By: Dr. Rafael S. Barrozo OPTA-Executive Director

1. ORGANIC FARMING: Producing Healthy, Safe, Quality Foods By: Dr. Rafael S. Barrozo OPTA-Executive Director

2. What is Organic Farming? • Organic farming is the production of crops and livestock without the use of synthetic chemicals and in-organic fertilizers.

3. What is conventional/ modern agriculture? • Modern agriculture uses pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rodenticides and harmful chemicals to produce the food we eat. • The food produced from conventional agriculture is harmful to human health because they contain residues of chemicals and in-organic fertilizers.

4. Organic agriculture is healthy for the farmers who produces our foods to the environment because it avoids poisonous chemicals for consumers, who eat the organic food.

5. Organic Farming creates “Living Soil” • Full of life with microorganism, fungi, worms and termites. • Very rich in macro and micro elements, trace elements, and vital energy • Very rich in organic matter

6. Modern Chemical Farming creates “Dead Soil” • Acidic soils with few microorganisms • Lacking in micro elements, trace elements, poor vitality • Almost O organic matter

7. What are the harmful effects of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, suicide? • In August 2000, a research team in Holland published findings which showed that men whose jobs gave them a high exposure to pesticides had significantly lower sperm counts.

8. Couple of years earlier, a Danish study found that a sample of organic farmers had sperm counts 50% higher than the national average. • The Economic and Social Research Council, USDA, published a report in April 2000 saying that a combination of high tech crops, pollution and soil erosion are affecting the intelligence of millions of people.

9. High yielding rice and wheat, the so called “green revolution crops” developed in Los Baños, the Philippines, are now named as one of the causes of brain damage especially impaired intellect in poor or third world countries. • These crops, produced under modern agriculture techniques using large doses of pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizers are being blamed for intelligence problems because they do not contain essential brain nutrients such as iodine, iron and vitamin A.

10. A decrease in brain size has been reported among poor communities in Brazil over 30 years. • “We evolved bigger brains at the cost of a smaller digestive system requiring high quality food” says the report. • “If food supplies become poor quality or contaminated. This might favor humans with a bigger gut or larger digestive system but with a resultantly smaller brain.”

11. This phenomenon has forced the Philippine government to make laws, RA 8976, the “Food Fortification Law” requiring all rice, sugar, cooking oil and flour sold in the market to be fortified with iron in the form of ferrous sulfate – a synthetic micronutrient derived from scrap iron.

12. According to Hawley’s Condensed Chemical Dictionary, one hazard of ingesting large amount of ferrous sulfate is that it causes “stomach disorders.” • A Stanford University study of 496 patients newly diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease suggests that in-home use of pesticides increases the rich of the neurological disorder by 70%.

13. A study at Emory University in Atlanta, confirmed a connection between Parkinson’s disease and pesticides after laboratory rats developed Parkinson’s like symptoms upon prolonged exposure to the organic pesticide rotenone. (Neurology Reviews, August 2000; Nature Neuroscience, December 2000.)

14. For many years, pesticides were studied mainly to determine their potential to cause cancer. Recently, researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York has found that the most widely used class of indoor insecticides is a probable hormone disrupter that may interfered with reproductive functions and possibly contribute to cancer.

15. Thousands of people in Florida have reported suffering health problems following aerial spraying of the insecticide Malathion against Mediterranean fruit flies attacking food crops. The victims have filed a class-action have sent against Cheminova Inc. the manufacturer of Malathion, which is related to the nerve gases used in World War II.

16. Modern agriculture or Chemical farming has damaged our environment by contaminating our rivers, lakes, drinking water and clouds forming rain. These poisonous chemicals has killed not only insects but also fish, birds, useful small animals, microorganisms and some plants. These agricultural chemicals is killing humans too.

17. Without microorganisms, the soil, will be lacking in other micronutrients needed by the body such as calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, cooper, selinium, manganese, vit. C, vit. A, vit. B6, Folecin, vit. E, potassium, etc. • There are 23 elements needed for human health that come from the soil.

18. Plants convert the 23 elements, along with carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen into food nutrients – amino acids, carbohydrates, essential fats, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and fiber. • A deficiency or absence of even one element produces deficient food, which can result in health problems in the body.

19. Dr. Albrecht and Dr. Allison of Missouri University with the funding by the International Harvester Company conducted experiments on animals using plants grown in soil deficient in the 23 elements especially the trace elements. • The food produced on this soil was also deficient in the trace elements or nutrients.

20. The cattle fed with plants grown in poor soil developed certain deficiency diseases. The blood of these sick cattle was analyzed and was found deficient in trace elements. • The missing trace elements was supplied or added to the soil and then the animals were fed with food grown on such enriched soil. The cattle recovered from their fever and disease.

21. Dr. George H. Earp-Thomas wrote in 1950 his discoveries on the relationship between poor soil and human and animal diseases. • He concluded that “There is only one disease, and that is MALNUTRITION.”

22. The body cells will die, “atrophy away” if not supplied with constant nourishments. Many soils can no longer produce foods adequately supplied with all the essential factors. The more you eat of deficient food, regardless of your health, the more you hasten your decline – if the trace elements are lacking. • Such symptoms fill medical books with fancy names, but here is one name which covers practically all of them: MALNUTRITION.

23. Drs. Albrecht-Allison conducted experiments and with organic farming produced an organic food that would meet the needs of the medical profession, that would have all of or more than the 32 factors and 23 elements well proportioned for their use.

24. The organic food produced from organic crops was richer in protein than meat, carried all the needed amino acids, a full and liberal supply of vitamins A, C, K, the B complex, some E, F, G and P. • The trace minerals iron, copper, zinc, calcium, phosphorus, cobalt, the factors Inositol, folic aid, Choline – all essential for good health.

25. With the discovery of the health benefits derived from rich sail coming from organic farming, the nature doctor, or now called naturopathic doctors, are able to supply proper nutrition to sick persons and are able to heal their diseases, by giving organically grown foods.

26. Organic Agriculture do not use pesticides. Because of this, the food produced are now called “Power Charged” foods. Organic foods contain more phyto-chemicals that are called “Medicinal Foods.” Scientists from the Department of Food Science and Technology of the University of California-Davis discovered that fruits and vegetables grown organically can reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer and other diseases. (Journal of Food Chem. 57(5), 2003).

27. According to these scientists, crops grown organically contain more polyphenolics than conventional crops possibly because they are not sprayed with any pesticides. • These results showed that berries and corn grown organically contained up to 58 percent more polyphenolics, strawberries, 19% more, blackberries, 58% more and all of them have higher content of ascorbic acid (Vit C) and other antioxidants, flavonoids and bioflavonoids.

28. Livestock like chicken, pigs and cattle, grown in chemical-industrial animal farming systems are also sources of chemicals harmful to health. • The animals grown like sardines in unhealthy animal farms are fed and injected with synthetic chemicals to force them to grow fast and survive the pathogenic microorganisms that abounds. These are antibiotics, growth hormones, steroids, synthetic vitamins and minerals.

29. When humans eat these animals, they also ingest these synthetic chemicals and whatever disease these animals have. • Because meat produced in animal farms are too unhealthy, the Harvard Medical School in its newly constructed Food Pyramid or Dietary Guide warned that meat should be taken in small quantities, and that Red Meat should be taken only occasionally. (Paminsan-minsasn lang)

30. Today, Oncologists from the Harvard Medical School recommend to cancer patients to: • Change lifestyle • Become vegetarians or avoid red meat • Eat lots of organic food • Avoid eating at FAST FOOD Restaurant like McDonalds

31. Because the foods we eat today lack nutritional content, children and adults, no matter how they eat are “starved” and tend to eat more then necessary, resulting into: obesity, diabetes, cardio-vascular and heart diseases, and chronic and degenerative diseases including Parkinson’s.

32. The best way to Health is by eating only Organic Food. • You can avoid disease by eating only “Certified Organic” food. • The Organic Producers Trade Association, OPTA is also an accredited Organic Certification Agency by the Department of Agriculture. OPTA-COP performs Organic Farm Inspection and Certifications.

33. Interested farmers and food producers who want to learn Organic Farming and Organic Food Processing can contact OPTA, Philippines at: • 21 Makaturing Street, Bgy. Manresa, Quezon City, Philippines 1115Tel. (632) 363-6816 Fax. (632) 415-3636Cellphone: 0919-7381457E-mail: opta@edsamail.com.phwebsite: www.optaphil.com

34. End of Presentation Maraming Salamat Po! GO! GO! GO! ORGANIC GO! GO! GO! ORGANIC GO! GO! GO! ORGANIC