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Better Choices

New Study on Milk: More Evidence That Organic Offers Superior Nutrition

When most people think of the reason to drink organic milk, the first thing that pops into their mind is the desire to avoid hormonal milk – milk that has been produced from cows who have been injected with synthetic growth hormones.

Yet, a recently released study gives us an additional reason as to why we should drink organic milk.

In research published in PLOS One, the scientists of the study reported that organic milk contained 62% more omega-3 fatty acids and 25% fewer omega-6s.

Omega-3s are essential nutrients for health and provide protection against heart disease, and The National Institute of Health states that we should be eating more omega-3s and less omega-6s. As it stands now, most American diets provide at least 10 times more omega-6 than omega-3 fatty acids.

Why the big difference in omega-3s of organic milk vs. conventional milk?

It has to do with how the cows are fed. Conventionally-raised cows are mostly fed a corn diet (almost guaranteed to be genetically-modified corn), which is high in omega-6s.

For organically-raised cows, there are minimum grazing requirements. They must be out on pasture for the entire growing season, but not less than 120 days, and they must receive at least 30% of their feed from pasturing. These grassy plants contain very high levels of omega-3s.

MY TAKE

On the Fox News Channel recently, I talked about two other studies that showed organic to be nutritionally superior to conventional – the one conducted at Washington State University on organic strawberries and the other from the University of Barcelona on organic tomatoes.

While there are some people that may question the value of cow milk, organic or otherwise, the fact that we now have an additional study demonstrating organic to be better than conventional is incredibly important.

Far too often, the reason to eat organic is to avoid the bad things – toxic pesticides, fungicides, insecticides, synthetic growth hormones.

With studies such as this one, hopefully, the conversation will slowly begin to change and people will start explaining that the reason to eat organic is that it is the smarter nutritional choice.

A message from Tradin Organic

How Tradin Organic is Helping Coconut Farmers in The Philippines

For more than a decade, Tradin Organic has been working with local partners in The Philippines to bring a diversified range of organic products to the market, such as coconut oil, tropical fruits and even cocoa.

The company is helping to support local farmers by assisting them with technical support and organic certification, in addition to paying Fairtrade premium on top of the organic premium.

Learn more.

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Potatoes are on the Non-GMO Project’s High Risk List – What Does That Mean and What Do Shoppers Need to Know?

In a recent issue of Organic Insider, I discuss the decision by the Non-GMO Project to place potatoes on its High-Risk list.

Joining soy, corn, canola and a few others, this is by no means a prominent distinction. Rather, it is something that every crop should seek to avoid because it means that the likelihood of consuming a genetically-modified version of this crop in the U.S. is extremely high.

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A message from Tradin Organic

Why Tradin Organic is Prioritizing Regenerative Organic Farming

At Tradin Organic, we believe that regenerative organic farming is key to growing healthy and nutritious food ingredients — for now and for future generations.

And in Sierra Leone, we have grown the world’s first Regenerative Organic Certified cacao.

Learn more.

Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Another Reason to Support Organic – The 59 Pesticide Residues Found in Our Water Supply

When people talk about organic food, we mostly focus on the importance of eating food that is free of synthetic chemicals, genetically-modified ingredients and artificial growth hormones.

Yet, what we also need to be mentioning is that conventionally-grown food means that our soil is getting sprayed with an astronomical amount of toxic pesticides, which ends up polluting our public water supply.

According to the EPA, we use about 1.1 billion pounds of chemicals per year, 80% of which are used for agricultural purposes.

And what impact has this had on the quality of our public water supply?

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Living Maxwell

Better Choices

Another Reason to Eat Organic – It is Essential for Managing Climate Change

Ever since I started eating organic food in 2001, people have asked me – why do you eat organic?

The most common answer that I give is that I don’t want to consume toxic pesticides or GMOs. That seems to resonate with people and they can easily understand it.

Over the last few years, however, my answer has evolved.

Of course, I mention the pesticides, but I also talk about how the chemicals used in conventional agriculture ruin our water supply (94% of our water now contains Atrazine) and sicken farm workers (residents in the farming community of Central Valley, CA are forced to drink bottled water because the tap water has become so contaminated from pesticides).

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livingmaxwell: a guide to organic food & drink