Organic Valley Website Calculator Shows Impact of Choosing Organic Products

Would you like to know the direct benefit of buying organic versus conventional?  Do you ever wonder what the cumulative impact of purchasing organic versus conventional products is over the course of a year?  There’s a website out there that allows you to calculate the number of pounds of synthetic nitrogen, pesticides, and herbicides that are eliminated by choosing organic products.

The website is for Organic Valley Family Farmers.  Organic Valley is a co-operative of farmers that produce dairy products, juice, eggs, meat, soy, fruit, and vegetables.  It claims to be the largest organic farmer owned co-operative in North America, and you can review on their website their array of various products.

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The Organic Valley website has a ton of information, including recipes, articles touting the benefits of organic versus conventional, and stories of the organic farmers in the co-op.  But one of the most unique things about the website is a tool you can use to calculate the direct environmental impact of your food choices.

You input the quantity and frequency you use various dairy products into the food calculator on their website.  It allows you to calculate the number of pounds of synthetic nitrogen, pesticides, and herbicides that you prevent from being used and released into the environment by choosing an Organic Valley organic product over a similar conventionally produced product.  Unfortunately the calculator is currently only set up to calculate for dairy products, but hopefully other products will be added in the future.

This website isn’t the ultimate authority on organic foods, and I’m by no means advocating Organic Valley products above all others, though I certainly buy and enjoy them.  The calculator is simply another interesting tool to help you understand the impact of the food choices you make.

Photo Credit: friendsoffamilyfarmers’ at Flickr under a Creative Commons License.

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