Mission Organic 2010 is an online campaign seeking to grow the organic market from 3% to 10% by 2010.  To achieve this stated goal, Mission Organic is asking mindful consumers to pledge to eat one organic meal out of every ten; to purchase one organic item out of every ten. 

“When we, as consumers, demand the organic supply, farmers and food companies will supply the organic demand. The result? Healthier people and a healthier planet.”

Supply and demand: it really is that simple.

The website offers many compelling reasons to shift your food dollar to organic, citing studies that link pesticides to gestational diabetes and impaired brain development, hormone-treated beef to stunted sexual development, and the consumption of organic produce and meat to nutritionally superior breast milk. 

In addition, Mission Organic states that if the organic market grows to 10% by 2010,

• pesticides will be eliminated from 98 million daily servings of drinking water
• 20 million daily servings of milk will be made available that is antibiotic-free, as well as free of growth hormones
• 53 million daily servings of pesticide-free fruit and vegetables will be produced
• nearly 26,000 square miles of degraded soil will be restored to productive farmland
• incidences of abnormal neurodevelopment due to chemical exposure will be decreased
• the number of pre-term deliveries will lower

I realize that it is sometimes frustrating to buy organic when money grows tight. However, there are ways to buy organic on a budget.  At the very least, shift to buying the Dirty Dozen organically grown, or to avoiding conventionally produced baby foods, which can contain concentrated amounts of pesticide residue. (A solid list of the most contaminated food products can be found here.)

Keep in mind that it is vitally important, now more than ever, to support the organic market.  Thanks to the state of the economy, it is “make or break” time for many businesses.  If organic farmers and producers are to survive, we need to demand what they are supplying.  Pinching pennies now can mean effectively killing the organic market; buying organic now will lead to increased supply to meet the demand, hopefully making organic foods more financially accessible in the future.

Remember that we vote with our dollar.  Join the mission to choose organic 10% of the time- only one meal out of ten!– and vote for our health, our children’s health, and for the health of the planet.

Photo credit: rhettmaxwell under Creative Commons