Learn How to Choose Organic, Fair Trade and Animal-Free Products

Green consumers (those who are concerned with taking care of our environment) read labels for different kinds of information. Some consumers are looking for organic food, others want food that excludes MSG or GMOs, still others want to make sure that their products have not involved animal cruelty during the safety testing phase, or they want to make sure to buy fair traded goods.

Organic Farming

The contents, of course, are important but you can also read labels for the quality of your food (whether organic or loaded with chemicals and pesticides), or you can find out if your food has been naturally grown or if it is a genetically modified organism (GMO).

Some of the benefits of organic farming include; soil maintenance (when farmers add organic matter to the earth rather than replenishing the soil with chemicals or synthetic additives), crop rotation (the farmers rotate crops in order to allow the earth to refurbish itself while laying fallow), and planting a variety of cover crops, utilizing the unused space for growing crops for biofuel production.

Go to www.calorganicfarms.com for nutritional information and recipes using organic food.

What is a GMO and should I worry about it?

Genetic modification of food is a growing industry, one in which researchers will "splice" one type of food's gene to another, in order to produce a certain characteristic in the food, like tougher skin or firmer flesh. The debate over genetically modified foods (known as GMO's) is truly a catch-22, in that its proponents claim that the only way to prove the value of GMO's is to grow it, and its detractors claim that if you grow GMOs, the potential harm may be irreversible. They claim the risks aren't worth the good that GMOs may bring.

One of the risks posed to the environment is referred to as incidental cross breeding. This occurs when the GMO crops seeds spread inadvertently, creating hybrids when they cross-breed with the naturally occurring plant crops surrounding the GMO crops. This may result in the unintended results of new, wild hybrid plants.

Animal Cruelty

Animal cruelty is the practice of operating on live animals (vivisection) for the use in testing products for human use. Many scientists support more useful diagnostic tools, such as: in-vitro research, breakthroughs in chemistry, computer modeling, epidemiology (the study of disease among a human population), genetic research, clinical studies, autopsies and post-marketing drug surveillance.

Diverting the funds from unnecessarily cruel animal experimentation would allow the funding of these other more useful, humane diagnostic tools. For more information on Humane Research, go to: http://www.vivisectioninfo.org/humane_research.html

Fair Trade Goods

Fair Trade goods allow farmers to get paid a fair price for their goods, increasing their economic prosperity locally, and helping to sustain the environment.

Some of the ways that fair trade goods have directly helped farmers are; farmers are paid additional funds for certified organic products, workers now have safer working conditions, and child labor is strictly prohibited. The importers must now deal directly with the farmers, helping them to develop their business acumen and experience.

Together, fair trade farmers democratically decide how to reinvest the profits from their sales into the local community, funding scholarship programs, training the local farmers in quality improvement to maintain the high standards required to receive the organic certification for their goods.

According to TransFair USA, a company that has been certifying Fair Trade coffee since 1999, over $60 million of additional income has been provided for farmers through fair trade goods. The benefit to the farmers, their families, and the earth is testimony to the benefits of Fair Trade.

Other benefits to the environment include training the farmers in natural, sustainable farming methods, as well as the banning of toxic agrochemicals and GMOs. Shade grown coffee and tea provide a place for migratory birds to live, allowing both business and the local wildlife to thrive. Additionally, the trees provide a natural air filter, cleaning the air of environmental pollution and helping to sustain the natural ecosystem of the local area.

For more information on supporting fair trade goods, go to http://www.transfairusa.org.

Excess Packaging- That's a Wrap

Another thing you can take into consideration when you buy products is whether they have excessive packaging, and whether the package has been made from recycled/post consumer materials. Check to make sure the container can be recycled.

If you price shop, there usually isn't a big difference in price between new vs. post consumer products, and the quality is about the same. As you shop every week, your choices will begin to accumulate to make a mountain of difference. You can, with practice and habit, help your world every single day.