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Organically grown or produced foods are better for you Since the 1920 s when chemical fertilizers were first used commercially on a large scale, there have been claims that agricultural chemicals produce less healthful and less nutritious food crops. By the 1940 s, the organic farming movement had begun, in part due to this belief that food grown using more traditional, chemical-free methods was more healthful. Foods grown by these methods came to be known as "organic. " Today, this notion has continued in the alternate health arena, and some alternative treatments, such as the Gerson cancer therapy, rely on food grown organically. But the question remains: is organically grown food better for us? There is so much out there these days saying how bad non-organic is!
I really dont trust food today and what they do to it! Organic is better for the environment, health, animals, etc. It is not grown with toxic stuff. It accumulates in our body and can cause cancer. They think it causes deficiencies in children like ADD, and look how bad MSG has been known to be.
And they say in cows, they just fill them with antibiotics that we consume and if cows have cancer or disease they just cut out that part and still feed it to us! And organic is getting cheaper because more people are finding they get headaches and buying more, the more people buy, the better in cost it gets, because government doesnt regulate prices. Long before organic food became synonymous with Birkenstocks, tofu burgers, and no-frills food co-ops, there were old-fashioned farms - unassuming places that happened to be home to crops and animals. The animals ate some of the crops and produced manure. The manure was added to the land, and the farmers could continue cultivating the same plot without depleting the topsoil. Chemical fertilizers, which became available in the mid- 1800 s, made it possible to grow bigger, better-looking crops on meager land.
Seventy-five years later, farmers happily coated their fields, and made America the breadbasket of the world, until over-farming spent the topsoil and the Midwest became a whirling dust bowl. (Conrad, 2001). A few rebel agronomists, who noticed that chemically doused crops were actually more likely to be visited by a plague of insects, favored fertilizing with humus. In 1933, the best-selling book 100, 000, 000 Guinea Pigs discussed health hazards from spray insecticides. In 1962, Rachel Carson's seminal study Silent Spring warned that pesticides were wreaking havoc on the environment. By the early 1970 s, DDT was banned in the US, but organic farmers were still being labeled "hippie-weirdo-freaks. " Twenty-five years later, one of the most outspoken of the 1970 s organic farmers, Gene Kahn, had become CEO of Small Planet Foods, a $ 90 -million-a-year organic food giant, in an industry whose annual sales have reached $ 4. 2 billion and are expected to grow exponentially. Today, consumers seeking produce grown without pesticides and livestock raised without steroids can buy organic products in half the nation's supermarkets. (Gershuny, 1997).
By this time, it appears that there is no solid answer, which would be based on facts, to the question if the organic foods are better for us. There are several reasons for that. The first is that the difference in terms of health effects is not large enough to be readily apparent. In other words, if people stayed well on an organic diet but got violently ill as a result of consuming food grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, then the difference would be perfectly obvious; however, this is not the case, and a more subtle difference, such as an 8 % increase in the incidence of allergies, for example, is much more difficult to detect and easier to overlook. (Gold, 1999). A second reason is that it is difficult to conduct and interpret agricultural research investigating nutrient content. Factors such as sunlight, temperature and rainfall, which influence the nutrient content of plants, vary from year to year.
Additional changes in the nutrient content of a crop can occur during storage and shipping. For these reasons, it is difficult both to plan effective studies and to make sense of the results. (Gold, 1999). Furthermore, these considerations often make it difficult to compare the results of different studies. Finally, many of the studies that have been done are relatively old and not performed according to modern standards. In particular, the older studies do not include a rigorous statistical analysis. This factor alone can make these studies difficult to evaluate.
Nevertheless, America's appetite for all-natural, organic food has grown at the remarkable rate of over 20 percent annually for the past 10 years. This makes organic agriculture -- farming and processing food without the use of synthetic chemicals, such as synthetic pesticides and many inorganic fertilizers -- the fastest growing sector of America's agricultural economy. Contrast that to the scarcity of organic items to be found 20 years ago... and those only in specialty shops. Today, organic selections are as easy to find in conventional supermarkets and mainstream stores as in natural food stores. (Goodwin, 1999).
In fact, mainstream stores altogether account for 49 percent of organic retail sales, just exceeding the 48 percent logged by natural food stores. Organic items are flourishing in other, direct venues, including farmers' markets, farm stands, roadside stands, farm subscriptions, and mail orders. In all, commerce from this array of diverse outlets, large and small, puts America in first place internationally in total organic sales. With increasing food safety scares across Europe, organically produced foods have been gaining immense popularity, with consumers evermore concerned about the food they eat.
However, the UK's Food Standards Agency has reacted to this latest report. The FSA said, "We are not persuaded to change our position on organic food, which is that there is not enough information to say that organic food is significantly different in terms of food safety and nutrition from conventional food. " UK organic food certification body, the Soil Association (SA) has released a report which it claims scientifically proves organic food is healthier and safer to eat, than foods produced under conventional methods. (Worthington, 1998). Nutritionist Shane Heaton led the study, comparing organic foods against non-organic foods in terms of food safety, nutritional content and health effects. The report, Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health, suggests that consumers can increase their daily mineral and vitamin intake by eating organically produced foods. At the same time, consumers would reduce their exposure to any potential harmful pesticides and additives used in conventional farming methods.
The report also stated that organic foods have significant health benefits. Speaking on the report, Patrick Holden, director of the Soil Association said organic foods are "higher in phyto nutrients - compounds which protect plants from pests and disease and are often beneficial in the treatment of cancer." (Jefferson, 1998). Over the years, organic farmers have closely followed the findings from ARS studies, in particular those on weed management, soil fertility, biological pest control, and integrated pest management. Much of ARS' research already aims to increase use of on-farm resources and decrease use of chemicals. For the most part, however, those studies have been done on conventional -- not organic -- farming systems. But that's changing.
Organic studies -- from production to processing -- are increasingly a formal part of ARS efforts and can benefit both types of farming systems. In 1998, Congress paved the way for more organic investigations by authorizing an organic farming bill. Some collaborations were already in place between organic farmers and ARS specialists and, in many instances, their university colleagues. (Gross, 2002). Today, more than 60 ARS scientists are conducting organic farming research. Notably, these studies are on organically certified fields. These experts have consistently made themselves available to local growers for help and advice.
For example, the researchers in Corvallis, Oregon, are working with organic growers to quell plant diseases. This collaboration is experimenting with compost teas. These teas are made by adding water to organically approved compost and allowing the mix to steep, somewhat like adding water to tea leaves. The mix is then strained, and the resulting tea-colored liquid is sprayed on foliage. The teas may help zap Botrytis rot that attacks leaves of blackberries and ornamentals such as roses and geraniums. (Coleman, 1995). What is the evidence the organic foods are better?
There are more than 30 studies comparing the nutrient content of organic crops and those produced conventionally with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In these studies, various individual nutrients in individual crops were compared, such as zinc in organic versus conventional carrots, or vitamin C in organic versus conventional broccoli. In the more than 300 comparisons performed in these studies, organic crops had a higher nutrient content about 40 % of the time, and conventional crops had a higher nutrient content only about 15 % of the time. Overall, organic crops had an equal or higher nutrient content about 85 % of the time. These results suggest that, on average, organic crops have a higher nutrient content. (Coleman, 1995). While the overall outlook is favorable for organic crops, there is too little data for most individual nutrients to say anything at all.
But for three individual nutrients - vitamin C, nitrates and protein quality - there is enough evidence to suggest that organic crops are superior to conventional ones. Compared to crops grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, organically grown crops generally have a higher vitamin C content, a lower content of carcinogenic nitrates and better protein quality. Further work is needed on other nutrients before any definitive conclusions can be drawn. While this nutrient content data is interesting, it does not tell us anything about the health of people and animals that consume these crops.
The most relevant studies then, are not those that simply assess nutrient content, but are those that feed organic or conventional feed to animals and then look at how healthy they are. There are 14 such animal studies that have been performed over the last 70 years. In ten of these, the organically fed animals fared better; in one, the animals fed organic feed came in second among several chemically fertilized feeds; and 3 studies showed no difference, possibly due to weaknesses in the study designs. (Grossman, 2000). The final research results support the notion that organically produced crops may be more conducive to good health and hence more nutritious. The positive effects are most striking in sick or otherwise vulnerable animals such as newborns and in sensitive areas of reproduction such as sperm motility. It is particularly interesting to see that the fertility of animals fed fodder grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides declined over several generations.
This recalls the progressive decline in health that were seen in each succeeding generation of cats fed a less than optimal diet. In summary, from the research that has been done, it appears that organically grown crops may have, on average, a higher nutrient content than crops grown with chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In addition, animal evidence supports the thesis that organically produced foodstuff can produce a better health outcome over the long term, particularly in the area of reproduction. These studies support a return to traditional, organic farming methods. The organic foods are more expensive. This is the point, which cannot be argued about.
But the lower prices of conventionally grown products hide costs, including the long-term effect on our soil and water quality, as well as the health of farm workers and consumers. Still, most people aren't thinking along those lines when they wheel their shopping carts to the cash register. The Food and Drug Administration tested 15, 000 food samples over a two-year period and identified the crops with the highest levels of pesticide residue. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit research organization based in Washington, D. C. , compiled the following list, with the foods given in descending order of toxicity: strawberries, bell peppers and spinach (tied for second), U. S. -grown cherries, peaches, Mexican-grown cantaloupes, celery, apples, apricots, green beans, Chilean grapes and cucumbers. (Gross, 2002).
Concerned consumers should make a special effort to find organic sources for these foods. Finally, it can be inferred it is better to consume organically grown foods in order to escape many questions about your health in the future, even if this way is more expensive. Words: 2, 016. Bibliography: Coleman E.
The New Organic Grower. Chicago: Chelsea Green Publishing, 1995. Conrad, D. A. "Care Services in Health Systems. " Hospital and Health Services Administration 23 (3): 314 - 315, 2001. Gershuny G. Start with the Soil.
Chicago: Rodale Press, 1997. Gold, M. R. , R. Hurley, T. "A National Survey of the Food Nutrition Report. " The New England Journal of Medicine 33 (5): 78 - 83, 1999. Goodwin, A. Organic Food Demand.
New York: The Viking Press, 1999. Gross, E. Food Research Report. Washington, DC: Center for Studying Health System Change, 2002. Grossman, J. M. "Health Plan Competition in Local Healthcare Markets. " Health Services Research 35 (Part I): 17 - 36, 2000.
Jefferson, K. Soil Association Report Claims. London: Health Affairs 12 (2): 9 - 10, 1998. Worthington, D. Effect of Agricultural Methods on Nutritional Quality: A Comparison of Organic with Conventional Crops.
Alternative Therapies, Volume 4, 1998, pages 58 - 69.
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