Organic Gardening for Health

Do you wonder about the pesticides that may have been use on the produce you buy from the supermarket? Are you concerned about eating genetically modified organisms (GMO"S)?

Happily, we have alternatives to conventionally-grown food. More and more studies are showing organic vegetables to contain less pesticide residue and GMOs, and more nutrients, than their conventional counterparts. In October the USDA began regulating organic food (that is, grown without chemical pesticides); meanwhile, natural food stores, farmer's markets, and community-supported farms are thriving nationwide.

Even so, it may be hard for some people to access or afford organically-grown produce, which does tend to cost more than conventional. Growing your own, therefore, is the best way to ensure that you can access, afford, and benefit from organically-grown vegetables. The benefits of doing so are diverse: for instance, you'd be eating more vegetables of higher quality, perhaps experimenting with new crops like tsa-tsoi (a gorgeous Asian green) or celeriac (a hearty root), and saving your body and the environment from harmful chemicals.

Help abounds for the organic novice: beyond your Penn State Extension office, check out John Jeavons' How to Grow More Vegetables On Less Land Than You Ever Thought Possible, the Rodale Institute's Organic Gardening Magazine (www.organicgardening.com), or Joan Dye Gussow's This Organic Life: Confessions of a Suburban Homesteader, to name just a few.

If you are already growing flowers, think of saving space for rows of organic spinach or zucchini; if vegetables, considering finding alternatives to chemical pesticides. Your health and the environment's depend on it.

Maura Leahy, Pendle Hill Intern

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