Organic foods are gaining in the marketplace, but are they any more nutritious than conventional foods?

“There’s no good evidence to support this claim,” said Matt Miller, a registered dietician at Greater Baltimore Medical Center.

But those who have invested their livelihood or their pantry in organics feel otherwise.

David London, owner of David’s Natural Market in Columbia, Bel Air and Gambrills only sells natural and organic foods and products.

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London believes organic and natural foods are better for you because they aren’t sprayed with pesticides.

The United States Department of Agriculture doesn’t say organic foods are safer or more nutritious than conventional foods. The USDA organic seal means at least 95 percent of a product is organic.

Yet, organic product sales in natural food stores top $3.3 billion, according to the Henry A. Wallace Center for Agricultural and Environmental Policy at Winrock International, a nonprofit organization.

There is some evidence organic foods may be good for you.

There are major increases in antioxidants in organic and sustainable grown foods versus conventionally grown foods, according to studies by Alyson Mitchell, Ph.D, food scientist at the University of California, Davis. Mitchell evaluated antioxidants in corn, strawberries and marionberries.

Conventionally grown foods are sprayed with pesticides, but washing can help remove them. Pesticides can’t always wash off of 12 conventional foods, however. The “dirty dozen” includes spinach, celery, sweet bell peppers and peaches, Miller said.

Substitute organic versions when possible, Miller suggests. If you can’t find or afford the organic version, don’t completely cut out the fruit or vegetable, he said. Spinach is packed with vitamins and “it’s worse not to eat them.”

Spinach has extremely high amounts of six crucial nutrients: vegetable vitamin A (beta carotene), vitamin B6, folic acid, potassium, zinc and magnesium, according to USA Weekend.

Courtney Carpenter, nutritionist at David’s Natural Market and an advocate for organic foods, agrees with Miller.

“There’s a lot of a misunderstandings on organic foods,” Carpenter said. If you're buying things in season, prices are pretty close.

David's customer Karen Yoder is convinced organic foods are better. Yoder has been shopping organic sporadically for 10 to 15 years. She prefers organic foods because there aren’t pesticides and the food tastes better.

Yoder also chooses organic foods so her two young daughters aren’t exposed to the chemicals in the foods.

THE DIRTY DOZEN:

» Peaches

» Strawberries

» Apples

» Spinach

» Nectarines

» Celery

» Pears

» Potatoes

» Sweet bell peppers

» Raspberries

» Grapes

Source: www.diamondorganics.com/dirty_dozen

eskalski@baltimoreexaminer.com

Which foods do you swap for organic foods? Respond below in our comment section.