Eating Organic

Until I started working on an organic farm, I had not in truth put much thought into eating organically grown produce. It always seemed like the clearly better choice, but was it worth the money? What did it really matter, what did it really mean? I was already a long time vegetarian, surely that was enough?

But now that I go out into the fields every day, dig into the soil, harvest, handle the produce, I have realized how important the distinction is between organic and not. I can not imagine working everyday in a field polluted by pesticides and herbicides. Handling chemically laden produce. Breathing in toxic air. Having acid water absorbed into my skin. If I can not imagine working in those conditions, than why can I so easily eat food produced in those conditions?

Thankfully, as I work at an organic farm, there is nothing to fear. The air is as clean as any New Jersey air (how clean is that...?), the soil is natural, the produce healthy.

I am now going to make a concious effort to eat organic as often as possible. At this point in my life it is far too expensive to eat solely organic, as well as nearly impossible when one considers eating at restaurants, on campus, and at friends houses. But as often as possible. Put as few of those pesticides and toxins into my body as I can manage. And I will continue to work to make this a reality for those around me as well. First by working on an organic farm, and by one day operating my own organic farm. It's better for the environment and it's better for your body. It's the way agriculture existed for thousands of years before some giant corporation decided corporate farmers could maximize profit by spraying toxic chemicals all over their produce.