Sticking to organics
Sticking to organics
It was a pleasure to read Audrey Wilson’s “Food for Thought” article about the problem of our burgeoning plastic waste problem (Tribune-Herald, Dec. 13). Spot on, Mrs. Wilson.
I take exception, though, to the section about organic foods. The reason organically grown food is important to nutritional-minded buyers is the sad fact that the land where giant crops are grown is exhausted, no longer able to supply the needed nutrients, so the corporate farms use chemical fertilizers to pump up that worn-out soil. Many pollutants are systemic, incorporated into the tissues of the plants, and cannot be washed away.
We have three primary concerns about nonorganic foods: (1) the aforementioned presence of chemical fertilizers, (2) toxic insecticides on our food and (3) the presence, at least in the case of meat products, of antibiotics in our food.
In meats, we also must consider the hormones added to the diets of the animals. Throughout the country, young females are growing breasts at younger ages. Chicken seems to be a prime source of hormones. Many health-conscious buyers choose organics to avoid these unhealthy additions to our diets.
Unknowingly consuming a steady diet of antibiotics diminishes their effectiveness, leaving us vulnerable to infections they once could banish.
And finally, organics are far more likely to avoid the use of GMOs.
Mainstream sources are not good at addressing any of these problems. It appears the cited source of information is from a department of business and economics — not my favorite place to look for nutritional answers to food concerns.
Thank you for your information about plastics, but I’m sticking to organics.
Valita Vinson
Hawaiian Paradise Park