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Organic foods often have more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants, than their conventionally-grown counterparts and people with allergies to foods, chemicals, or preservatives may find their symptoms lessen or go away when they eat only organic foods. How your food is grown or raised can have a major impact on your mental and emotional health as well as the environment. Livestock may or may not have access to the outdoors.
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Livestock must have access to the outdoors. Livestock are given growth hormones for faster growth, as well as non-organic, GMO feed.ĭisease is prevented with natural methods such as clean housing, rotational grazing, and healthy diet.Īntibiotics and medications are used to prevent livestock disease. Livestock are given all organic, hormone- and GMO-free feed. Pests are controlled with synthetic pesticides Pests are controlled using natural methods (birds, insects, traps) and naturally-derived pesticides. Weeds are controlled with chemical herbicides. Weeds are controlled naturally (crop rotation, hand weeding, mulching, and tilling) or with organic-approved herbicides. Grown with synthetic or chemical fertilizers. Grown with natural fertilizers (manure, compost). They may not be given antibiotics, growth hormones, or any animal by-products. Organic livestock raised for meat, eggs, and dairy products must be raised in living conditions accommodating their natural behaviors (such as the ability to graze on pasture) and fed organic feed and forage. While the regulations vary from country to country, in the U.S., organic crops must be grown without the use of synthetic herbicides, pesticides, and fertilizers, or bioengineered genes (GMOs). The term “organic” refers to the way agricultural products are grown and processed. Healthy eating Organic Foods: What You Need to Know Is organic food really healthier? Is it worth the expense? Find out what the labels mean and which foods give you the most bang for your buck.
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