Organic has a great reputation for providing the best possible product to put into or on your body. Organic is reputable for providing a healthier lifestyle for both the producer and the user, but what does organic really mean?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “relating to or derived from living matter .” According to the USDA, “integrate cultural, biological, and mechanical practices that foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity.”
According to most working adults, “a very expensive area in the grocery store I accidentally buy from every once in awhile.”
Theoretically, organic food does have its benefits. As opposed to inorganic foods, organic foods contain a higher nutritional value due to the absence of pesticides and fertilizers. This creates an environment where their natural phytochemicals aka vitamins and antioxidants, can thrive.
These thriving phytochemicals then have a chance to make it into your body where they can provide you with the living nutrients you need.
Have you ever heard that eating raw veggies are better for you than eating cooked ones? Think of phytochemicals like that. By buying inorganic food, you are essentially cooking all the nutrients out of your food.
However, this is just one exaggerated piece of the puzzle.
The idea behind organic is to create a lower environmental impact, not exactly to reduce pesticides being consumed which is where the confusion comes in.
The Annals of Internal Medicine points out that, “focusing on the nutritional value misses the point entirely of certifying, supporting and buying organic foods”.
The point of organic farming is to produce sustainable products in an environmentally friendly farm without harsh chemicals and fertilizers added to the final product.
A sharp eye would take a look into the actuality of what the limitations are of being an organic product. There are three basic categories organics are labeled as:
- Certified Organic
- USDA Organic Seal
- 100% Organic
In order to obtain a 100% Organic label, the product must have 100% USDA certified organic ingredients, absolutely zero non-organic ingredients, processing aids must be 100% organic. This is the purest seal you can receive of the three.
USDA and Certified Organic is a bit more tricky. This requires a product that contains 95% organic product with the remaining 5% may only be additives on an approved list.
This approved list is extensive.
Organic does not actually mean pesticide free, it means they are limited to only use pesticides in the USDA certified list.
Pesticides are only allowed as long as they are being used for, “preventive measures.”
As long as these pesticides are derived from a natural source, as opposed to a synthetic one, they are a-okay as far as the USDA is concerned.
I know, I was taken back as well. This whole time I believed a wholesome, seasoned farmer was growing my organic fruits and veggies on their family’s farm with only some elbow grease and good old fashioned hard work to make it the best it could be. Just to find out that they are certainly allowed to use chemicals, as long as it is on a very long list of approved ingredients?
Frustrating.
That is certainly not what we all have been paying for.
Organic will in no means supercharge your health, it is just a means to ensure less of a chance of exposure to potentially harmful substances. That is the truth in what you are paying for.
Until recently, we made the mistake of thinking natural pesticides were automatically harmless for you as opposed to their evil counter, synthetically made pesticides. Recent studies have shown that at least half of these natural alternatives are carcinogenic.
So even after going to all that trouble to only use organic products, you still find yourself supporting the use of harsh chemicals in your food. Back to square one it seems.
With so many variations of the label, it can be hard to distinguish what is the best product to buy. It is important to educate yourself in order to make the best informed decision about supporting the organic label and what it stands for. With an abundant amount of information on the internet, it is easy to be swayed into a flashy, trendy product that promises health and wellness.
Generally, the simpler the better.
In times like today, where toilet paper can be delivered to your doorstep with the touch of your finger, where convenience is king and productivity is at an all time high, who has time to make sure they are getting the purest form of their necessary nutrients?
Not me!
That’s where supplements come in handy.
Like 100% organic foods, there are also great benefits to including natural supplements in your daily regime. Food based natural supplements are overwhelmingly in favor as opposed to vitamins due to their absence of artificial ingredients. This makes it very simple for the body to recognize and process. When choosing a supplement, it is best to stick to those with the least amount of ingredients or those whose ingredients you can pronounce.
The more confusing the label, the more confused your body will be trying to figure out what to do with all the foreign ingredients, eventually leading to a slower metabolism.
A slow metabolism can taper off into a multitude of problems including inability to lose weight, chronic fatigue, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, excessive sweat, etc, etc, etc.
Simplicity is key! Keep it simple with your ingredients and your body will thank you.
However, if you want to eat the simplest, most pure form of fuel for your body, wild crafted food is ideal. Wild crafted foods is the closest you will get to pure apart from going out and picking the food yourself.
Just like the human body, planets are alive. They are amazing little life forces that gain vital energy by growing in an environment that is closest to their natural growing habitat.
Comparable to the human growth process, both plants and humans grow to be their very best when they can be when given a little natural stress to make them stronger.
If you take a human baby and raise it out in the woods and give it non ideal conditions like snow, make the human work for warmth and essential food, even survival, you have raised a strong, hard working, happy adult who puts out a strong energy force. If you raise a human baby in the seventy-two degree weather every day, giving it every food, every candy, everything it ever wants and needs, you create a obese, spoiled rotten adult.
The same goes for wild crafted foods compared to organic foods. Organic foods are spoiled kids were as wild crafted food knows the value of hard work and dedication! Therefore they are able to become their best self.
Wild crafted foods are harvested wild in nature without the intervention of humans. The artists who craft such foods are required to follow certain guidelines in order to preserve the land they use to create such beautiful foods.
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- Always gain permission from landowner.
- Positively identify the plant.
- Never collect plants that are endangered or at-risk for the area.
- Collect plant in the proper growing phase.
- Pick on a sunny day after the morning dew but before hot sun.
- Do not “ring” a tree if taking bark.
- Never collect more than 15% of the species in any given area.
- Never take more plants than you will use.
- Leave the area undisturbed, do not damage other plants or disrupt the earth.
- Always leave largest and smallest members of the community. Take only from the middle growth.
- Never collect plants located close to highways or industrial areas.
- Never collect from areas with livestock, or downstream from livestock if collecting streamside.
- Do not collect in areas of known pesticide use or possible chemical contaminants.
- Take care of your harvest immediately. This creates an environment perfect for extracting the purest planets in the healthiest way for both the human and the plant. Herbalists everywhere have agreed that wild crafting food is the best way to grow and buy the fuel we need to become our best selves.
“Generations of herbalists have emphasized the quality of wild versus cultivated plants. This bias was not based on plant constituency, which is often higher in cultivated species, but rather on the energetics of wild plants. There is a spirit, and energy inherent in wild things, both fauna and flora, that is apparent to anybody who has visited the last remaining wilderness areas of this country. That essence is hard, if not impossible to capture.” – Planting the Future: Saving Our Medicinal Herbs – ed. Rosemary Gladstar
Plants are alive! They have energies, potential, and life force that need to be cared for as much as any other living thing.
I am a firm believer of the saying, what you give your body is exactly how much it gives you. When I put food that is alive, that is strong, it gives me that strong energy I absolutely need to get through my work day as well as my workout! I do not feel groggy and tired by the end of the meal, I feel energized and ready to take on whatever the world throws at me that day.
That is what you are supporting when buying wild harvested foods. A product that gives you life, that adds to your day rather than taking from it. A product that you know has grown with the energies of the planet and is now filling your body with all that pure life energy.
Cited Sources:
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/organic
https://lifehacker.com/5941881/what-does-organic-really-mean-and-should-i-buy-it
http://www.ivlproducts.com/Health-Library/Health-Concerns/Supplement-Vitamins-Wellness/The -Benefits-of-Natural-Supplements/
https://www.thebalance.com/questions-about-organic-labels-2538332 USDA certified list http://mysticnaturals.com/blog/wildcrafted-vs-organic-herbs/
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Jessica says
Thank you for sharing this post. It was very helpful. I have to agree with you about the part were you said the more confusing the label the more confused your body will be to try to figure out what to do with the foreign ingredients. Now a days even though the label says organic there is a chance it’s not all organic. They forget to mention that there could be 1 organic ingredient and 99 synthetic ingredients on the label. And they label it as all natural. Be careful on this. Thanks again for the useful information.