6. PROTECT FARM WORKERS' HEALTH
A Natural Cancer Institute study found that farmers exposed to herbicides had a greater risk, by a factor of six, than non-farmers of contracting cancer. In California, reported pesticide poisonings among farm workers have risen an average of 14% a year since 1973, and doubled between 1975 and 1985. Field workers suffer the highest rates of occupational illness in the state. Farm worker health also is a serious problem in developing nations, where pesticide use can be poorly regulated. An estimated 1 million people are poisoned annually by pesticides. Several of the pesticides banned from use in the U.S. are still manufactured for export to other countries.

7. HELP SMALL FARMERS
Although more and more large scale farms are making the conversion to organic practices, most organic farms are small independently operated and owned family farms of less than 100 acres. It’s estimated that the U.S has lost more than 650,000 family farms in the last decade. And with the U.S department of Agriculture predicting that half of this country’s farm production will come from 1 % of farms by the year 2000, organic farming could become one of the few hopes left for the family farm.