Guest Blogger, Organic Gardener, owner of Awaken Aquaponics and our good friend, Dane ORourke, shares his knowledge with us around why we should eat (and grow!) organic foods...

Pests are the name we give to the animals, insects, fungus and other plants that eat, live on, or compete with the fruit and veg we're trying to grow. And through social conditioning, we've been brought up to reach for chemicals whenever the first sign of trouble appears in our beautiful little garden.

All Organic, health conscious, growers are faced with this situation at some point. And down the line, it eventually impacts you - the consumer...

Pesticides, Herbicides, Fungicides and Insecticides are designed to kill. And while Farmers and Gardeners may be using them to target specific weeds or insects, they are made to destroy or seriously affect anything they come into contact with. This includes you. Humans are mammals, and mammals share many of the same metabolic processes as insects and plants.

There is a particular well-known brand (starting with 'R') that develops the most effective, and commonly used, brand of weedkiller - in the world. (And the company that creates it has an eery, and controversial, history - including the production of Agent Orange.) It's scientific name is Glyphosate; and it is known as a 'Non-selective Herbicide.' Meaning that it will kill indiscriminately.

What happens when a family eats only organic food for two weeks?

So how are farmers and growers allowed to use it?!

It's effectiveness was discovered to be related to the way this produce attacks a certain metabolic process. This metabolic pathway is found in plants and some microorganisms - but not in humans. Well, not exactly. Our metabolism doesn't have this step, the same way a plant's does - but the flora in our intestine does. So it was decided, along the way, that it doesn't make a big enough health impact on us humans (overall). This is why it's approved, and why we've been told that it's safe for us to use.

It takes 7 days to see any visible effects on a weed/plant that you're trying to kill, so the only reason humans don't notice any immediate effects is due to the fact that we are a much bigger organism - plus the damage is happening on the inside.

Exposing ourselves to Glyphosate; by eating food sprayed with it (or grown in soil rife with it) from the supermarket, and by using it in our own garden - has been proven to kill these microbes in our intestines. And the effects are bad. It's literally killing us. Slowly. From the inside out.

The expanding use of Pesticides, Herbicides, Fungicides and Insecticides in food farming also has an eerily similar correlation to the rise in reported cases of chronic disease and children with Autism - and has recently been elevated by the World Health Organization to the status of 'Probably Causes Cancer.'

Our gut flora 'being affected' may not seem like a large health issue, but these are just some of the chronic diseases, and conditions, that Glyphosate has been seen to contribute to;

Gastrointestinal diseases - Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBS), Chronic Diarrhea, Colitis and Crohn's Disease
Obesity
Allergies
Cardiovascular Disease
Depression
Cancer
Infertility
Alzheimer’s Disease
Parkinson’s Disease
Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
ALS
Learn more about this here

(Please also remember that this product is only one (of many!) used, and on the shelves. I've only used one, in particular, as an example.)

Why have I never heard of this before?

Companies who engineer these 'perfect killing machine' products tend to put profits before people. (No big surprises there!) One particular company who has been in the spotlight recently, is the producer of this internationally used brand of weedkiller, Glyphosate - and was recently outed as having full knowledge (since 1980!) that their products cause Cancer in mammals. As well as cause damage to us humans.

By claiming 'trade secret'; this company has been legally able to withhold this information from the public. Claiming they needed to keep this extraordinarily important information confidential. The news and media outlets have also chosen to provide limited exposure of this revelation - similar to when the serious health effects of asbestos and smoking tobacco were revealed, and then denied. This went unreported for many years.

This issue has a roll on effect, as it would be hard to believe that the biggest distributors of this product (Woolworths, Coles and Bunnings) would be unaware of these facts. Especially now that this is public knowledge. Yet, they continue to sell it…and many people continue to pay them for it.

Buying and growing

The harsh truths are just that - harsh. And scary. But its not all doom and gloom, and you don't have to allow your health to be affected. When buying your fruit and vegetables, this is why you should choose Australian Certified Organic...

'Certified Organic products are grown and processed without the use of synthetic chemicals, fertilisers, or GMO’s. Organics is not just “chemical free”. It is a whole systems or holistic means of growing and handling food. The whole system is linked - Soil. Plants. Animals. Food. People. Environment.' (www.aco.net.au)

And when growing your own produce, I have provided you with a number of natural (and easy!) alternatives that you can implement straight away. [Coming soon…]

- Written by Dane ORourke: Guest Blogger, Organic Gardener and owner of Awaken Aquaponics