotics and other drugs, and it is, frankly, dirty. Animals raised wallowing in their own feces and the stench of old urine are not healthy. If you eat meat that comes from such places, you’re not helping your health. 
If you’re going to eat meat, the way to avoid such cruelty to animals and unhealthy meat is simple: Eat only organic and free range meats.
5. Less Chance of Food-Borne Illness
The news media keeps reporting about massive outbreaks of food-borne illness. Cabbage. Eggs. Fast food restaurants. Spinach. Melons. Peanut butter. The list goes on and on. The more our foods are produced by agribusiness, the more such outbreaks happen.
What the news media fails to report is that virtually every one of these outbreaks is a direct result of agribusiness. Animals in CAFOs are sick. No matter how much they’re vaccinated or drugged, they just get more sick. Factory farms are the primary source of drug-resistant infections. In fact, they were the first source. E. coli was not even considered an infectious bacterium until around 1983. It’s a necessary probiotic found in everyone’s gut. It’s necessary for digestion. The E. coli that causes deadly infections is a mutant caused by CAFOs. 
The best way to be safe from food-borne illness is to choose organic foods. The insane rush to sterilize our foods and farms simply makes us less healthy, and ultimately results in exposure to the worst food-borne illnesses that have ever existed.
6. Better for Your Conscience
By now, it’s clear that the stuff for ingestion sold by most supermarkets is devastating for our health, devastating for the animals raised for this travesty, and devastating to the environment. So, my final health benefit of eating organic is your conscience.
When you’re aware of the devastation brought by agribusiness to animals and the environment, surely your conscience suffers—and the fact is that a bad conscience is bad for your health. So do yourself a huge favor — make organic food as big a part of your diet as possible. Not only will your health benefit, but so will the rest of the world. In fact, it may be the most important action you ever take.
– Dr. Edward F. Group III, DC, ND, DACBN, DCBCN, DABFM
- Gilles-Eric Séralini, Emilie Clair, Robin Mesnage, Steeve Gress, Nicolas Defarge, Manuela Malatesta, Didier Hennequin, Joël Spiroux de Vendômois. Long term toxicity of a Roundup herbicide and a Roundup-tolerant genetically modified maize. Food and Chemical Toxicology. August 2, 2012. doi.org/10.1016/j.fct.2012.08.005.
- Steve Meyerowitz. Are Organic Foods More Nutritious? (Last accessed 2013-09-29)
- Charlotte Gerber. How Do Pesticides Kill Bugs? (Last accessed 2013-09-29)
- Union of Concerned Scientists. CAFO’s Uncovered. 2008. (Last accessed 2013-09-29)
- Heidi Stevenson. Virulent E. coli: A Gift from Agribusiness. June 18, 2013. (Last accessed 2013-09-29)