The short answer? Yes. I believe you get out what you put in. The food we eat is no different. The way I was raised around food might have been a little different. We raised livestock and gardens, foraged and had a decent working knowledge of things that were safe to put in your mouth. Farm to table was a thing before it was a thing. Until it wasn’t. And if you don’t know, you don’t know. In the name of capitalism, Big Food adopted some very scary practices, methods and additives that went right under our noses. With the expansion of modern agriculture, leading to the extensive use of pesticides, hormones and GMOs, oh my. The Heart Association campaigned that fat was the reason for heart disease in America. When everything became fat free, they tried to restore palatability of our food with sugar. Mass produced corn then became high fructose corn syrup. Which led to obesity and diabetes levels at an all-time high. Roundup and around we go. Food on the shelves now is not the same as food on the shelves was 75 years ago. Learning about how pesticides, processed foods, CFO raised meat, and all of the additives are having adverse health effects on pretty much everyone, everywhere.
Organic food is not new. It has in recent years, gained some traction. If you have ever gardened or raised a house plant for that matter, you’ll know the struggles of pests and disease on your plants. Some plants are more susceptible than others. When your lively hood relies on the yields of those plants, you want to preserve them at all costs. I have several farmers in my circle, and I can’t say that any of them were knowingly poisoning their crops when the implementation of Round-up, pesticides or GMOs became the standard. This topic and its effects ripple far greater than any blog post, but I’ll do my best to cover the bases and explain why buying organic is going to give you the best returns. Every year the EWG puts out a list-The Clean 15 and the Dirty Dozen. This can change from year to year so always check back. Some foods like asparagus and avocadoes are usually pretty clean, save money here. Things like berries and tomatoes, always buy organic. Here is the table for 2024:
Let’s start with the seed. There are varieties, new and heirloom. Heirloom varieties haven’t evolved much in the scope of farming. Thus, they produce plants that our body is “familiar” with. A newer, genetically modified seed however has been picked apart and put back together with the intention of how much money it will produce by resisting bugs, diseases, etc. From an evolutionary standpoint, we don’t change as fast as we can manipulate things in a lab. So just because we can create a plant that can withstand harsh chemicals, doesn’t mean our bodies can. I explain it to my kids like this- If a pesticide kills a bug, a tiny insect that is much smaller than us, what do you think that same chemical does to our much bigger body? Obviously, we won’t die immediately, but the effects will eventually be noticeable. Statistically you could look at career farmers and if you could access their health records, you would draw some obvious correlations. Now correlation does not equal causation but there is hard evidence regarding the short and long-term effects of Round-up, other pesticides and fertilizers. Round up is so widely used in farming that it has seeped into our soil and is now present in even organic foods.
Monsanto created Round-up back in the 70’s. By the 1980s they weren’t the only seed company introducing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Fast forward to today and there are 13 GMO products “approved” for human consumption including soybeans, corn, cotton, canola, alfalfa, papaya, eggplant, potatoes, apples, pineapple, sugar beets, safflower and salmon. On the roster for 2025 is zucchini and summer squash. Over 92% of corn and corn-containing products in the US are GMO and 94% of soybeans. If you purchase any food containing the above ingredients, unless stated non-GMO or Organic, it’s genetically modified. Food labels are improving but not always transparent. Look for the butterfly. Some manufacturers will state “Contains a bio-engineered food ingredient.” One last thing about labels… non-GMO is not always organic; but organic is always non-GMO.
Why is GMO such a bad thing? Maybe you’ve heard the propaganda promoting how safe GMOs are. I want farmers to be profitable in their endeavors. Just because we can manipulate a product to make it more profitable doesn’t mean its best practice. This list of associated health risks from bioengineered foods isn’t exhaustive but here are a few: hepatic (liver), pancreatic, renal, reproductive failure, COPD, Parkinsons, cancer, Autism, allergies, and obesity. Emerging research also suggests that the increase in food allergies is in part caused by the overwhelming consumption of GMOs. Genetically engineered plants are designed to be “Round-up ready” meaning they will not die when this weed killer is sprayed on them. Some varieties are engineered so that pests will die when they eat the plant itself. New research is also finding that this toxicity is not only being transferred into the human system but also causing antibiotic resistance. There are a few documentaries around this issue and other scary food facts. If you’re curious to learn more you’ll enjoy:
“GMO OMG” (2013)
“Food Inc” (2008)
“Food Inc 2” (2023)
“Kiss the Ground” (2020)
“Food Evolution” (2016).
So, if you are what you eat, what about meat? I spent many years on the other end of a cow and what they eat matters just as much. When cattle eat grains, they gain weight faster just like we do. The extra carbs are stored as fat, giving it that lovely marbling we all enjoy in a steak. Naturally cattle don’t consume many grains, so this is a relatively new addition to their diet. I will say that most cattle are grass-fed, or hay fed for a majority of their diet. When they are sold for meat, the heavier they are the more money they bring. There is plenty of research that will demonstrate when a steer arrives at a feed lot (concentrated animal feeding operation or CAFO) for finishing, they are fed high GMO/carb diets for 90 days before slaughter. The composition of the meat changes vastly in this time. Grass fed, organic meat will have a more yellowish color to the fat vs. bright white seen in most grocery stores. Another consideration for CAFO meat is the use of the wide use of Zeranol (Ralgro) and other anabolic steroids. This pellet is placed in the ear of stocker cattle, having estrogenic effects, increases their weight gain with around 30% less forage intake. Organic grass-fed meat will also contain more nutrition per ounce than commercial such as Omega 3s, vitamins A,D,K,E, minerals and antioxidants (source). Same rings true for pork and chicken. Please never by farm raised salmon. If you know anything about fish farms, you won’t bat an eye. Lastly, if you consume eggs, labels are also very important. Laying hens are also given steroids to improve egg production. A majority of human consumption of hormones in “meat” comes from the consumption of eggs. Most laying hens are also given a bulk majority of GMO grains for diet. Always buy organic, pasture raised is best. Simply cage free is not a healthy option, for you or the chicken. If you want to know more of the truth, please geek out the documentaries linked in this post. They’re truly eye openers.
In my personal opinion, Mother Nature knows what she’s doing. There is a balance here, cyclical changes that ebb and flow. Maybe that looks like a wildfire destroying a vast forest of old trees so new saplings can sprout. Maybe one year the squash bugs are detrimental, the next they’re not a threat. In any event, I believe we should indeed evolve and change. This delicate process takes time and is not something to be pressured or manipulated for monetary gain. Genes take thousands if not millions of years to evolve. Disrespecting this process is proving to have detrimental effects on our own health in return. As far as paying more for good quality food, my mom always said, “Pay now, or pay the white coats later.”