Study Questions Advantages of Organic Foods

[jsr]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/04/science/earth/study-questions-advantages-of-organic-meat-and-produce.html

September 3, 2012
Study Questions Advantages of Organic Foods
By KENNETH CHANG

... Stanford University scientists have weighed in on the “maybe not” side of the debate after an extensive examination of four decades of research comparing organic and conventional foods.

They concluded that fruits and vegetables labeled organic were, on average, no more nutritious than their conventional counterparts, which tend to be far less expensive. Nor were they any less likely to be contaminated by dangerous bacteria like E. coli.

The researchers also found no obvious health advantages to eating organic meats.

Conventional fruits and vegetables did have more pesticide residue, but the levels were almost always under the allowed safety limits, the scientists said. The Environmental Protection Agency sets the limits at levels it says do not harm humans. ...

[tjdee]

1. " at levels it says do not harm humans.... "

exactly.

I'm sorry, but I don't want anything that KILLS something to be on my food and I don't trust the EPA either, tbh.

That said, organic everything is more expensive so I get what I can afford

[surrealAmerican]

2. Nutrition is only one of the reasons people buy organic produce.

I suspect any nutritional benefit would be minor, but it's still better for the land, and generally better tasting.

[GoCubsGo]

3. Sigh. Yet another one of these clueless studies.

My reply to this study is, "No shit, Sherlock." Nobody ever claimed that organic food was "more nutritious" than their non-organic counterparts. That is not the point of using organic produce, as the article points out. And, so what if there are allegedly "safe" levels of pesticides on conventional produce. One would think a PhD in the health field would understand that pesticides accumulate in body fat, so over the years, one's load can become quite high. Especially, if a person regularly eats the amounts of fruits and vegetables that the experts claim we need. I'll give lots of credit to the author of the article for pointing out all the flaws in the reasoning of this study.

[XemaSab]

13. I have seen claims that organic is more nutritious

The thinking is that because the plant is subjected to stresses from insects and it's not "eating" the nutrient equivalent of candy, the plant is producing more chemicals to combat insects and also more chemicals that give the plant flavor. Even though it's not known what the nutritional benefits of these chemicals are, since it's better to eat a wider array of foods, a homegrown tomato provides more complex nutrients than a factory-farmed tomato.

(I got a C in O-chem, so sorry for teh vague.)

[Drahthaardogs]

17. Plant secondary metabolites (defense compounds) were my master's thesis research.

There is nothing nutritious about them. Just the opposite really. Many plants will try to find ways to make them less nutritious (usually through palatability) to avoid predation.

[XemaSab]

18. Good to know!

[The Midway Rebel]

4. Did they test for sustainability?

Because that is the REAL issue with organic food production. Everything else is spin.

[Frustratedlady]

5. Sorry, but I have to disagree.

The best chicken you can buy is free-range that has been raised on the ground and allowed to move around without cages and breathe fresh air and pick up the natural grit they need to digest their food.

If you ever have a chance to see them side by side with the usual corporate chicken you won't believe it. Better color, more meat on the bones and skin that isn't pale.

Fruits and veggies that are modified to be able to ripen enroute and have long shelf life are no comparison to the same grown organically. Maybe the organic isn't as pretty as the corporate crap, but it is safer and better tasting.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. I can attest to that

When I was in Cuba, we visited an ecumenical Protestant seminary that began growing its own food during the "special period" of the early 1990s and never quit.

We had lunch there, and the entire lunch (roast chicken, salad, vegetable soup, black beans) except for the rice was grown on the seminary grounds. There were chickens running around outside, so we knew where our roast chicken had come from, and I must say, the roast chicken we ate that day was a revelation. It had depth and richness of flavor that you just don't find in conventional American chicken, even though the cooks hadn't done anything special to it. (Cubans aren't much into spices or fancy sauces.)

[ag_dude]

16. A different subject.

They were specifically looking at nutrition.

[nilram]

6. *almost* always under the allowed safety limits.

[randome]

7. Rinsing fruits and vegetables well does just fine to remove pesticide residue.

I am in favor of less pesticides and more nutritious food but I think the truth is that most food, on the whole, that is labeled as 'organic' is not better than 'regular' foods.

It was inevitable that the tag 'organic' would be abused. Such is the nature of corporations.

[jsr]

11. Exactly

I bet many people don't pay attention to this when shopping at Whole Foods:

[randome]

12. Yeah. Define 'organic'.

[Frustratedlady]

14. They should be called on that.

When we raised hydroponic tomatoes, we looked into qualifying for organic and the requirements to be approved USDA Organic were huge. I rather doubt any product raised in China would qualify.

Mexico was sending tomatoes up that were raised in the field, but stamped as hydroponic, sprayed heavily and shipped green. The hydroponic association got on them about it. What did they do? They covered the field with netting, shipped them over the border to Texas and had them labeled as being packed in Texas but no mention of origin. Mexico, at that time at least, did not rule out DDT or other toxic sprays.

[Freddie]

8. Cost is a big issue

I will only buy organic if the product tastes better and is worth the extra $$.
I notice in my supermarket's "reduced for quick sale" section among the dented boxes is often natural/organic products like snacks and cereal near their sell-by dates that don't exactly fly off the shelves.

[vanlassie]

9. What did they say about the effect of pesticides on babies and young children?

[cali]

15. The organic label is pretty much bullshit on a federal level

I'm sorry folks but it really is and no, it doesn't necessarily designate happy free range chickens or sustainably raised crops. As someone pointed out your organic food could well come from China. (For instance, most "organic" garlic is produced in China)

So what can you do? Regional organic designations can help you choose wisely: (Please click the link)

http://www.nofa.org/

In season, farmers markets are, as everyone knows, a great resource.

Local is as important as organic in many places.