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Why Organic Food Costs More

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Organic Food

This is probably the most contentious issue when it comes to any kind of organic product. Why does it always cost more than conventional? Shouldn’t something grown or raised with fewer chemical additives also cost less? This question doesn’t just come up for organic food, but also clothing, cleaning and paper products and any other household items. Why does organic cost more?

There are several reasons for this, all linked together.

When you grow any kind of produce (or raise livestock for that matter) you are going to reduce your losses by using chemicals. Whether its pesticides to repel insects, or antibiotics to keep animals healthy. These things are done to provide the farmer with the least amount of loss each season. When you take that away, losses will typically go up which means their profit goes down. Good rigorous organic techniques can help but its not always enough. This means that growers and farmers have to charge more for their wares.

Along with this is that it will take more time to manage crops without the added protection you’d get from the chemicals. Using natural pesticides usually means they need to be applied more often, for example. Trying to manage weeds without herbicides can take a lot of time as well. All of this means that it costs more in manpower hours to produce a crop. Again, that raises the price.

Artificial fertilizers will greatly boost the productivity of crop plants, so an organic farmer will end up with a smaller harvest when compared to a conventional farmer. So for an acre of planting, the organic farmer may end up with less even if they are able to keep the insects at bay.

And you can’t forget the age-old concepts of supply and demand. Since the demand for organic products is small (ironically, it’s small because of the cost in most cases), farmers have to charge more to earn a living from the smaller number of sales.

As more and more people are choosing organic foods, the costs will come down due to the increased demand. Manufacturers are able to reduce their costs when producing anything in larger quantities, and the same goes for most organic food products though not necessarily for actual whole fruits and vegetables themselves. But overall, the greater the production level, the lower the costs will be.

The costs should also come down as more farmers investigate organic growing concepts and get better and utilizing them instead of resorting to sprays. The learning curve isn’t too steep but it can take a while for the ideas to develop and improve enough to become as productive as old conventional methods.

All of these reasons work together to create an environment where organic foods cost more. Thankfully, the demand is still growing which will slowly but surely improve the market and costs will naturally come down to where it will make sense to buy organic whenever you can.

Preserving and Storing the Organic Way

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tea leavesSince buying or growing organic produce tends to be a seasonal affair, you will want to be able to preserve your fruits and vegetables to use later in the year. There are several great food preservation methods that you can use to keep food for many months, all still retaining the organic standards you are looking for. The most common are canning, freezing and drying.

Canning

Canning is a bit of a misnomer since you are really storing your food in glass jars rather than cans. You can can things like pickles and tomatoes (high acidity) foods in just a boiling water bath but for all other foods, you will need to invest in a pressure canner. Food is packed into proper canning jars, made by Ball or Mason (not old jam jars) and heated under pressure long enough to kill any bacteria. When they are removed from the canner and cooled, a vacuum is created which seals down the lids.

This is how many past generations preserved their foods and though it takes more work than these other methods, the sealed jars can be stored anywhere once finished. Your food retains much of its nutrients but the texture will be softer since everything you can gets a good cooking in the canner.

Freezing

Freezing is the simplest method here but does require the ongoing use of your freezer to keep everything nicely frozen. This can be a problem if your home is subject to power outages. Some vegetables can just be cleaned up and frozen just as-is but you will get better preservation if you blanch most first. That’s a quick bath is boiling hot water to stop the natural enzyme actions that would degrade your food, even in the freezer. When thawed, your food will be the closest to fresh of most preservation methods.

For large gardens, you may need to invest in a second chest freezer if you want to use this method to preserve most of your harvest.

Drying

Drying is not ideal for all your fruits and veggies but it can be a great option to use as part of your overall preservation plan. Like canning, you can stored your finished foods without any special conditions (unlike freezing). All you need is a dehydrator, which isn’t much more than a small heater with a fan. Most commercial dehydrators will hold several trays of sliced food and have them thoroughly dry in an afternoon or overnight. For large harvests, you will want a large unit or even build your own drying racks.

Food that is dried for preservation needs to be completely dry or it can become moldy while in storage. Depending on the type of food, that can be tough and leathery or even dry enough to snap when bent. The food will shrink quite a bit once dehydrated making for better storage. The downside is that the consistency of the food once it’s rehydrated isn’t as good as the other methods

None of these methods involving using artificial or chemical preservatives, making them perfect for the organic shopper or gardener.

Organic Tea Benefits

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With people all around the world becoming more health conscious and learning the detrimental effects of consuming unhealthy foods, almost all kinds of food consumables have natural ingredients today—like tea. Tea has been an everyday beverage since time incarnate. However, with people generally becoming health conscious, the health benefits and disadvantages of tea were discussed, which has created a scenario where healthier and better options of tea are now available, one of them being organic tea.

Organic tea is the tea that is prepared using only natural ingredients and resources. Organic tea is special tea which guards the body against several disorders and offers many better nutrients to the human body.

However, one should keep in mind that organic products like organic foods, organic tea etc. are quite expensive than compared to the other mainstream products, and it becomes very necessary to weigh the advantages of buying the organic products. When it comes to organic tea, there are several organic tea benefits that make buying organic tea an interesting deal.

Basically, the organic tea benefits depend on what ingredients have gone into the cultivation of the tea. However, the most basic organic tea benefit is the increased amount of antioxidants. Antioxidants are the best natural resources that a body can get. Antioxidants are created from a process that is known as oxidative stress.

Oxygen is one of the most important resources needed by the body, but the body loses oxygen because of the natural bodily processes. The antioxidants help the body in many things, right from being an anti-aging product to combating cancer.

Organic tea benefits not only the user but also the farmer. Because the crop is grown in a natural manner, the soil remains stronger for a longer while, and produce is of a higher quality and the soil can remain fertile for a longer time.

Another important organic tea benefit is the boost that it gives to the immune system. Tea has long been known as being a booster shot to the body—that is the reason that one consumes tea or coffee during those long nights of work—but organic tea provides a boost to the immune system, which makes it difficult for the human body to contract viruses and other illnesses.

Organic black tea, prepared with natural methods and having natural ingredients has organic tea benefits like decreasing the risk of cardiovascular issues, prevention of heart issues like a stroke or an attack, and also it prevents some kinds of cancers. Organic black tea has another organic tea benefit, in the sense that the caffeine content is almost fifty percent less, which makes it a much healthier drink as compared to the other beverages available in the market today.

These are several other organic teas that are available in the market, and the organic tea benefits depend on the type of ingredients that are used to prepare the tea. If you are interested in switching over to organic tea, make sure that you read the instructions and the ingredients of the tea, so that you can decide which tea you wish to use.

Organic Fruit and Vegetables vs. Regular Fruit and Vegetables

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fruitOrganic fruit and vegetables are gaining popularity in today’s world. A lot of people are giving up their usual farm produce and opting for foods that have been growing naturally, and fruits and vegetables are the most in demand here. So, should you give up your regular groceries and move on to these organic versions too? Here is what you should know.

Organic fruit and vegetables are those that are developed in a completely organic way. This means, these foods are grown in fields which aren’t treated with chemicals in any way. Synthetic fertilizers are not used in these fields. Similarly, these fields are not treated with chemical pesticides, bactericides, fungicides, germicides or any other kind of synthetic substances. Complete care is taken to keep these fruits and vegetables away from coming in contact with chemicals. Even the water that is supplied to these fields is completely pure and devoid of any industrial runoffs or chemical wastes that may be the case with the irrigation water in usual fields.

So, are organic fruits and vegetables better than regular ones? Here are some advantages that you should know about these foods:-

1. Since these foods are completely devoid of synthetic chemicals, they are much safer for the people consuming them. The synthetic additions in usual foods can trigger allergies in some people and reduce their immunity in the long run. Health experts vouch for the benefits of food that is developed in such an entirely natural way.

2. Some people also claim that the fruits that are prepared organically taste better than other fruits and vegetables that are developed with the addition of chemical substances. When developed organically, the nutritional value of the fruits and vegetables remain intact. Also, fruits and vegetables that are developed with chemical additives may have a watered down taste. This happens because the chemicals make the organic substances absorb more water from the soil, thus marring their taste. Organic fruits and vegetables, on the other hand, grow in harmony with nature and hence they preserve their taste.

3. An indirect benefit of using only organic fruits and vegetables is that it leads to water conservation. Traditional methods of farming include addition of several chemical substances to the soil, which then enter the water and spoil its quality. Over time, this can pose a grave danger to the environment. However, if the world were to shift towards using completely organic methods for agriculture, this kind of unnatural addition to water would be avoided and help in water conservation.

4. In preparing organic fruits and vegetables, absolutely no genetic engineering is permitted. Hence, these fruits and vegetables are as pure and natural as they can get, without any kind of modification or alteration.

These are the reasons why people feel that organic fruits and vegetables are better than their conventional counterparts. Even though the completely organic processes employed in their development culminate in making these foods a tad bit more expensive, people who are conscious of the environment don’t mind the extra buck they need to pay as long as they feel they are doing something constructive for the environment.

Organic Milk vs. Regular Milk

Beverages, Featured

milkOrganic milk is gaining a lot of popularity today. The superstores have devoted full sections to this product, while there are still a vast majority of people who don’t understand what’s wrong with the regular milk that has been used by them all this time. Is organic milk the more original one or is the regular one we have currently the predecessor of it? Is organic milk just a fad, like so many other health fads that have infiltrated the world right now? These are some of the questions that are haranguing people’s minds.

What Is Organic Milk?

So, what is organic milk? Basically, this is milk that has been obtained from cows and buffaloes that were kept completely on natural feed. These cows aren’t given any synthetic hormones or supplements that other cows and buffaloes are sometimes given to boost their milk producing ability. They are kept away from anything that is laden with chemicals and is billed as synthetic. In fact, this is done to such an extent that these cows and buffaloes aren’t even given the same medicines that regular cows and buffaloes are given—they are only given natural versions of any medicine when they fall sick.

Regular milk, on the other hand, is different. In most dairy farms, cows and buffaloes are given some booster hormones and other chemicals so that their milk production increases. They are given feed that has been grown synthetically using artificial fertilizers and sprayed with chemical based pesticides, fungicides and bactericides to keep them away from diseases and other destructive factors.

Organic Milk vs. Regular Milk—A Comparison

When you consume regular milk, you are taking in the various chemicals that were used in the production of this milk, right from the chemical fertilizers that were used in developing the fodder for the cattle to the synthetic preservatives that are used in keeping the milk fresh for longer. This can take its toll on your health. In some cases, these chemicals have been found to produce health conditions such as eczemas and allergies and, in some cases, even the risk of cancer is found to be increased.

The process of pasteurization for organic milk follows a different pattern than that used for regular milk. While pasteurizing regular milk, artificial preservatives might be added. However, organic milk producers reject all such types of chemicals. Instead, they use a technique known as ultra-high temperature pasteurization, in which milk is heated to a temperature much above its boiling point and then cooled in different ways. This treatment actually works quite well because it ends up making the milk more fortified than regular milk that is available. Consequently, the shelf life of organic milk increases.

However, when you take a look at the individual nutrient levels in organic and regular milk, you will find that there is no major difference. Milk produced by both methods has the same nutritional value and hence it is equally healthy.

But, people are still moving towards using organic milk, and the reason for that lies in the fact that this milk is healthier and as away from synthetic additions as it can get.