Since the initiation of the Fortress Organic Vegetable & Herbal Garden in February of 2015, improving and expanding the garden has been given high priority to the “Fortress Sustainable Movement” besides our “Helping Sea Turtles and Marine Life” Project. The experienced Fortress gardeners follow many proven and safe organic gardening methods to ensure that the ecosystem at the garden is blooming. Some of it is; using environmentally friendly fertilizers to provide the best nutrients for the plants, utilizing all-natural and homemade insecticides to keep harmful bugs off the crops.
A continuous and common debate among people is if there is any difference between organic food and its conventionally-grown equivalents. Research has shown that the method used to grow or raise food can have an impact on a person’s mental and emotional state, and also a direct effect on biodiversity. So a simple answer to this debate would be: “Yes, there is a difference between organic food and its conventionally-grown equivalents.”
Organic food has more beneficial nutrients, such as antioxidants. Some studies have shown that people with allergies to foods or preservatives may even find their symptoms reduce or go away when they eat only organic food. Ain’t that amazing? But wait! There are plenty of more reasons why one should consider consuming more organic food.
In general, organic food contains fewer pesticides, meaning you don’t consume harmful chemicals such as synthetic fungicides, herbicides, and insecticides. They are much fresher because they don’t contain preservatives nor any genetically modified organisms (GMO).
You might ask if consuming pesticides would affect your health? Well, some studies have shown that even a small amount of pesticides can increase the risk of certain cancers, such as leukemia, lymphoma, brain tumors, breast cancer, and prostate cancer. Pesticides are also harmful to children and fetuses may cause developmental delays, behavioral disorders, autism, immune system harm, and motor dysfunction.
While our gardeners ensure that the biodiversity at the organic garden is safe and healthy, the chefs are been taught to handpick the produce when it is perfect for cooking. In our next article, we will be exploring which ingredients are used in our kitchen that comes directly from the Fortress Organic Vegetable & Herbal Garden, and we will also discuss why Sri Lankan dishes are known to be one of the healthiest cuisines in the world.