{"id":369,"date":"2017-06-30T11:42:15","date_gmt":"2017-06-30T11:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthyvendingny.com\/blog\/?p=369"},"modified":"2017-07-01T17:44:09","modified_gmt":"2017-07-01T17:44:09","slug":"healthy-choices-in-new-york-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/healthyvendingny.com\/blog\/healthy-choices-in-new-york-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Healthy Choices Standard in New York City?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Healthy<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Have you noticed an increase in the number of organic options at your local grocery store over the past several years? If you thought you did, you weren\u2019t imagining it. The United States (U.S.), the largest organic food and beverage market in North America, was valued at $40 billion in 2015\u2014almost half of the global organic market ($91 billion). And the global organic market isn\u2019t expected to slow down anytime soon. Grand View Research, a U.S. based market research and consulting company, projects that the global organic food and beverage market will reach $320.5 billion by 2025. <\/span><\/p>\n

What Is It?<\/span><\/h6>\n

What does it mean for a strawberry or cut of beef to be labeled organic? The short answer is that there is no short answer. For something to be labeled organic, it has to meet specific regulations in the country where it was grown. So foods labeled organic in Germany need to meet German regulations, and foods grown in the U.S. need to meet specific U.S. regulations. Crops in the U.S. must be grown without the use of synthetic pesticides, bioengineered genes (GMOs), petroleum-based fertilizers, and sewage sludge-based fertilizers. Livestock, on the other hand, must be raised without antibiotics, growth hormones, or animal by-products, and must have access to the outdoors and be fed organic feed. <\/span><\/p>\n

Why Eat It?<\/span><\/h6>\n

The difference between using organic versus conventional methods offers benefits not only to the New York City consumers who consume them but also to the environment where the crops and livestock were grown or raised. Organic farming methods have been found to reduce pollution and soil erosion, conserve water, use less energy and increase soil fertility. Ongoing research in both the U.S. and Europe, the second largest organic market behind the U.S., has shown that consuming organic products increases the number of beneficial nutrients (ex. antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids) and decreases the number of pesticides, preservatives, GMOs, growth hormones, and antibiotics that are consumed. A 2016 European Parliamentary Research Service found the following benefits of eating organic:<\/span><\/p>\n