Organic Farming: A More Sustainable Alternative to GMO’s

1. Organic Farming: A More Sustainable Alternative to GMO’s Jim Stegeman & Aleah Graham

2. GMO Graphs

3. More Charts

4. The 12 Fruits and Vegetables with the Most Pesticide Residues According to the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental research group, the twelve most pesticide-laden fruits and vegetables (in order of toxicity) are: • 1) Strawberries • 2) Bell Peppers • 3) Spinach • 4) Cherries (from the United States) • 5) Peaches • 6) Cantaloupe (from ) • 7) Celery • 8) Apples • 9) Apricots • 10) Green Beans • 11) Grapes (from ) • 12) Cucumbers Other produce items, however, tend to have low amounts of pesticide residues. There’s almost no benefit to buying organic bananas, for example, because any pesticide residue is probably thrown out, along with the peel. Other foods low in pesticides include broccoli, sweet potatoes, brussel sprouts, cabbage, onions, asparagus, and blueberries.

5. Chemicals, Insecticides, and Highly Toxic Organisms

6. Organic Spoof • Grocery Store Wars

7. Food Safety • Food Safety ‘Government Monitoring in Food Safety’, stated “foodbourne illnesses are widespread and costly. Millions of illnesses and thousands of deaths in the U.S. each year can be traced to contaminated food. These illnesses, generally cause temporary disorders to the digestive tract, but can also lead to serious, long-term health consequences.” - The causes of these illnesses are outbreaks of bacterial, chemical, viral, parasitic, or unknown pathogens. It is easy to transmit bacterial pathogens and they can multiply rapidly in food, making it difficult to control

8. Organic forage crops yield as much or more dry matter as their conventional counterparts with quality sufficient to produce as much milk as the conventional systems. • Even organic grain crops such as corn, soybean, and winter wheat produced 90% as well as their conventionally managed counterparts. That meant organic farming is still better for the environment than conventionally produced food. • Through the words and geographics, geography can map the interrelated factors – both social (policy, culture, and economics) and ecological (climate, soil, water, and vegetation) – that influence our relationship to the earth.

9. Dates to Know • In 1990, organic retail sales reach $1 billion in the United States. U.S. Congress passes the Organic Foods Production Act of 1990, requiring USDA to develop national standards and regulations for organically produced agricultural products. • in June 1999, the Organic Trade Association (OTA) receives $75,230 in Market Access Program funds to help exports of U.S. organic products. USDA begins a voluntary, fee-based ISO-65 program for U.S. state and private organic certifiers.

10. Government Spending • Public health and food safety officials say the data do not identify level of risk, source of contamination, and populations are most at risk in sufficient detail. • Statistics also show a significant number that estimates nearly $5 billion to over $22 billion annually. Cost of medical treatment from this bacterium ranged from $5.6 billion to $9.4 billion in 1993. (18) This is when you have to re-evaluate the kinds of techniques organic farming uses.