Organic Principles

There are many good reasons to choose organic milk, eggs and grains. To name a few, choosing organic means choosing high quality taste, promoting biodiversity and soil health and supporting small scale family farms.

"Organic farming is much more that just farming without chemicals - and for this reason, it should not be approached in terms of replacing chemical inputs with biological inputs. The key to success is to adopt a whole-system management approach. Since all parts of the farm ecosystem are interconnected, the organic farmer recognizes that every management decision will affect the system as a whole."

~ taken from Canadian Organic Grower’s Gaining Ground

Free of antibiotics, added hormones, GMO feed and other drugs; no GMO animals

Animals raised organically are not allowed to be fed antibiotics, the bovine human growth hormone (rbGH), or other artificial drugs. Animals are also not allowed to eat genetically modified foods.

More humane, ethical treatment of animals

Factory farms treat animals like commodities, and they are kept in tightly confined pens and often never move more than a few feet their whole lives.  The word “free-range” are clues that the animals were raised in a more humane way. Their diet tends to be better-rounded; the animals are not confined and spend time outdoors in the fresh air.

Manure

Small farms use it, industrial farms pollute with it.  On small, diverse farms, manure is used to naturally fertilize soil. Sustainable farms use their manure productively as organic fertilizer. The manure is “pure,” coming from animals fed organic diets.

Fewer chemicals used

Synthetic pesticides and fertilizers are not used on the food or land. Residues of persistent chemicals such as DDT, PCBs, dioxin, and many pesticides concentrate in animal fat. Eating organic reduces your exposure to these chemicals. 

Organic agriculture works for a healthy balance of the soil, including using crop rotation and other techniques to improve soil fertility, instead of controlling the environment with chemicals.

Energy and Balance

Organic farms uses less energy with careful ecological management, and using natural ecological balances to solve pest problems. Buying from local organic farms further reduces energy by reducing the amount of miles the food travels to your table.

Organic farms use 70 percent less energy than industrial farms, and since they don’t use pesticides they help preserve ground water. The farming techniques of organic farms build topsoil and don’t contribute to erosion.

Here is a great video that demonstrates how organic food is grown and why its important to grow and eat organic food!  Produced by:  Organic Council of Ontario and Narrated by: Organic Meadow General GM, Ted Zettel

 

Here's another video from the retailers perspective and why its important to purchase local AND organic foods!

This video explains why it's important that GMO's are stopped and to support your local family farms!