“We have not inherited the Earth from our fathers, we are borrowing it from our children.” (Lester Brown). Food choices made now determine your child’s future health. Compared to an adult, the average child receives four times more exposure to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food.

Soil is the foundation of the food chain in organic gardening. The living organisms in the soil make plant food available to crops naturally. In conventional farming however, the soil is used more as a medium to supply man-made chemicals and to hold plants in a vertical position. Soil structure is neglected and the valuable topsoil is easily washed or blown away.

Two thirds of our body mass is made up of water. Ground water and rivers are our primary source of drinking water. Conventional farming uses chemical pesticides, fertilisers and herbicides which can easily pollute these water sources. Organic farmers don’t use these harmful chemicals.

Modern farming uses more petroleum than any other industry. More energy is now used to produce synthetic fertilisers than to till, cultivate and harvest crops. Organic farming is still based on labour-intensive practices such as hand weeding, green manure and cover crops instead of artificial fertilisers. Buying locally-grown organic produce reduces ‘food miles’.

Many pesticides were registered for use on plants long before extensive research linking them to cancer and other diseases could be established. They are poisons designed to kill living organisms and can also harm humans. In addition to cancer, pesticides are implicated in birth defects, nerve damage and genetic manipulations.

Conventional farmers have a much larger risk of developing cancer than non-farmers. Farm-worker health is also a serious problem in developing nations where pesticides can be poorly regulated. An estimated one million people are poisoned annually by pesticides.

Most organic farms are small, independently-owned family enterprises of less than 100 acres. Many family farms have been lost during recent years. Organic farming could be one of the few survival options left for family farms.

Although organic foods might seem more expensive than conventional foods, conventional food prices don’t reflect hidden costs such as pesticide regulation and testing, hazardous waste disposal and cleanup and environmental damage. If the hidden environmental and social costs of chemically-produced conventional produce were added to the apparent cost, it would be more than double the price of organic food.

The conventional farmer uses monoculture, the planting of large plots of land with the same crop year after year. This approach leaves the soil lacking in natural minerals and nutrients, which have to be replaced by chemical fertilisers in increasing amounts. Single crops are also more susceptible to pests, making farmers more reliant on pesticides. Insects have become genetically resistant to certain pesticides and, despite increased uses of chemicals, crop losses are growing. Organic farmers encourage natural predators on their farms and are content with a smaller harvest. They also practise crop rotation to add health and energy to the soil.

Organic farming starts with the nourishment of the soil, which leads to the nourishment of the plant and, ultimately, our palate. Ask the many chefs who prefer to use organic foods. Organically produced foods also keep better.