Organic, local, all-natural, free range, No GMO, no antibiotics, sustainable, and grass-fed, these buzz words have come to mean different things to different people as discussions polarize around our food system. The benefit of organic food is one issue that has been hotly debated, with mixed results from scientific studies, and mixed results as well from people that shop for organic foods.

The benefits of organic foods center around two key beliefs.

• Better for the earth.
• Better for the body.

Did you know that less than 1% of all American crops are organic? Still, about 78% of families buy some food that is organic. The benefits of organic food are probably most readily available for pregnant mothers, and children, who might be affected negatively by higher levels of pesticides. Although even those benefits are contradicted in studies, the benefit of organic food for the earth is considerable and hard to deny.

Certain pesticides, besides wiping out natural ecosystems, have a terrible effect on one of our most important pollinators, the honeybee. Pesticides enter the soil and our water supply, and they are also harmful to the farm workers who come into closer contact to the residues than anyone else. Consider that when nearby farms receive crop-dusting, warnings go out for nearby residents to stay indoors. If you should not be breathing in or exposed to the chemicals that are being used on the crops, do you really want those pesticides on your food?

Did you know that organic food benefits can also be tied to consumer behaviors? Those who shop for organic food are 29% more likely to eat a healthier diet! While there may not be much proof that organic foods have more nutrients, or that pesticides can cause harm to a person, it is still up to each individual person to decide what kind of a food system they want to support. Today, more than 4% of food sold is organic, even though it represents only 1% of crops, and the industry has grown to more than $31 billion a year.

What is the benefit of organic food to you?

Organic food is not a new concept. Think about it. Before we constructed factories to grow all of our produce in, and before we started crafting everything else out of chemicals like petroleum or high fructose corn syrup, the produce and meat that was consumed in this country was all natural.

There were no pesticides, no hormones, no antibiotics. There were no steroids, no teeny tiny pens to keep the livestock in. It was a different time. Granted, that was a time that they did not always have a guarantee of how their crop would do. Sometimes they had rough years. People would die over the winter. Their cattle would get sick. Pests would get into the crops. For some, the benefits of organic foods do not outweigh the risks of dealing with those problems present day.

But to others, those reasons are not worth giving up the organic benefits. Because of all of those chemicals and pesticides and steroids, people are consuming more meat than ever before. Because our cows and chickens and turkeys and pigs are bigger than they have ever been, bigger than nature intended. So who cares if the animal suffers as long as they produce an extra porkchop?

That certainly is one of the organic benefits. Knowing that the animal who produced your food was not pumped so full of hormones that it could not stand, that it had to just sit in a tiny cage its entire life. And that the butcher procedure was done as humanely as possible, with concern for the pain and stress of the animal, and not worried about how many animals can be slaughtered in a minute.

The lack of chemicals are the other organic benefits. You can know that an organic apple has not been sprayed with pesticides for the last two months straight. No matter how many times the produce is washed, you cannot get rid of that. By that point, the pesticides have made their way into the fruit itself.

And have you ever stopped to think why kids are physically growing up more quickly than our generation did? A lot of scientists are attributing it to the tons and tons of hormones that the big agriculture farms are pumping into their stock. Those do not go away when they slaughter the animal, and our youth are ingesting them on a regular basis.

Despite what our forefathers had to go through, we may not necessarily have it any better. If we had natural food, we would not be ingesting hormones and chemicals with every bite. We may see less obesity, less long term health issues, and a better overall quality of life. You can decide whatever you like, but how you buy speaks volumes. Choose wisely.

The benefits of organic foods greatly outweigh those of conventional practices. While some industries will poopoo the benefit of organic food, you need only look to see who is badmouthing them in order to find an ulterior motive. Most companies like big agriculture, or monster food chains, will fight the rise of organics tooth and nail. But the numbers are out there, and you only need to read a report or infographic in order to see that the benefits of organic foods are much more than those of conventional farming and production.

To begin with some simple figures, think about the nutrition and costs associated with organic foods. It has been found that organic food has 25 percent more vitamins and minerals than standard. And while the price of organic is higher, it is actually only about 20 percent more, and when you factor in how much you will be saving on healthcare throughout your whole life, the price is significantly cheaper.

In non organic foods, the levels of trace minerals in produce fell nearly 76 percent from 1940 to 1991. And in conventional farming, over 400 different pesticides are sprayed all over the produce on a routine basis. Even a strong washing cannot rid the food of the poisons however, because by the time it reaches us, it is already in the actual produce.

The levels of antioxidants found in milk from organically raised and fed cows are 50 to 80 percent more than in the normal cows. Organic tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, onions and lettuce have all been found to have 20 to 40 percent more nutrients than their non organic counterparts.

A grass fed cow has significantly less amounts of stress in its life, gets regular exercise as it is allowed to simply graze and eat at free will, and has higher levels of Omega 3 fatty acids. Grain fed cows are usually pumped full of antibiotics, have much higher stress levels, and have more Omega 6 oils which cause inflammation in humans. If you consume the average American amount of beef a year, about 67 pounds, if you switch to grass fed beef you will actually save yourself 16,642 calories per year.

That is just a small handful of the horrifying numbers tied to organic versus standard foods. I would say that that is enough to convince you to consider switching to organics. And you have not even seen the environmental effects behind organic versus non organic farms. Before you look for any more benefits of organic foods however, consider the change. Remember, it does not have to be all at once. That can be a hard transition to make instantly. But, as long as you make the promise and make the effort, you can make a difference.

The benefits of organic foods are all common sense and right there if you simply open your eyes to see them. The only argument that should have to be made about organic food benefits is that it is healthier. Done. That should be enough to convince any living human being to eat more healthily with organic foods. And yet, people just cannot seem bring themselves to do it. So, perhaps a little scared straight action to better explain the benefits of organic foods.

Let us start with a little definition. What exactly is organic food? What makes it organic food? The answer is how it is grown and produced. For plant matter, the only fertilizer that can be used is either compost or manure. Absolutely no chemical fertilizers, as well as synthetic pesticides, herbicides and antibiotics. For livestock, the animal must be fed strictly organic feed, and have access to the outdoors. It is all about limiting chemical intake and making sure that no unnecessary additives are being put in. The whole point of organic is to get the food and just the food. Nothing more.

To eat an apple that has not been touched by chemicals is like consuming pure, wholesome nutrition. If the apple has been sprayed with all sorts of pesticides and herbicides, then, along with those diminished vitamins, you are also getting residuals of all of those pesticides, either on the outside of the apple, or those that were absorbed by the tree and then fed into the apple itself. The same can be applied to livestock. If they are fed hormones and antibiotics and modified feed, all of those horrible chemicals are going to be inside of the meat when you get it to cook. Sure, people have been eating things this way for years. But we are not starting to see actual side effects and results from our children consuming all of this horribly modified food.