Why Organic?
It's good for you - but do you know why?

Back to Cooking like an Urban Yogee Back to previous page

Organically grown fruits and vegetables have tens of times more nutritive content, gram for gram, as compared to chemically supplemented farming. This translates into better taste and better health for you. It's nutrition, by nature, for the life it created

In the top 9 inches of this planet's soil lies a powerful biological engine. Right under your feet, this powerful bio-engine hums away, quietly and diligently, day in and day out, breaking down the decomposing organic material it finds, converting it into basic elements, rejuvenating the life sustaining soil, and most importantly, providing nutrients to plants which they themselves cannot pull out from the soil. The trillions of bacteria and fungi naturally found in any healthy soil make up this powerhouse. Everything needed to nourish and nurture life is provided by this vast labourforce of God's own microscopic workers.

So why do humans use man made fertilisers and chemical pesticides?
Because these tiny little workers are fussy, and go dormant when their ideal work conditions aren't available. They absolutely demand an environment that's dark and cool and moist, with lots of decomposing organic material, away from direct sunlight - exactly like the forests they evolved in when Mommy Nature alone ran the planet. And when they go dormant, this biological engine stops, and then the plants starve; because this vast blanket of bacteria and fungi is the supply chain for the nutrients that plants need to grow. That's when humans step into the process, attempting to fill the gap and provide what's needed, with man made fertilisers and chemical pesticides.

But in reality, it's a poor imitation of what nature perfected over billions of years. While the plants do grow big, bright and seemingly healthy (just like humans that live off junk food), they are actually severely malnourished (again, just like humans on junk food). Chemical fertilisers and man made pesticides are to plants what junk food is to humans.

Organic farming lets nature do what it does best (provide sustenance for the life it created, via processes its perfected) while letting humans do what they do best (consume nature-prepared nutrition to fuel themselves). The only human intervention required is keeping happy the vast army that makes up this amazingly efficient and powerful biological engine.

How is that done? Through composting, green manuring, mulching, the use of humus, alternating between farming and resting a plot of land and many other techniques.

And what do we get in return?
Gram for gram more nutrition in the food that powers us. We are what we eat, and eating organic, we are strong and healthy, nourished and nurtured by nature's very own pharma factory products.

So what then of pesticides?
Well, just as well nourished humans have better immune systems and fall sick less often, so do plants that are well nourished by nature's nutrient delivery system. They have a natural resistant to most infestations that fertiliser fed plants just don't seem to acquire. Should a particularly stubborn problem present itself, there is always the natural pesticide of 1 part cow urine and 10 parts water to spray it away!! Alternatives are many, such as dilutions of neem oil, tulsi oil and even the ash from burning paper and wood - pesticides that are harmful to the few pests that the plants may find difficult to resist, but totally safe for the humans who eat said plants, and with absolutely no harmful side effects for the soil or the environment.

Moral of the story: Eat organic and let nature nurture you!


Back to Cooking like an Urban Yogee Back to previous page

Copyright © Urban Yogee

All content on this website is notes to self enroute to becoming an Urban Yogee. These pages document a personal understanding and an individual comprehension; so use your discretion to consider or dismiss what's offered in these pages. Should you choose to apply anything mentioned here, please exercise restraint and common sense. Do consult your doctor before embarking on any changes in your diet, medication and/or exercise regimen.