The tiny country of Bhutan in southeast Asia was the first country in the world to implement a 100 percent organic, GMO-free national agricultural plan. Then, in 2014, another small country, Kyrgyzstan, banned the cultivation and importation of genetically modified crops. And, taking it a step further, late last year the country’s parliament announced a 10-year plan to slowly phase out non-organic farming and make the switch to 100 percent organic agriculture.
This is a massive commitment from a country which faces bankruptcy, collapsing infrastructure, large-scale corruption and many other problems. And Kyrgyzstan is heavily reliant on farming, with more than 65 percent of the nation’s workforce employed in the agriculture sector. Farming is seen as crucial to alleviating the country’s crushing poverty and ensuring food security.
Nonetheless, the country's government has seen just how important the issue of organic farming is and has taken the brave step of embracing it fully. In so doing, they put larger, more affluent nations to shame. (Related: Organic farming employs more workers than conventional farms and encourages community development, according to survey.)
A return to traditional farming methods
In reality, what Kyrgyzstan is attempting is not as radical as it might initially sound. Many farmers in the small Central Asian country already practice traditional farming methods which do not involve the use of genetically modified crops, chemical fertilizers or toxic herbicides and pesticides. What the government is essentially doing is making what many farmers are already doing official government policy.
Referencing that new policy, Azer News reported:
Speaker of the Parliament Dastanbek Dzhumabekov sent a corresponding instruction to the government. It states that the production of agricultural products throughout the country should become organic within ten years.
Farmers should not use agrochemicals, pesticides (toxic chemicals), synthetic substances, hormones, growth regulators, feed additives, GMOs, antibiotics and additives other than biological preparations for plant protection and organic fertilizers.
Imagine what it would be like to raise children in a country where all food is produced according to these clean farming principles!
Why organic matters
Many people believe that organic produce is nothing more than an overpriced fad that has no real impact on long-term health. Studies have found, however, that organic fruit and veg is well worth the extra cost.
A study conducted by researchers from Inserm – the French equivalent of the U.S. National Institutes of Health – which involved around 69,000 participants, found that those who ate the most organic produce were far less likely to develop cancer.
Natural News previously reported:
Overall, the participants who ate the most organic produce and made the best lifestyle choices were 25 percent less likely to develop any form of cancer than the volunteers who ate the least organic food. The cancers with the most significant risk reduction were postmenopausal breast cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and all other forms of lymphomas.
The researchers believe the risk reduction is likely due to the lack of cancer-causing pesticides like glyphosate, malathion and diazinon on organic produce.
Studies like these confirm that organic really matters, and countries like Kyrgyzstan that are brave enough to embrace it will reap rich health rewards in the years to come.
Learn more about the amazing health benefits of organic produce at Organics.news.
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