Book Review: Organic Manifesto

I just finished an inspiring book - Organic Manifesto: How Organic Food Can Heal Our Planet, Feed the World, and Keep Us Safe, by Maria Rodale. This eye-opening book describes why organic farming is so important - not only for the health of the planet, but also for our future on it. I wasn't sure if this book was going to be the same old stuff I have heard before - you should eat organic food because it's better for you, etc., but within its 187 pages it  actually contains a wealth of interesting information, facts, research, and also plenty of opinion, on the history of chemical farming, how we got where we are, and why a change is virtually imperative if we want to survive as a species.

Parts of it are shocking and horrifying, and you'll be left completely amazed at how blind we've let ourselves become to the source of our food. There are pages and pages of little-known facts we just ignore, or don't take the time to find out for ourselves.

For example: Did you know that arsenic (which you most certainly know as a poison) is routinely included in commercial chicken feed? Supposedly it "improves the pigmentation" of the meat (which, of course, if the chickens were raised on their natural diet of bugs and grass, wouldn't need any artificial pigmentation to look healthy). Supposedly in small quantities it's "safe," but as Maria says in her book, "Smaller doses of chemicals can be just as dangerous as large doses.... Doctors and researchers are finding that small doses, and cumulative small doses, can be just as toxic as large doses. There really are no safe limits."

From Cyclone B, a pesticide used to exterminate Jews in Nazi Germany, to arsenic and DDT, to literally hundreds of other dangerous chemicals, some of which are now being genetically spliced into our foods through GMOs, we've let chemicals overrun our world, and our food has now become one of our largest health hazards. Is it any wonder why we've become so unhealthy as a nation?

While some things are beyond our control, our health is not one of them. The state of our health, and the food we eat, is a choice we make many times every day. It is up to us to choose how healthy we want to be, and part of that is how healthy our food is. It is up to us to choose organic - and yes, you really can make a difference.

Take a couple of hours to read this highly informative book. You may not agree with everything in its pages, but if nothing else it will make you a lot more aware of what you're eating, and the impact your food choices make on your own health and the health of the other inhabitants of this planet.

Click Here to Check Out Organic Manifesto on Amazon.com...