Top 10 foods to buy organic

This week is national organic week, which is raising awareness of all things organic.  Choosing to eat an organic diet means that you avoid putting any genetically modified ingredients, additives, herbicides and pesticides into your body. Additionally, organic food also has higher nutritional value, meaning it’s richer in vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants than its counterparts, boosting your immune system, wellbeing and vitality.

Buying organic produce also means you are doing your part to save the planet as organic farming, unlike non-organic farming, aims to nurture and protect the environment.  It’s also kinder to the animals and wildlife, compared to non-organic methods.

Here’s a roundup of the top 10 foods you should naturally choose to go organic with, and why.

Carrots

Farmers growing organic carrots and other organic fruit and vegetables control pests and combat disease by rotating their crops. This means that they grow different crops in the same area of soil, which reduces the build up of pests. Crop rotation also helps to keep the soil healthy, as different crops draw different nutrients from the soil. Therefore growing a variety of crops on the same area of land ensures the soil is never depleted of any 1 specific nutrient.

Apples

Organic apple farming aims to create a healthy eco-system by not using artificial fertilisers and pesticides. By doing this, more birds and wildlife are attracted and they control pests in a more natural way.

Cucumbers

Intensively farmed cucumbers are grown in water-based systems which are reliant on artificial fertilisers. Organic cucumbers are grown in the soil, which is nurtured and controlled with compost and crop rotation.

Bananas

Farmers use coffee husk and seaweed to naturally fertilise the soil their bananas grow in. They also control weeds by hand, as opposed to using chemical herbicides.

Blueberries

Farmers of organic blueberries plant trees and shrubs along the borders of the blueberry plantation, which attract bees and other insects. They present a natural way to keep pests at bay, as opposed to the use of chemical pesticides.

Mince meat

Organically reared cattle have access to spacious pastures of organic grass and clover and are allowed to graze freely. Their feed is also free from artificial compounds and they’re only treated with antibiotics when needed.  Because of the animals’ healthy conditions, the meat, unlike non-organic meat, doesn’t need or contain any artificial preservatives, flavours or colours.

Eggs

Chickens laying organic eggs can roam freely on organic pastures, unlike free range eggs which are let out of their cramped cages for just 5 minutes per day. They are also fed organic feed that’s free from hormones, and which hasn’t been treated with artificial pesticides or fertiliser.

Milk

Organic dairy farmers do not spray their pastures where the cattle graze with artificial pesticides or fertilisers, and the cows are fed organically grown feed. The cows are also only treated with antibiotics when they’re ill, as opposed to a preventative measure that is standard practice amongst non-organic dairy farms.

Cheese

Organic cheese is made using organic milk, which is produced by cows that are fed a diet of organic grain and can freely roam spacious pastures.

Chicken

Organically reared chickens have access to lots of outdoor space, where they are free to roam, exercise and forage. These healthy conditions help to naturally build up the bird’s immune systems, reducing the need for antibiotics. They are also never pumped with growth hormones, which non-organic farmers use to speed the chickens growth, to increase profitability.