Organics cleaner, healthier despite media spin

No worries, organic shoppers. Photo source.

One  morning this week as I watched Morning Joe, poor Mika was getting razzed by the guys for buying organic food. A new study out suggests that the nutritional quality of organic food is no different than traditionally farmed foods. The media (and advocacy groups I'm sure) have taken it several steps further to say that paying extra for organic foods is a waste of money.

Wowwee. Misinformation for all.

I thought the coverage sounded too definitive to be true, so I took a look at the study. It is a review of a number of studies over the last 50 yrs, and measured levels of vitamin C, magnesium, calcium and several other nutrients, and found no difference in these nutrients. It did, however, find significantly higher levels of nitrogen in the traditional foods, and did not evaluate pesticide residues or other synthetic chemicals. Nor did it evaluate many phytochemicals that have gained attention as of late.

In the end, if you buy organic products because you think they have higher levels of vitamins and minerals, then this may be a sad day for you. But if you buy organic products as much for what they do NOT contain (pesticides, chemicals, frankenfood practices, GMO, unfair labor) then take heart, this study addressed none of these issues, despite the media's message.