“If we do not permit the earth to produce beauty and joy, it will in the end not produce food either”.

Joseph Wood Krutch, Naturalist 1893 – 1970

GOOD REASONS FOR GOING ORGANIC

No Sewage Sludge is spread on organic farms
The water companies dispose of sewage sludge, some 170,000 lorry loads a year, by giving it to farmers to spread on their land across the country.
Using treated human waste as fertiliser in the agricultural industry has been going on for years, but now a growing body of scientific evidence shows this sludge is full of dangerous contaminants - toxins, microplastics and bacteria such as e coli. Concerns are growing that it is polluting crops which are then consumed by humans.
  
Reduces potentially harmful chemical residues in your food
Over 600 chemicals are currently permitted for use in conventional farming – 122 chemicals are permitted for use on lettuces alone ( 20 fungicides, 45 herbicides and 57 insecticides ). Although testing has taken place, many were approved when scrutiny was comparatively lax. Testing does not adequately investigate the long-term effect of low doses or the ‘cocktail’ effect of different pesticides used together. Many are suspected of being carcinogenic, for example the fungicide Mancozeb.
Pesticides are designed to kill, and 20,000 tons of these alone are used on British farms. They are used on 95% of the food produced in the UK.
 
Wildlife-Friendly
Organic farmers are committed to preserving our delicate ecosystem. Because they rely on natural predators rather than on chemicals to control pests, organic farmers maintain the hedgerows, meadows and other natural habitats upon which Britain’s wildlife depends.
Bird numbers have declined by a third in the last 50 years. 120,000 miles of hedgerows have been destroyed since the 1950’s. Only 3% of our wildflower meadows have survived the onslaught of industrial farming. A quarter of our native British mammals are now facing extinction, including hedgehogs.
 
Preserves the soil’s fertility for future generations
Organic farmers maintain the long-term quality of the soil by frequently rotating their crops. They use compost and seaweeds to nourish the soil and prevent nutrient loss. This maintains a chemical-free and living soil.  Organic farming is a sustainable way to grow food where industrial intensive farming isn’t. On conventional farms the soil is so depleted of nutrients that some scientists are saying we only 100 harvests left.
 
Improves water quality
Organic farms do not contribute to artificial fertilisers, pesticides and other toxic chemical pollution that seeps into our streams and rivers along with sewage. These are the waterways we share with fish, otters and other mammals and on which many other creatures depend like herons and kingfishers.
 
Protects the health of farm workers
Organic farming prevents the exposure to pesticides and other toxic chemicals like organophosphates which have been blamed for causing depression and diseases of the nervous system in farm workers.
In Europe it is reckoned that 25 million farmworkers suffer at least one incident of pesticide poisoning each year. This doesn’t include bystanders and residents who are affected during the crop spraying.
 
Free of Genetically Modified Organisms
Although the long-term effects of genetically modified food are unclear, leading scientists and other public figures have warned of its potential dangers to human and animal life. Once released into the environment they can never be recalled.