Human beings are the only species that spray poison on their food so that other animals won’t eat it. And then we eat it ourselves! Today a large portion of the food grown for consumption is grown conventionally using pesticides and fertilisers. This results in foods that are less tasteful and less nutritious simply because they have been grown in man’s way rather than in nature’s way. You have heard your parents and other elders say that food just doesn’t taste the way it used to. This is because nutrition and palatability go hand in hand, and food grown in an unnatural way makes it less nutritious.
Most pesticides cannot be washed off. Once pesticides are sprayed, they don’t remain on the surface but actually enter into the core of the plant. When pesticides are sprayed at the bottom of the coconut tree they can even be traced in the fruit above. All kinds of potions to wash pesticides off are available in the market and perhaps they have a slight value, but they cannot wash out the chemicals inside the food, and nor can they raise its nutritive value. Some of these potions may even add to your chemical intake! If you don’t want to be paying for poison, and eating it too, then you should switch to organic.
Today more and more genetically modified (GMO) crops are available in the world. As yet, fortunately, India has not allowed genetically modified food crops. But this does not prevent us from importing genetically modified foods. This is one more reason why it’s always better to buy organic. Organic foods are not genetically modified.