IN REPLY to letter from H Saunders on organic food.

There are no myths about the value of organic food.

It is not rocket science to understand that eating food that has not been saturated in chemicals and eating meat that has been pumped full of growth hormones, antibiotics and kept in cramped conditions is plainly not good for you.

It is common knowledge of the devastating effects that pesticides have on wildlife, our farming systems and human health.

Research published in the British Journal of Nutrition has found significant nutritional differences between organic and non-organic farming.

The studies are the largest systematic review of their kind, and were led by Newcastle University and an international team of experts.

One thing they found was that organic food contains higher levels of antioxidants and vitamins.

Just as important as human health is the damage that industrial and factory farming does to the environment.

Intensive farming is known to be responsible for the loss of wild life and natural habitats for our precious birds and insects.

Intensive farming destroys the soil causing poor quality soil that resembles dust. Healthy soil remains crucial for life and food production, flood defences and our ability to tackle climate change, but we don’t look after it.

Less than one-sixth of the land on Earth is suitable for growing crops.

But we’ve taken our soil for granted, and now one third of the world’s arable soils are degraded—and 75 per cent of that is severely degraded.

Organic means higher levels of animal welfare, lower levels of pesticides, no manufactured herbicides or artificial fertilisers and more environmentally sustainable management of the land and natural environment – this means more wildlife!

If that means paying a bit more and cutting back on eating meat to create a sustainable, healthy planet and happier, healthy animals then I am all for it.

Lizzi Walton

Stroud