Go organic

The more I hear about the condition of animals raised for slaughter; chickens that have never stepped foot on natural ground and enhanced to grow rapidly towards their untimely deaths for example. I watched a turkey farm on dirty jobs one day. This guy goes through thousands of turkeys that are in a building, not outdoors, and picks out the dead ones and adds it to a compost pile that will be sold later as fertilizer. The reason these turkeys die in the first place is due to the hormones given that cause the bird to grow so fast, either it's heart can't keep up and it dies, or its legs don't keep up with the growth rate and break; those unlucky birds get killed by other turkeys. Even vegetables we buy are grown and raised with synthetic chemicals, and do not taste as good as organic, natural food.

Back in the 1930's people found that if they inject a cow with material from a cow's pituitary gland, the cow would produce more milk. And if given estrogen, cattle and poultry grew faster. In the 1950's people started using synthetic estrogen to fatten the cows and chickens, but stopped after finding that it was linked to causing cancer. Two out of three cows slaughtered for food have been administered hormones to make them grow faster or produce more milk. Of the six hormones given to animals, 3 are natural (estradiol, progesterone, and testosterone), but 3 are synthetic (zeranol, trenbolone acetate, and melengestrol acetate). Europe has been hormone free for 20 years after studies revealed that people eating hormone induced meat are at greater risk of hormonal imbalances and cancer. Obviously America hasn't caught up, the FDA says that these hormones are safe.

The beginning of synthetic chemicals used in farming is astonishing to me. Before World War II, all farming was done organically as there was no other option. The change occured because of discoveries of alternate uses of deadly weapons. Ammonium Nitrate was used for munitions turned into ammonium nitrate fertilizer. Even worse, Nerve gas is what led us to developing pesticides. Sure it does wonders destroying the bugs, but the same chemical meant to destroy life is purposely sprayed on our food.The synthetic chemicals used in farming never disappear. Traces of the pesticides remain in the food, and in the fat cells of humans who eat it. The chemicals used on cotton fields remain in the fabric of the cloths we all wear.

Reduce the toxic load, Reduce/Eliminate off farm pollution, Protect future Generations, Build Healthy soil, Tastes better/Truer flavor, Assist family farmers, Avoid poor science (cloned food), Eating with a sense of place, Promote Biodiversity, and Celebrate the culture of agriculture are 10 of the many reasons to go organic. This site on organic made easy has myths and facts about organic, and helps to plan for going organic, including finding a store. I would recommend checking out Price Cutter. Price Cutter has totally remodeled and added an entire organic section.