Gardening: Organic or Conventional - The Pros and Cons

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by Judith Schwader
A to Z Gardening - www.atozgardening.com

Picture three ripe red tomatoes arranged on a wooden
cutting board awaiting your pleasure. They've each come
from a different source: can you tell which one was grown
organically?

Two of the tomatoes were lovingly tended in backyards -
one in a conventional garden and the other in an organic
garden. The third tomato came from the supermarket, and
it's easy to eliminate from the guessing game.

The supermarket tomato is the pale red one the size and
shape of a tennis ball. Bred for packing, shipping, and
storing, (not flavor), this tomato was picked green, has
traveled more than a thousand miles from farm to store, and
has sat on the shelf for weeks -- looking none the worse
for wear.

Set this one aside. It was definitely not grown
organically.

Two remain. For the sake of the game, they are the same
tomato variety, let's say Big Beef slicers. Bright red,
they were just picked and are still warm to the touch from
afternoon sun.

It's not so easy to tell the difference in these; we have
to look beyond the surface... literally.  The quality of
the soil from which they grew is the key element to naming
the winner of this game: conventional tomato vs. organic
tomato.

The chemicals in the fertilizers used in conventional
gardens actually break down the health of the soil.
Microbes that are necessary for making soil nutrients
available to the plants are killed off.

The dead soil requires increasing doses of conventional
fertilizer, and still the plants are malnourished, falling
prey to insects and disease. Enter the deadly pesticides,
sprayed liberally on the plant.

Now, the game is getting serious. One of the two remaining
contestants in our tomato contest had better be carefully
washed before being eaten; it's been dusted with poison.

On the other hand, the organically grown tomato also had
fertilizer applied to it, but this fertilizer was made from
naturally occurring substances like bone meal, fish
emulsion, and rock phosphate. These additions fed the soil
and did no harm to the beneficial microbes that make
nutrients available for use by plants.

Pesticides probably weren't necessary because a healthy
plant produces its own pest-resistant chemicals. But if
there were pests, the organic gardener might have used a
home-mixed spray of hot pepper and garlic, or something
similarly non-toxic to humans.

There are a few additional techniques the organic gardener
probably used, such as tilling in a cover crop to add
organic material for the microbes and earthworms to break
down. This process results in a crumbly textured soil that
holds moisture and allows the roots to breathe.

But even without the soil improvement from a cover crop,
it's fairly clear which tomato is better for health: the
only nutrients that can be found in the fruit had to come
from what was available in the soil. The organically grown
tomato provides better nutrition.

What is not so clear is which tomato is better for flavor.
A test of the ratio of sugar to acid might be made, but
that isn't a big issue. Both the conventionally grown and
organically grown tomato are vastly superior in flavor to
the poor tomato found in most supermarkets.

The original question in this tomato guessing game was
whether you could tell which one of those ripe, juicy
tomatoes on the cutting board was organic. Turns out that
it's hard to tell just by looking, or even just by tasting.

So, what's the big issue? Mainly this: sustainability.
Conventional growing depletes and eventually destroys the
soil. Whereas organic growing techniques actually build and
improve the soil.

In the end, the nutritious organic tomato contributes more
to your health, and it is certainly better for the health
of the soil from which all future crops will come.

About the author: Life-time gardener Judith Schwader
specializes in organic gardening methods. She shares expertise,
humor, and advice for your gardening success at A to Z Gardening.
Also visit FB Home for additional home and garden information.

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This article may be reprinted in its entirety so long as the author's credits,
and all links remain intact.

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