Why Organic Farm Food
is Worth the Extra Cost

Spices can be grown organically. You can use a little sea salt without affecting the healthfulness of the foods, as long as you are not sensitive to small amounts of sodium. Fruits and vegetables contain only trace amounts of sodium that varies with the soil content.

Delicious cheeses can be made from goat’s milk. Assuming the goats are raised on the right farms, there will be no risk of consuming the hormones found in cows’ milk. Cattle raised according to the latest organic standards are not given hormone shots or regular doses of antibiotics, but there are some hormones naturally present in cows’ milk that may cause problems for some people.

With organically grown grapes, you can ferment wines that are free of chemical residues. Beer can also be made from organically grown hops, barley and other grains.

There are two types of chickens available from organic food distributors. The first type is fed only organically grown grains. Antibiotics and hormones are not used to ensure chick survival. But the chickens are still kept in conventional cages.

Free-range chickens are the other type. The definition of free range seems to vary among farmers. It may only mean that the birds are outside for a few hours a day. In some cases, it means the birds are free to roam as they please all over the farm.

Free range chickens and their eggs provide more omega-3s, because they eat bugs and worms. The more time they spend foraging, the leaner the meat will be. It may actually approach the leanness of a game bird.

You can expect the prices in an organic food catalog to be higher than what you would pay for conventional or commercial foods. The higher cost is understandable if you know what goes into running these smaller farms.

When chickens are free-range, they may be attacked or killed by predators. Each time the farmer loses a chicken, he or she loses money. Avoiding the unnecessary use of antibiotics is a good thing, but it does increase the risk of losing livestock to illness.

Fruits and vegetables are often smaller. Avoiding chemical pesticides means that the produce is healthier, but farmers lose more of their crops to bugs, worms and other pests.

Those are just a few of the reasons you can expect to pay more for organic farm food. We feel the extra cost is worth it. In terms of taste and nutrient content, organics are simply the best.