| ic farming is as close to what Mother Nature intended | | | | cluttered with the empty bottles! These take forever |
| as possible. Did you know that the soil is an | | | | to break down, and are becoming a real problem due |
| ecosystem in and of itself? In organic farming, you | | | | to their sheer volume. Organic farming is helping to |
| feed the soil so it will in turn feed your plants. | | | | rebuild healthy soil in our country. It helps to keep |
| Farmers who have pledged to go organic do not use | | | | topsoil erosion in check, and also protects our |
| synthetic fertilizers or pesticides to grow their | | | | groundwater. This in turn will help our water supply |
| vegetables and fruits. Instead, they make use of | | | | return to normal as the contaminants are filtered out |
| compost for fertilizer and also use a cover crop that | | | | naturally and with manmade devices. |
| is tilled into the soil to add nutrients, also known as | | | | Our organic farmers believe strongly in working with |
| green manure. They control any pests and also keep | | | | nature and not against it. Nature provided our soil |
| the soil productive by rotating their crops and using | | | | with microbiotics, which make the soil fertile and can |
| mechanical cultivation practices. This keeps any | | | | be considered as a natural fertilizer. When chemical |
| chemicals from finding their way into the air that we | | | | fertilizers are applied to the soil, this kills off the |
| breathe, helping to cut down on air pollution. | | | | microbiotics. Organic farmers prefer to fertilize their |
| No chemical fertilizer also means healthier soil. Good | | | | crops in a different way. First of all, they feed their |
| soil attracts worms, and worms attract other animals, | | | | animals a natural food which contains no hormones or |
| some of them helpful predators which will further | | | | antibiotics. The animals consume this feed, and the |
| reduce the need for any sort of chemical additions. | | | | farmer takes their manure, which still has around |
| The amount and variety of chemicals added to | | | | 75% of the original nutrients, and returns it to the |
| produce grown in a non-organic manner is truly | | | | soil. This feeds the soil and help to keep the |
| staggering. | | | | macrobiotic process going. |
| The buildup of chemicals over a period of time is | | | | Conventional agriculture takes the nutrients out of |
| very detrimental to the condition of agricultural soil. | | | | our soil at a rate that is up to 80 times faster than |
| Vital nutrients that are necessary for growth of the | | | | nature can replenish it. Too much soil depletion would |
| plants and are also normally present in our vegetables | | | | mean that we would be eating vegetables and fruits |
| and fruits are crowded out by this buildup, resulting in | | | | with almost no natural vitamins and minerals other |
| produce that is lacking in vitamins and minerals. Also, | | | | than the synthetic ones added to make up for the |
| these toxic chemicals can slowly leach out of the soil | | | | loss. Organic farming helps the foods we eat to |
| and into our municipal water supplies; polluting them | | | | retain their nutrition while at the same time allowing |
| and making the water unfit to drink. This means | | | | the all important soil to remain sustainable so that we |
| more people buy bottled water, and our landfills are | | | | can continue to enjoy nutrition the natural way. |