Natural Foods
People love food and in many ways it defines them who they are. For Americans with rising health and obesity problems this could not be further from the truth. People need to be cautious of packaged foods that claim to be "natural," as they can deceive them into thinking the product is good for them. Packaged foods often contain high amounts of sodium, sugar, and fat even if they contain natural ingredients. Eating foods in their true organic natural form is beneficial to a person’s overall heath.
One benefit of eating organic natural foods is decreasing the amount of harmful artificial ingredients. Artificial ingredients are cheap man-made ingredients such as food coloring, preservatives, and artificial sweeteners that are used to enhance the product to entice a person to buy it. The problem with many of them is that they have been linked to many types of medical issues. Food colorings, according to a study done at Purdue University, have been linked to cause increased hyperactivity in children (Stevens 268). In another case, the consumption of high-fructose corn syrup beverages, like sodas and fruit juices, has increased since the 1970s in correlation with the rising obesity rate in children (Morgan 250).
Another benefit of eating organic foods is the ability to avoid Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). In 2001, about 68 percent of soybeans and 26 percent of corn in the United States where genetically modified (Lilliston 27). One problem with GMOs is that there has not been adequate testing on long term effects on people and the environment. A particular GMO corn, Starlink was engineered to produce the pesticide Bt in every cell. This corn was approved to be used for animal feed only, but what they did not take into account was corn reproduces by open pollination meaning pollen is transferred from on plant to another by insects or the wind. The problem that arose was the GMO corn's pollen cross contaminated neighboring corn crops intended for human consumption and made its way into some processed foods.
The benefits of an organic diet also reduces the use of undesirable or possibly harmful elements such as pesticides and fertilizers. For the past thirty-seven years the United States on average has used 850 million pounds of conventional pesticides a year (Goldman 68). This can be reduced by supply and demand or the buyers vote; more farmers would supplement their chemical pest control practices with alternative ones like fostering beneficial organisms. This would be introducing a natural predator to combat and control the unwanted pests. For example a cabbage farmer’s plants have been infested with aphids so instead of spraying pesticides he could introduce either ladybugs or green lacewings. Another benefit to choosing organically farmed or raised foods is the reduced environmental impact. In turn, choosing organic goods helps prevent air and water contamination.
In a sense technology has accelerated the evolution of food people eat faster than they can adapt to it. It is well known in the scientific community that organisms cannot adapt to their environment have no chance for survival. So for health, ethical, and environmental reasons eating naturally produced foods is beneficial to a person’s well-being.