Organic Food is More Nutritious

• Organic food is much richer in vitamins, minerals and fibre and retains the levels of nutrients for longer, which enables your body to be more resistant to disease as it will have higher levels of the essential nutrients it needs to fight off infection.
• Raw or non-processed organic food, contains higher levels of beta carotene, vitamins C, D and E, health-promoting polyphenols, cancer- fighting antioxidants and bio-flavonoids that help ward off heart disease.
• On the average, organic food is 25% more nutritious in terms of vitamins and essential minerals (such as calcium, magnesium, iron and chromium), that are severely depleted in chemical foods grown on pesticide and nitrate fertilizer-abused soil. UK and US government statistics indicate that levels of trace minerals in non-organic fruit and vegetables fell up to 76% between 1940 and 1991.
• Since on the average, organic food's shelf price is only 20% higher than chemical food, and organic food is 25% more nutritious, its actually cheaper, gram for gram, than chemical food, even ignoring the astronomical hidden costs (damage to health, climate, environment, and government subsidies) of industrial food production. Levels of antioxidants in milk from organic cattle are between 50% and 80% higher than non-organic milk. Organic wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce have between 20% and 40% more nutrients than non-organic foods.
  

Organic Food Is Safer

• Organic food doesn't contain food additives, flavor enhancers (like MSG), artificial sweeteners (like aspartame and high-fructose corn syrup), contaminants (like mercury) or preservatives (like sodium nitrate), that can cause health problems. Eating organic can lower the incidence of autism, learning disorders, diabetes, cancer, coronary heart disease, allergies, osteoporosis, migraines, dementia, and hyperactivity.
  
• Organic food doesn't contain pesticides. Over 400 chemical pesticides are used in conventional farming and residues remain on non-organic food even after washing. Pesticides are linked to asthma and cancer. Children are especially vulnerable.
  
• Under organic standards, genetically modified (GM) crops are prohibited.
  
• Organic farming standards prohibit the use of antibiotics, growth hormones and GM vaccines in farm animals. Hormone-laced beef and dairy is correlated with increased rates of breast, testis and prostate cancers.
  
• Organic animals aren't fed animal remains or slaughterhouse waste, blood, or manure. Eating organic reduces the risks of the human version of mad cow disease as well as Alzheimer's.
  
• Organic animals aren't fed arsenic or byproducts of corn ethanol production, which increases the rate of E. coli.
  
• Organic crops aren't fertilized with toxic sewage sludge or coal waste, or irrigated with E. coli contaminated sewage water.
  
• Organic food isn't irradiated. Cats fed a diet of irradiated food got multiple sclerosis within 3-4 months.
  
• Organic food contains less illness-inducing bacteria. Organic chicken is free of salmonella and has a reduced incidence of campylobacter.

Source: www.OrganicConsumers.org