Health

One of the founding principles of the Soil Association was to make explicit the links between the health of the soil, plants, animals and humans. Early pioneers of the organic movement, like Lady Eve Balfour, believed in the holistic nature of this connection, making the link between what we put in our (and animals’) bodies and our health and life chances.

The relationship between farming, food and health is core to what the Soil Association does today. Through programmes like our Food for Life Partnership, our pioneering research on the use of antibiotics, pesticides and additives, and work with hospitals and nurseries, the Soil Association actively promotes the benefits of organic farming and food as the sustainable, planet and people friendly model.

Why should consumers be concerned?

Food-related health stories are regularly in the headlines. Not only do we all get regular (and sometimes conflicting) advice about what food is and isn’t good for us, we are also bombarded with scares and, increasingly, information about the wider health implications of our intensive farming and food systems, through issues like swine and avian flu (which may be related to factory farming conditions).

Artificial ingredients such as additives, E numbers and flavourings, and their possible links to everything from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) to cancer are of increasing concern to consumers. Connections are being made between the use of pesticides and ill-health. In 2006 the European Commission stated: ‘Long-term exposure to pesticides can lead to serious disturbances to the immune system, sexual disorders, cancers, sterility, birth defects, damage to the nervous system and genetic damage.’

Many scientists now acknowledge that by using antibiotics unnecessarily we encourage the rapid spread of antibiotic-resistant infections. It has long been known that overuse of antibiotics on factory farms leads to antibiotic resistance in food poisoning bacteria, like salmonella. Evidence has also implicated intensive farming in the rise of two serious superbugs: a new strain of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in farm animals, which is spreading rapidly and transferring to humans, and a new and almost untreatable type of E.coli that is causing large numbers of deaths in the UK and elsewhere, especially among the elderly.

Why organic?

There is a growing body of research that shows organic food can be more nutritious for you and your family. Put simply, organic food contains more of the good stuff we need – like vitamins and minerals – and less of the bad stuff that we don't – pesticides, additives and drugs.