Nature’s Pantry’s Organic Foods

In this day and age when everyone is concerned about the nutritional value of their food and the source in which that food came, making sure that  it is safe and organic is your safest option.

Here at Nature’s Pantry in Lebanon, Missouri, we critically examine every health food, vitamin supplement and health related product that comes through our door.  Organic is a buzz word that is thrown around by a lot of people these days.  Some packaging may be labeled organic when in fact it is not.  Have you ever seen shampoo labeled organic?  Almost every type of shampoo contains chemicals that would never be allowed by the FDA in foods.

In order for a health food to be labeled organic, it must either be certified by an organic certifying agency, carry the USDA organic seal or contain at least 95% organic material.  However, just because a product does not carry an organic label does not mean it is not organic.  A farmer who sells less than $5000 worth of fruits and vegetables a year is exempt from having to label his products organic even though they are.

A product label as, “Made With Organic Ingredients” cannot carry the USDA Organic Seal.  Products with the “Made With Organic Ingredients” label  must contain at least 70% organic ingredients.

There are several reasons why you may want to consider organic when buying your food, drink or supplement.  First, there are of course pesticides.  Pesticides have been proven to cause a wide range of physical, mental and health related issues.  Hormones in our meat and milk as well as antibiotics are also common in the foods we eat.  Synthetic estrogens and testosterone are commonly used in both beef and poultry farms.  These hormones encourage faster growth in the animals as well as increase milk supply.  These hormones and antibiotics do eventually end up inside of you.  Although there is a long standing debate as to how bad these hormones and antibiotics are for humans, it has been proven that over exposure of estrogen leads to higher risk of vaginal and breast cancer along with many other problems.  For many years, hormone-treated meat has been suspected of contributing to early puberty in children.  However, some scientists claim that there may be other contributing factors in society today.

To be sold as organic, animals cannot be fed meat from other animals.  They must be fed only organic vegetarian feed.  The Livestock cannot be treated with radiation, any antibiotics or hormones and they must have an amount of exercise.

The FDA has issued a list of the following fruits and vegetables that often contain the highest levels of pesticides:

• Peaches
• Apples
• Sweet bell peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Pears
• Imported grapes
• Spinach
• Lettuce
• Potatoes

The foods with the least amount of pesticides follows:

• Avocados
• Frozen sweet corn
• Pineapples
• Mangos
• Asparagus
• Frozen peas
• Bananas
• Cabbage
• Broccoli
• Papayas

You can reduce your health risk significantly by buying organic meats locally and washing your fruits and vegetables thoroughly.