You may be one of many individuals who feels the need to eat more healthy. As you wander down the aisles of your supermarket you notice the section that contains foods and foods with ingredients from organic farms and begin to wonder if that might be a better choice for you. There is no doubt that produce, grains and livestock used in conventional foods are nutritious, but are they nutritious enough to maintain good health long term? How do you know whether organic food is any more nutritious and worth the extra money it usually costs to buy? You may have wondered about possible health risks that have been associated with eating conventional farm foods.

The environmental protection agency has stated that toxic levels in these foods are within the safety limits and do not pose health risks. Still many people are switching to organic foods because they believe otherwise. Sales continue to increase even though organic food cost more and sometimes alot more. In fact, the organic food industry has had a 20% growth rate since 1990 and as of 2001, 2.35 million acres had been designated for organic production in 48 states. Is this growth justified, or have people simply been convinced by others that organic food is safer, better for the environment and more nutritious, without any evidence?

According to the US environmental protection agency there are no health risks associated with eating foods exposed to chemicals because toxic levels are within tolerable limits. They arrived at this conclusion through conducting tests on adult men and animals by exposing them to one toxic chemical at a time. More recent evidence shows that when a combinatinon of chemicals are ingested long term, the health risk may be increased exponentially. Artificial fertilizers are incapable of replacing all the needed soil minerals which is causing a continual decrease in the mineral content found in fruits and vegetables.

Many children may be at higher risk of developmental damage because of growing metabolism and limited diet. Studies have shown that toxic concentration has been many times higher for children with a conventional diet than those with organic diets, placing them above safe limits for ingested toxins. Evidence has shown that eating organic food can reduce children's toxic levels to within in the EPA safety guidelines for toxic chemical exposure. Many of these foods also contain artificial additives such as monosodium glutamate and hydrogenated oils which are linked to disease. This is not the case with organic food production because the use of artificial additives is banned.

A report released by the Environmental Working Group named 12 fruits and vegetables as being the most contaminated with pestisides and recommended that people by organic. They are peaches, apples, cherries, red raspberries, strawberries, spinach, nectarines, celery, potatoes, pears, imported grapes and bell peppers. Another problem that conventional farming is experiencing is a steady decline in soil nutrients due to what scientists call the dilution effect, which is a drastic increase in crop yield because of the use of fertilizers and pestisides, and changes in plant breeding.

Organic food has been found to contain more minerals, cancer fighting phytonutrients, polyphenols, antioxidants and vitamin C than conventional food by the Soil Association Review. Conventional produce contains about 20% less dry matter than organic produce. Instead of dry matter, this 20% is made up only of water, which partly offsets the cost of higher priced organic produce, because each piece of produce contains more food and nutrition.

Tests have been performed with alternative cancer therapies that show that eating organic foods make a huge difference. Clinical evidence from doctors and nutritionists using alternative cancer treatments found that a totally organic diet was essential for a successful outcome. Other studies have shown better reproductive health, better recovery time from illness and better growth.

Plant flavonoids are believed to protect plants form insects, bacteria, fungal infection and photo-oxidation. These flavanoids have been found effective in disease prevention and the prevention of neurological disorders. A recent study has shown that organic produce has significantly higher levels of these flavonoids than conventional produce.

The United States Department of Agricuture (USDA) states that organic food must be grown without sprays, chemicals, fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients, sewage sludge, bioengineering, ionized radiation, pestisides and the soil has to be free of them as well. Any food that contains a USDA label will contain at least 95% organic ingredients and an expert approved by the goverment has inspected the farm to make sure that it has followed the USDA requirements.

In the U.S., the National Organic Program requires a state or private organization accredited by the USDA to certify agricultural products claiming to be organic. In Europe, the Europeon Union (EU) has strict certification standards and any organic products exported to the EU must be certified by an accredited certification group.

Food from organic farms is the better choice. Not only are they well within toxin safety limits established by the EPA, they are free of all chemical food additives. Studies have shown that organic foods are much more nutritious and lead to better health and are effective in the treatment and prevention of illness and disease.