Organic food is better. Better for you, better for the planet and better for the farmers. Buying organic food has been the trendy thing to do for the past few years, and you can now find anything from organic bananas to organic pet treats and shampoos in any local grocery store. Although organic food may be a little more expensive, it is essential that we start buying into the organic food trend.

What exactly is organic? It means that the farmers do not use pesticides, antibiotics or hormones when farming. Food production by the USDA Organic Program is also regulated by the government, to help prevent trace pollutants from cross contamination.

The Organic Farmers Association reports that a larger part of organic agriculture involves the health of the soil in which crops are raised. Organic practices recognize that healthy, vibrant and live soils can benefit crops. Organic practices let the plants grow naturally and get all their needs from the soil instead of only letting the plant naturally get light, water and air, and importing all the rest to spray all over the crop. Synthetic chemicals ultimately kill the soil, making crops dependent on farmers to fight off disease, drought and animals.

Doesn’t it seem strange that the “conventional” methods of agriculture that we mainly use today by supplying everything a plant needs through the farmer has only been used for the past 75 out of 10,000 years of recorded agriculture production?

It is a short-term answer to producing food, and one that is harming the soil and making it practically impossible for many plants to be able to thrive on their own. By supporting local, organic agriculture, you can support sustainable methods of land use that result in less pollution and top-soil loss than with conventional agriculture.

Synthetic pesticides and herbicides not only kill soil microbes and leave toxic residues on food; they also threaten the health of farm workers and disrupt natural ecosystems around the farm. Chemical fertilizers pollute lakes, ponds, rivers and groundwater. I think that it is worth it to buy one less 12-pack a week and instead support sustaining the earth that we live on.

The alternative to using synthetic pesticides and fertilizes requires more labor on a farm, and this means more support for local economies, but it also can mean higher prices. Conventionally grown foods cost less because the unseen costs of creating synthetic inputs, the resulting pollution from spreading them and possible long term health effects of pesticide residues in our food are passed on to the consumer and the environment. Organic food is the best bargain for our personal health and future generations.

In a world where Americans seem to be growing more and more short sighted on choices that affect our future, it is everyone’s responsibility to make choices that will benefit the environment and communities, not one that will temporarily relieve your grocery budget.

Now all this talk about better methods may have you still wondering what that extra dollar or so on organic food is actually doing for you.

Well for one thing, organically grown foods just plain taste better.

Flavor results from a mixture of many different and complex molecules; and healthy, living soil provides a constant and more complex mixture; thus more flavor. Chefs working in the highest caliber restaurants prefer organic ingredients to conventionally grown ingredients because they taste better.

The Organic Consumers Association reports that a study in 2003 found that, on average, organic food contained higher levels of vitamin C and essential minerals than conventional produce. Also, organic cows produced milk that was 50 percent higher in Vitamin E and 75 percent higher in vitamin A. Your health and diet are dependent upon the foods that you put into your body, and foods grown in healthier soil mean a healthier you.

If you are not familiar with organically grown foods, a good start is to begin buying basic commodity items, such as apples, pears, cucumbers, green beans and tomatoes. These items are in ample supply from organic farms, so you will notice the least amount of price differences versus conventional products. Other foods that are not as bountiful will have a more noticeable price difference if grown organically, so it’s best to start out with things that won’t hit you all at once.

The price of organic food is becoming more competitive, and the more of a market there is for it, the better the prices will get.

Organic food has obvious benefits to the overall land and smaller communities, as well as to the individual. If we do not start buying organic foods, soon our land will start to decline right alongside our health. Why would you put suspected cancer-causing pesticides and herbicides into your diet when you could eat healthy, natural food instead?

It is time that Americans wake up and smell the fresh organic food because if we don’t start making some changes soon, the long-term environmental effects will be disastrous.