Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, once said that “Let food be thy medicine, and let medicine be thy food” which stressed the importance of nutrition in preventing and curing of diseases. Put simply – you become what you eat. Before the advent of industrial agriculture and food processing, people ate staples such as grains, fruits and vegetables that were grown and preserved naturally, and meat from animals that lived and grazed freely.

Today, those foods come from a multi-billion dollar supply chain which uses modern interventions such as chemical fertilisers and pesticides that are harmful to health. Although high in supply, low in cost and have helped to alleviate world hunger, the chemical-laden foods have also led to the rise of diseases such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes.

In the early 2000s, the rise of a more educated and informed consumer society which understood the link between diet and health propelled the organic food’s public profile onto the global stage. Natural fertilisers such as manure or compost are used to grow crops which are also rotated to reduce pest infestations and outbreak of diseases. Organic-raised livestock are humanely treated, fed with natural feed, injected with less growth hormones and antibiotics, and are not housed in overcrowded facilities. Such organic and sustainable farming practices use more labour and thus more expensive, which is why their produce costs more. But are they worth the higher price tags?

Definitely, says Andrew Hallam, author of Millionaire Teacher: Nine Rules Of Wealth That You Should Have Learnt In School, who has been eating mostly organic food for over a decade. Hallam believes that it is worth spending extra on organic groceries for the possibility of living longer, experiencing and enjoying more of life.

So go for the healthier organic food option – if you haven’t already – and check out the freshest selections at our bestorganicfood.sg store.

Photo by Ella Olsson from Pexels