Why Organic

Buzz words are everywhere in the food industry. 100% natural, healthy, eco-friendly, superfood. They were all invented by clever marketers, and have no clear definition or regulatory standard.

Organic is different. It’s a strictly defined set of rules that ensures food is produced as nature intended, without synthetic fertilisers or processes. There are absolutely no shortcuts. That’s why only 1% of the world’s farmland is certified organic.¹

And importantly, you can’t just decide to become organic overnight. It takes a minimum of 3 years to convert an ordinary farm to a certified organic farm. That’s how long it takes to flush out all the bad stuff.

100% of Bellamy’s products are dual certified by two Australian certification bodies, ACO and NASAA. These bodies audit every step of our production chain, from farming through to packaging, to ensure we keep our organic promise.

1The World of Organic Agriculture, Statistics and Emerging Trends, 2017, FiBL, IFOAM Available at: https://shop.fibl.org/CHen/mwdownloads/download/link/id/785/?ref=1

Did you know that chemicals are 10 times more toxic to a child than an adult?¹

Chemical pesticides are commonly used on conventional farms to protect fruits and vegetables from pests. There are now over 250 different pesticides and fertilisers now used in Australia.²

But traces of these toxic chemicals often find their way into our food. In a USDA study of over 10,000 conventionally grown fruits and vegetables, pesticide residues were found in over 75% of cases³. And that was after washing and peeling!

There are a number of studies linking pesticide exposure to adverse health effects. The American Academy of Paediatricians suggests that high-pesticide-residue foods may induce chronic health complications in children, including learning disabilities and behavioural problems like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).⁴

At Bellamy’s Organic, we prefer not to experiment on ourselves or our kids. We never use synthetic pesticides or fertilisers.

1National Research Council (US) Committee on Pesticides in the Diets of Infants and Children, National Academies Press, 1993. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236275/

2Australia New Zealand Food Standards (FSANZ) Schedule 20: Maximum residue limits report. Available at: https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2018C00471

3United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Pesticide Data program Annual Summary, 2015 Available at: https://www.ams.usda.gov/sites/default/files/media/2015PDPAnnualSummary.pdf

4Roberts JR, Karr CK, (2012) American Academy of Pediatrics, Council on Environmental Health Technical report—pesticide exposure in children. Pediatrics. 130(6)

Did you know that only 50% to 60% of Australian children are eating the required omega-3 fatty acids they need for brain and eye development.¹

Kids obtain much of their omega 3 through food sources such as oily fish like salmon and mackerel, and seeds like chia and flaxseed.¹ But we all know these foods aren’t so appealing to fussy eaters!

One of the reasons Organic milk is special, is that it contains 40-60% more omega 3 than conventional milk.^{2 3}

Why? Because organic cows are free to roam freely outdoors and eat fresh organic grass and hay. And they are fed absolutely no genetically modified grain, corn or soy.

We like our cows to be happy, healthy and organic. And they reward us with tasty, nutritious milk.

1 Meyer, BJ et al. (2016) Australians are not Meeting the Recommended Intakes for Omega-3 Long Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids: Results of an Analysis from the 2011–2012 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, Nutrients, 8(3): 111

2 Srednicka-Tober et al. (2016) Higher PUFA and omega-3 PUFA, CLA, a-tocopherol and iron, but lower iodine and selenium concentrations in organic bovine milk: A systematic literature review and meta- and redundancy analysis”.  British Journal of Nutrition 115(6):1043-60

3 Benbrook CM et al. (2013) Organic Production Enhances Milk Nutritional Quality by Shifting Fatty Acid Composition: A United States–Wide, 18-Month Study. PLOS

The secret to growing nutritious, tasty produce is… the soil.

Conventional farming relies on synthetic fertilisers to supply nutrients to the soil. But organic soil is different. It is alive with an incredible diversity of microbes that break down organic matter like roots, leaves, manure, insects and earthworms. This process unlocks nutrients in the soil to make everything grow as nature intended.

It’s no wonder that organic fruits and vegetables contain higher concentrations of a range of antioxidants (between 19-69% higher).¹

Antioxidants help our kids build more robust immune systems that can assist in reducing the risk of chronic diseases, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases and certain cancers.²

1 Baranski, M et al. (2014) Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses, British Journal of Nutrition. 112(5):794-811

2 Faller, ALK, Fialho,E, Polyphenol content and antioxidant capacity in organic and conventional plant foods, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis 23, 2013, 561–568

Animal welfare is central to the organic philosophy. Our dairy cows are raised in a more natural living environment, with continuous access to organic pasture, diets free from GMO grain and grain-concentrates, and without the use of antibiotics* and synthetic growth hormones.

It’s no wonder that organic cows produce 30% less milk than ordinary cows ¹

Organic farming is also kinder to the environment. It forbids the use of synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, and instead relies on the use of sustainable practices like composting, crop rotation, and cover crops.
This helps to reduce soil erosion, nitrous oxide emissions, and chemical run-off into our waterways.^{2 3 4}

Do we think organic is worth it? Absolutely.

* If antibiotics are used in an emergency health situation, the cow must be removed from the milk pool for at least 6 months

1 A Comparison of Conventional and Organic Milk Production Systems in the U.S. Selected Paper prepared for presentation at the American Agricultural Economics Association Annual Meeting, Portland, Oregon, August, 2007. Available at: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.589.5878&rep=rep1&type=pdf

2 Regenerative Organic Agriculture and Climate Change, Rodale Institute, Available at: https://rodaleinstitute.org/assets/WhitePaper.pdf

3 David Pimentel et al. (2005) Environmental, Energetic, and Economic Comparisons of Organic and Conventional Farming Systems, 55(7), 573–582

4 Seufert, V et al. (2012) Comparing the yields of organic and conventional agriculture, Nature 485, 229–232