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Recently a study was published by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) which determined definitively that organic food is no more nutritious than food produced with conventional farming methods. The key to understanding this study is the word nutritious. It was never under dispute whether or not an organic tomato contained more tomato properties (say lycopene) than a tomato produced otherwise. It's still a tomato. The reasons for choosing organic foods are outside of nutrition, at least as nutrition is defined in the FSA study.
The factor that distinguishes organic food from conventional food is that organic food is produced without man-made pesticides . Pesticides do little to nothing to affect the nutrition of a fruit or vegetable. In fact, pesticides were first conceived in order to protect fruits and vegetables from pests that destroyed or impaired growth. The growing concern over pesticides, however, has little to do with their effects on the fruits or vegetables that they protect and more to do with all the harm pesticides cause other environments and organisms.
A pesticide's purpose is to be sprayed on a plant to kill whatever pest is infecting it. Unfortunately, pesticides don't stop 'working' once they stop the pest problem. Long after the pest is dead, the pesticide remains on the plant, which will eventually be watered. When this happens, the pesticides are washed into the water and if this pesticide-filled water runs into a lake or stream it can create all sorts of havoc on that ecosystem. Some pesticides rapidly increase algae growth, making the stream uninhabitable to its current residents. Others can change the sex or cause the death of fish and frogs. Furthermore, if a fish eats a bug infected with a pesticide, or swims in a river containing pesticides, and then lives, pesticides will be present in the fatty tissue of that fish. Any animal or human that eats that fish, is also eating pesticides and so on, and so forth.
Pesticides are dangerous to humans, and this is the main reason organic produce is touted by so many experts. Dozens of once-considered safe pesticides are now illegal because they have been proven to cause cancer in humans. And it doesn't take a fish. More dangerous than a potential ecological chain are the pesticides that remain on the plant and become part of the produce that is intended for human consumption.
According to Realage.com, the 10 major fruits and vegetables in which pesticides persist (that is, after harvest, these fruits and vegetables will still contain high amounts of pesticides) are:
- peaches
- apples
- bell peppers
- celery
- nectarines
- strawberries
- cherries
- pears
- imported grapes
- spinach
- lettuce
- potatoes
What this means to you, is that if you aren't eating say, organic potatoes, you are eating high quantities of pesticides. To many, including myself, that is a real health concern, because there's no telling what those amounts of pesticides may be doing to your body, and/or if those pesticides are being stored in your fatty tissue, etc.
I am not trying to be alarmist. Most conventional farmers are using approved pesticides and those who aren't are in violation of federal law. The pesticides they are using are considered safe, but no pesticide is meant for human consumption. Food produced with those pesticides, however, is also considered safe by the FDA, so it's your choice if you want to eat them. I, like many others, do my best to consume as few pesticides as possible and that's because cancer causing pesticides like DDT were once considered safe too.
In conclusion, I believe that the FSA study is a blatant attempt to impair the reputation of organic food. The issue of nutrition was never an issue. The issue is whether or not it is safe for human beings to eat foods containing pesticides and whether or not the surrounding environment/habitat should have to suffer from the damaging effects of pesticides. The market for organic foods is exploding (especially in Sacramento, where farmer's markets are plentiful) and conventional farming (mostly government subsidized) is suffering from profit loss. I'll let you draw your own conclusions. In the spirit of fairness, the following 10 conventionally farmed foods test safe (as in virtually pesticide free) at harvest:
- onions
- avocados
- frozen corn
- pineapples
- mangos
- asparagus
- frozen peas
- kiwi
- banana
- cabbage
- broccoli
- papaya
Comments
The points raised in your article are very interesting, you might want to view this clip that has a strong counter argument for industrial farming. newsy.com organic foods
Dear author-
Please do your research next time you want to be an authority on things you do not know about.
You may want to read the definition or organic, as listed in the USDA NOP information. Pesticides can be used. Organic just means not man - made. Sulfur is natural and is used extensively on organic, conventional, sustainable, and any other type of farming. Pesticides can be used that are "ORGANIC". FDA is the Food and Drug Administration and does not regulate pesticides. That would be EPA, Environmental Protection AGency. Before you tote info as truth do what any decent journalist would do, TELL THE TRUTH and DO YOUR HOMEWORK.
Renee, you are correct and incorrect about the FDA and EPA. The EPA regulates pesticides but the FDA decides whether foods are safe for human consumption, which is what my article is discussing. And, I believe it was inferred by my article that when I say pesticides I don't mean naturally occuring organic methods of reducing/detering pests like sulfur, or natural predation, or any of the dozens of other possible ammendments. Obviously I don't mean that organic produce is grown without any help or defenses. In fact, "farming," if you do your research and look in the dictionary, absolutely insists upon interference from man. Thanks for your comment.
Where the heck have these people been hiding until the word "pesticides" is used in an article? The way these people totally ignored your main point: that pesticides are harmful to the environment is sad because they missed the forest for a tree (in this case, a twig.) No wonder Michele Obama got blasted by the pesticides-friendly folks for having an organic vegetable garden at the White House. She probably didn't do her homework either.
The PHI system is a comprehensive and appropriate route to food safety. Crops grown within MRL limits are just as safe as those grown without chemicals. Indeed, organic produce may be contaminated with pathogens, heavy metals, and natural steroids.
I understand the whole organic vs. not argument. I have never really even shopped from the organic section (because it was so much more expensive). Now that I have extra money (and are more concerned about my health) I am looking at organic more and more. I appreciate the list of items to not bother buying organic for health reasons. However, I guess if the concern is the planet --rather than the direct consumption of possible toxins-- you are saying we should always buy organic. Laurel, where are some good places to buy organic in Sac? I have just started shopping at Trader Joe's but their produce is very expensive and so I still seem to buy most of mine from farmer's markets (or Denios); I seriosuly doubt any of that is organic.
The biggest misconception is that organic means "no pesticides" - it doesn't mean no pesticides, just "natural" ones. Go to www.omri.org for a list of all pesticides allowed in organic production. The second biggest misconception is that "natural" means "safer." For example, lime sulfur is approved as a pesticide for organic production. The reason growers turned away from lime sulfur to synthetics is because of how corrosive it was and how much damage it caused. Now, "organic" growers have gone back to using lime sulfur, simply because they can call it organic.
Another common practice in orchards is to have the "organic" production area surrounded by areas of conventional treaments. The result is that pest populations are reduced in the "organic" area so that no applications. So it's not that pesticides weren't used, just not in that specific area.
Organic is primarily marketing, more than any benficial practice.
Laurel,
I liked this article very much. It makes people think and then do research to find the truth of what they are willing to put in thier bodies.
Very good article. I just started reading your stuff.
I'm definitely taking notes! Thanks for the clean/dirty list.
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