“Hey farmer, farmer, put away that DDT now; give me worms in my apples, but save me the birds and the bees, please.” In 1970, at the first Earth Day, Joni Mitchel sang that song in New York and I spoke in Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles and here we are 49 years later, using even more poisons to grow our food.
However, when we use our consumer power and buy organic, we can change the world! Small organic farms here in Ventura County are improving the food quality, as well as the air, the soil, and the water. When trees and plants are grown organically, they provide a healthy habitat for beneficial insects and animals and create a soil alive with microorganisms.
Local, seasonal, organic fruits and veggies are preventive medicine, detoxifying, healing, and disease fighting. Organic food is nutrient dense, jam packed with vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber, healthy fats, and phytonutrients. Organic food has a superior texture, quality, and depth of flavor. Living organic soil is the womb of nature, where every cubic inch of healthy soil is a miniature world of beneficial living organisms that feed all living things on our planet. In Ventura County, we have many Farmers Markets where we can buy local, in season, organic produce.
Conventional farming allows the use of synthetically created chemical pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, irradiation, and sewage sludge to grow food. This has resulted in residues of DDT, DDE, and TDE in the American diet and has polluted the soil, the drinking water, and the air. The pesticides are killing the bees, butterflies, and other pollinators needed to produce crops and poisoning the workers in the field. Conventional farming also uses GMO seeds, some with added pesticide in their DNA, which give rise to new allergens and toxins. Then the food is shipped to processing plants and enhanced with too much fat, sugar, salt, plus additives, fillers, and dyes. Transportation of food averages 1500 miles from farm to table and adds to the greenhouse gases. Fast food and processed convenience foods have resulted in a major health crisis in America and are more expensive than an organic home cooked meal.
To create our own little paradise, we can grow an organic garden in our backyard, patio, or community garden for little cost and have access to fresh organic food that heals the body. Organic gardening is a great exercise and is excellent for stress reduction with anti-depressant microorganisms in the soil. Rainbows of brightly colored organic fruits and veggies are powerful boosts of energy and the magic secret for all around health. Organic gardening improves the soil, air, and water in the garden, as it uplifts the spirit, renews the mind, and recharges the body of the gardener.
Let’s turn the tide on the alarming rise in diabetes, cancer, and obesity. Food is medicine. Eating fresh, local, seasonal, organic fruits and veggies saves time and money at the doctors office and on prescriptions. Go Organic!
Cooking Magic for Kids 
You’re absolutely right. Hopefully sometime soon we’ll have mass conversion in society.