Organic Foods Wrap-up Facts and Trivia

Today wraps up our series on organic foods. I thought I'd leave you with just a bit more facts and trivia on organic foods and their impact (as well as the impact of conventional farming). For lots more info on organics, be sure to check out the Organic Consumer's Association website at www.OrganicConsumers.org.

Organic Facts and Trivia

• It takes five years for soil contamination to dissipate when a conventional farm wants to convert to organic. During that period, the land cannot be cultivated.
  
• Over 500 chemicals are commonly used in conventional farming in the US.
  
• Toxic chemical exposure begins even before birth as fetuses become exposed to their mother’s toxins in utero through the placenta.
• Organics has its own Congressional Caucus! Formed in 2003, the Congressional Organic Agriculture Caucus is a bi-partisan committee created to “enhance availability and understanding of information relating to the production and processing of organic agricultural products.”
  
• California is the global hub of organic food, representing the largest market for organic food, as well as the largest concentration of forward thinking farmers and food cooperatives.
• The conventional agricultural industry is estimated to use over 800 million pounds of pesticides each year in the United States alone.
  
• In Germany, several water utilities have paid farmers to switch to organic operations because the conversion costs proved less than the economic burden of removing farm chemicals from water supplies.
  
• According to a study done by a team of scientists from the Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences aided by a Newcastle University scientist, rats fed organic produce were slimmer, slept better, and had stronger immune systems than those fed conventionally grown foods.