--Go Organic! The Top 10 Reasons--
The Organic Trade Association has compiled a list of top ten reasons organic is a better way to grow. Lists like these, that simplify otherwise complex issues, are a great way to understand the importantce of supporting the organic way of life.

1. Protect Future Generations' Health: The average child receives four times more exposure than an adult to at least eight widely used cancer-causing pesticides in food. The food choices consumers make today will impact their children tomorrow.

2. Protect Water Quality: Water makes up two thirds of our body mass and covers three-fourths of the planet. Despite water's importance, the Enviromental Protection Agency estimates that pesticides-- some cancer-causing--contaminate the ground water in 38 states, polluting the primary source of drinking water for more than half the country's population. From the Farm to the grocery store, growers and processors use practices that eliminate polluting chemicals and nitrogen leaching, and thus protect and conserve precious water resources.

3. Preserve Topsoil: Soil is the most revered tool for organic production. Farming organically respects "dirt" as the foundation of the food chain. THe soil is built through natural amenities, such as composted manure, rather than relying on synthetic fertilizers, and by planting diverse crops. The Soil Conservation Service estimates that more than three billion tons of topsoil are eroded from U.S. Croplands annually. The cause? Intensive mono-cropping and chemically intensive practices.

4. Meet Stringent Standards: Organic certification standards are the public's assurance that their food and products have been grown and handled according to strict sustainable procedures without persistent chemical inputs. Today's consumers can find a diverse spectrum of certified organic products on supermarket and department store shelves, from snack foods and dairy products to cotton clothing and outdoor gear. Until the federal guidelines for regulating the use of the term "organic" are in place, "Certified organic" is the only assurance consumers have that products are genuinely organic.

5. Reduce Potential Health Risks: Many EPA- approved pesticides were registeredt long before extensive research linked these chemicals to cancer and other diseases. Now the EPA considers 60 percent of all herbicides, 90 percent of all fungicides and 30 percent of all insecticides as potentially cancer-causing. A 1987 National Academy of Sciences report estimated that pesticides might cause an extra 1.4 million cancer cases among Americas over their lifetimes. In california, five of the top nine pesticides used on cotton are cancer-causing chemicals, according to Pesticide Action Network, North America.

6. Preserve Biodiversity: The loss of a large variety of species is one of our most pressing enviromental concerns. Many organic growers have been collecting and using heirloom see varieties for decades. Compare that to conventional farms, which still grow hybridized vegetables and fruits bred for uniformity, ease of shipping and cosmetic appearance. Such "modern" concerns have ignored the value of preserving a diversity of see varieties, and therefore a more balanced ecosystem.

7. Keep Rural Communities Healthy: The USDA predicts that by the year 2000, half of all U.S. farm production will come only 1 percent of farms. Organic farming may be one of the few survival tactics left for the family farm and rural communities. Many organic farms are independent family farms of less than 100 acres.

8. Provide a safer, Healthier Habitat: Organic agriculture respects the balance a healthy ecosystem demands, and thereby provides a healthier enviorment for those living beings in the closest contact with the farm: Farm workers and natural wildlife. A national Cancer Institue Study found that farmers exposed to hebicides had a six times greater risk than non-farmers of contracting a particular type of cancer. Field workers on conventional farms, because of their direct exposure, are the most vulnerable to illness as a result of pesticide use. Organic farms eliminate the risk by excluding the use of harmful pesticides and other chemical inputs in their practices. Organic practices encourage wildlife by including forage crops in rotation and by retaining fencerows, wetlands, and other natural areas. Removing synthetic, toxic inputs helps to make an organic farm a lively place.

9. Support a True Economy: Organically grown foods may seem more expensive, but mere retail prices are decptive because conventionally raised and priced food represent only a fraction of the true cost. Current food prices do not reflect the costs of federal subsidies to conventional agriculture, the cost of contaminated drinking water, the cost of loss of wildlife habitat and topsoil, or the cost of disposal and cleanup of hazardous waste generate by the manufacturing of pesticides. Consumers can pay now, pay later. Buying organic food and products now is a direct investment in a more sustainable enviroment.

10. Make Food Taste Great!: Legendary restaurant chefs across the country, from Alice Waters of Chez Panisse in Berkeley, Calif., to Nora Pouillon of Restaurant Nora in Washington, D.C. will tell you: Organic food tastes better! Why? It's common sense. Well-balanced soils grow strong, healthy plants, which in turn make vegetables and fruits taste great. True flavors, like those from an organic, vine-ripened tomato, are not just for chefs and fancy restaurants--they are for all who care about food!