Organic is much more than a buzzword.

It's a commitment to our health, our planet and our future.

Our Health

Studies have shown that organic foods have more nutritional value than their conventional counterparts*. The greater level of minerals and other nutrients may be in part due to the plants relying on their own strength and phytochemicals to fight pests, which conventionally grown plants need not fight because they are sprayed with chemical pesticides. Increased bioactivity in the soil and increased nutrients in soil easily transfer to increased nutritive value in plant life. Breastfeeding women who eat primarily organic food show higher levels of Conjugated Linoleic Acid (CLA) in their breast milk*. A University of Washington study indicated that children who eat organic foods have substantially lower levels of pesticide residues.

Our Earth

The body is better for consuming organic foods, and the earth is better for growing them. The Certified Organic label on a food means that the producers of the food followed these rules:

• they did not use any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers to grow crops or feed for animals
• they did not use crops or feed that had been genetically modified, fertilized with sewage sludge or irradiated
• they did not feed animals the byproducts of other animals
• they gave animals access to the outdoors and treated them humanely
• they were inspected to make sure they followed the rules in letter and in spirit

By contrast, the conventional method of farming might produce more crops, but at a great cost. This system wastes resources, pollutes the environment, raises animals under unsanitary and inhumane conditions, externalizes every possible cost and is based on only one principal - producing the largest amount of food possible at the lowest possible cost, regardless of consequences for health or the environment.

Our Future

Investing in organic produce and other organic products is an investment in the planet, and an investment in our children's future. Without an ambitious effort to reverse the damage that conventional farming has done to the soil, the land will continue to put out inferior products, laced with toxins, the effects of which we are only beginning to see. Animals pumped with growth hormones will continue to provide milk and meat also containing those hormones, which many doctors point to for the rapid growth of children today, including premature puberty.

The companies whose products are featured on Shop Oregon Herbs are strong advocates for organic living. They care about your health, and that of the Earth. In fact, most have been "green" long before it was anything more than a color.

Studies quoted for *:

* Nutritional profile: Preliminary findings from the four-year European Union-funded Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) Project indicate some organic foods have more nutritional value than their non-organic counterparts. Findings announced by Professor Carlo Leifert of the Tesco Centre for Organic Agriculture at Newcastle University, United Kingdom, show organic fruit and vegetables have up to 40 percent more antioxidants than non-organically grown produce, while organic milk contains up to 60 to 80 percent more antioxidants than conventionally produced milk in the summer, and 50 to 60 percent higher levels in the winter. Organic milk also was found to contain higher levels of vitamin E. The research is scheduled to run for an additional year.

* Organic enhances human milk: A European research team led by Swiss scientist Lukas Rist has found that mothers consuming mostly organic milk and meat products have about 50 percent higher levels of rumenic acid, a conjugated linoleic acid, in their breast milk. Study results were published in the June 2007 British Journal of Nutrition.