Ten Good Reasons To Buy Organic

The Vegetarian Society of Hawaii supports and recommends the use of Organic Foods whenever possible. Keeping our Vegetarian diet free of impurities is consistent with our path of optimum health through fresh, clean, and healthy plant foods.

• Organic products meet stringent standards. Organic certification is the public's assurance that products have been grown and handled according to strict procedures without persistent toxic chemicals.
• Organic food tastes. great! It's common sense - well balanced soils grow strong healthy plants which taste great!
• Organic production reduces health risks. Many EPA-approved pesticides were registered long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Organic agriculture is one way to prevent any more of these chemicals from getting into the air, earth and water that sustain us.
• Organic farming does not allow genetically engineered methods. Genetic engineering is being rejected by the European Union, Japan, and many other Nations around the World as unsafe for human health and the environment.
• Organic farms respect our water resources. The elimination of polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, done in combination with soil building, protects and conserves water resources.
• Organic farmers build soil. Soil is the primary focus of organic farming. We're facing the worst topsoil erosion in history due to chemical intensive, mono-crop farming.
• Organic farmers work in harmony with nature. Organic agriculture respects the balance demanded of a healthy ecosystem: wildlife is encouraged by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fencd rows, wetlands and other natural areas.
• Organic producers strive to preserve diversity. The loss of a large variety of species (biodiversity) is one of our most pressing environmental concerns. Organic farmers and gardeners have been collecting and preserving seeds, and growing unusual varieties for decades.
• Organic producers cannot use sewerage sludge, irradiation, or preservatives.
• Organic growers are leaders in innovative research, promote organic abundance, while keeping rural communities healthy. Organic farmers have led the way, largely at their own expense, with innovative on-farm research aimed at minimizing the impact agriculture has on the environment. Now every food category has an organic alternative, and even non-food crops such as cotton are being grown organically.
  

Mahalo to David L. Bourgoin who requested that the VSH take a position on this matter.