Why Does My Organic Food Last Longer?

I have been asked ‘Why does my organic food last longer?’ So, let’s take a look into this and I’ll even give you tips to make your food last longer.

Organic food and conventional foods are not grown the same way. Organic farming is regulated and is more in line with the traditional methods. Here no synthetic chemical pesticides, herbicides or fertilizers are used. Sewage sludge is not permitted, nor are irradiation and genetically modified foods used.

Instead, the organic farmer works in unison with the land and the soil. He recognizes that the soil is alive. He knows that healthy soil is full of nutrients and that plants grown in this soil then are healthy and full of nutrients.

And it is this thinking that represents a major difference between the two methods of farming. Conventional methods often leave the soil severely depleted of nutrients, making the plants unhealthy and susceptible to pests and disease.

Organic produce does not miraculously defy the life cycle and defeat decay. No, it just has a better start. To accurately determine which growing method would produce plants that lasted longer, you would need to pick straight from each field – the organic and the non-organic. Take them both home and then see which lasts longer.

But, before you go ahead and do that consider that the most nutrient content from your produce would be from fresh produce. This is true for both growing methods. So ideally you would be eating your fruits and vegetables well before the point of decay.

To maintain the life of your tomatoes longer, buy ‘tomatoes on the vine’. The vine is able to maintain the tomato longer so you will get to keep them longer. This works for organic and non-organic alike.

When buying bananas, don’t choose the green ones. Chances are that they were picked so yearly in their life cycle that they may well never get ‘ripe’. Instead select bananas well on the way to being ripe or with very little green left on the peeling.

Buy the healthiest looking vegetables for these would be the most alive and with the most nutrients. And ideally, select organic whenever you can.

Doris Temple created www.mom-going-organic-sensibly.com to fill the need for unbiased information. The Website provides information about organic food, products and healthy nutrition.