Years ago when I planted my early vegetable gardens I chose non-organic seeds because they were cheaper. I was buying lots of seeds! I believed in organic gardening, but I rationalized to myself that the type of seed didn’t really matter. I told myself what mattered was how the seeds were grown. I was growing the plants organically, so it was OK. Was I correct? Heck, no. Here are a couple of reasons why you want to choose organic seeds when they are available.
Plants grown from organic seeds will probably do better. Organic seeds are from plants that have been grown organically and are more adapted to organic growing conditions. They haven’t been propped up by synthetic chemicals, are more drought-resistant, and more likely to thrive.
Non-organic seed crops are heavy users of synthetic (non-organic) chemicals, both fertilizers and pesticides. Synthetic chemicals damage our soil. They harm the soil by killing microbial life in the soil. Less microbial life means less nutrition available to the plant. Plants become stressed and need more and more synthetic fertilizers to grow well. Stressed plants also attract pests. Then the farmer reaches for a pesticide to kill off the bugs. Excess fertilizer and pesticides run off and leach into our water supply.
And let’s not forget that synthetic (non-organic) fertilizers contribute to climate change. Synthetic fertilizers use natural gas to make the nitrogen found in non-organic fertilizers. Natural gas is a fossil fuel. Burning a fossil fuel adds more carbon to the atmosphere which then leads to climate change.
You are supporting farms and companies committed to organic agriculture. This creates ripple effects into businesses and the environment. Consider that there will be less chemical damage to the land and the water supply of the surrounding communities. And as demand for organic seed increases, the varieties of seeds will increase.
As organic has become more common and more competitive, prices have come down. Buying organic seed is one more opportunity to vote with your wallet.
