Buy Walking VideosOrganic Food No Healthier than Regular Food
According to The Institute of Food Technologists, organic food is no healthier than conventionally grown foods. They published their study here:
They admit that there are differences in the levels of pesticide residue and natural toxins, but there is no scientific evidence that these levels can harm humans.
“While many studies demonstrate . . . qualitative differences between organic and conventional foods, it is premature to conclude that either food system is superior to the other with respect to safety or nutritional composition. Pesticide residues, naturally occurring toxins, nitrates, and polyphenolic compounds exert their health risks or benefits on a dose-related basis, and data do not yet exist to ascertain whether the differences in the levels of such chemicals between organic foods and conventional foods are of biological significance.”
Considering organically grown food can cost more than twice conventionally grown food, it looks like the only bastion for organic food is taste. Sometimes, organic food has tasted better to me, but now I’m wondering if that was just me trying to convince myself that it was worth the extra cost.
As it is, the health benefits of organic food have evaporated under scientific scrutiny.
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September 8th, 2007 at 5:16 am
Have they studied what happens to the soil? I imagine the real trouble is in what goes into the earth over the years. (Not scientific, by the way, simply intuitive.)
September 8th, 2007 at 6:47 am
There is no huge diff with organic and non organic. Organic is oftan cheaper where I live than non organic if you count in shipping.
September 8th, 2007 at 7:02 am
I think that the reason that organic food tastes better than conventionally grown produce is because it is generally farmed on smaller farms rather than huge agri-businesses, and gets more attention, better soil, etc. I find that agri-farmed organic produce tastes similar to conventional.
However, this post doesn’t do anything to convince me that organic food isn’t better for two reasons:
1) saying that there is no proof that toxins in small doses are bad for you isn’t the same as saying that toxins in small doses have been proven not to be bad for you. Who would fund such a study? It would take years and be very difficult to do.
2) There may be other reasons that organic produce is better, such as higher levels of various nutrients.
So until I see more conclusive evidence, I’ll buy organic when it’s available and reasonably priced and wash all of my produce with veggie wash.
September 8th, 2007 at 11:14 am
These studies have been disputed, but either way, the damage done by big agribusiness is HUGE. Eating locally grown produce (organic or not), not only tastes better, but supports small family farms and reduces food miles.
Organic doesn’t cost more, conventional foods are just unrealistically cheap because they’re supported by our tax dollars. At my local farm market, I can get 4 green peppers for a dollar, while at my local big box store I pay $3.99 a pound MINIMUM.
I don’t think that a study that says organic foods are no more nutritious means we all should give up and go back to the way things were.
September 9th, 2007 at 4:29 am
Same with organic milk.
Organic for health is a religion, and scientific studies don’t affect religious beliefs, so they’re wasting their research dollars.
The big problem of course is that Americans don’t eat vegetables at all, not that their vegetables aren’t organic. They eat packaged, processed crap.
September 9th, 2007 at 6:35 am
Title needs to be changed from “Organic Food no Healthier than Regular Food” to “Organic PRODUCE no healthier than regular PRODUCE”. The implication is that organic food is simply just a waste of money, while it is slightly more complicated than that. I will agree that organically grown produce bears little difference to other ways of growing produce, and also bears little difference in that which is produced. However, other foods that are are processed and labeled organic are clearly healthier than some others. If we take a look on the side of these packages we see a large difference in the ingredients. In general, organic foods contain less ingredients, little preservatives, and legible items. In the meantime, other processed foods sometimes contain paragraphs of ingredients with items that i would need a scientific dictionary to understand. All I know is that if i can’t understand the word or I feel as though I am reading a novel, it is going back on the shelf.
September 10th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Not buying it. I think organic food is OBVIOUSLY healthier. Of course, small amounts of toxins -TOXINS- are not good for you. Maybe your body can handle it, but why make your body handle it?
Plus, organic produce is WAY better for the environment. Which, eventually, effects our health.
September 13th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Is there not an issue with the definition of organic? When food manufacturers can label their products organic when only 90% or less is organic, that is just wrong, no wonder the uninterested or uneducated consumer stands no chance!
April 24th, 2008 at 10:48 am
Of course Organic foods are better for you. They don’t have artificial sprays that ARE bad for you. I am a huge fan of organic foods and I hope one day all farms will be organic. Organic foods are 1,000 times better then conventional
July 19th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
“Artificial Sprays” does NOT equal bad.
ALL produce is FULL of pesticides… organic or not. These pesticides are part of the plant, produced to kill bugs/pests by the plant itself. The human body can not tell the difference between a compound produced in a plant, or one produce artificially.
Anyone that knows that some plants are toxic and even fatal to people can easily understand this.
PLANTS CAN KILL. Natural does NOT automatically equal good.
July 26th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
I love the people who say things like “of course organic is healthier!!”, yet they provide no evidence what-so-ever. Organic food, at best, is a narcissistic fad and an incredibly successful marketing scam. At worst it has the potential to cause mass starvation. As Nobel Prize winning agronomist Norman Borlaug has pointed out, you cannot feed 6 billion people organically even if you plowed over the entire Amazon rainforest.
All plants produce toxins (think tobacco and coffee). Over 99% of all the toxins you consume are naturally occurring. We’re only dealing with 1% of what goes in your body here. The whole idea that organic is better is total and utter nonsense. The person who said it was a religion hit the nail on the head.
October 29th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
I agree that for the most part, organic is a religion. I still try to buy organic animal products, though, because they necessitate at least some improvement in humaneness over conventional animal production (e.g. use of bovine growth hormone that turns cows into porn stars with back problems). The organic issue is definitely not black and white. Some organic production has high yields, while other doesn’t. The world definitely could feed 6 billion people organically but it would require loads of physical labor that the chemicals in conventional agriculture have come to replace. This demand for farm labor (in lieu of chemicals) is a major reason that the world is suffering from overpopulation in the first place. As for whether organic production is better for the environment or not… there is some evidence that suggests that organic food requires more carbon to produce than conventional. Products like feather meal and plastic mulch are approved and used extensively by organic farmers. Anyone who wants to learn more should work on a farm (like I did). And if you volunteer on an organic farm, be sure to ask them why they can’t afford to pay you a salary for your back-breaking labor.
March 3rd, 2009 at 11:08 am
When reading published studies, it is most important to find out who sponsors the organisation and the research to get an idea of motives for the ‘findings’. Have a look at the list of the donors that support the research done by the Institute of Food technologists – easily accessible via their website. There you will see big business, Unilever and Kraft amongst them. They are also contracted to the FDA who is advised by a board who has members whose salaries are being paid by big food companies. It doesn’t surprise me in the least that an anti-organic paper was published by an institute in bed with multi-national food cooperations. Dig deeper and find out who actually sponsored that specific report and it will get more interesting.
April 15th, 2009 at 8:51 am
It is incorrect to judge the veracity of information by looking at who says or sponsored it. The only way to judge information is by the way it was generated and if it correlates with other known facts.
A commercial interest using proven fact to support it’s actions is not misrepresenting fact. This is a common discrediting tactic, and is 100% illogical, and should be pointed out as such.
DK
July 31st, 2009 at 6:19 am
I was wondering about the msg products that they use on conventional foods and how much of a difference this use makes in the foods we eat. I still get migraine headaches even after eating salads or fresh fruit. Msg is a naturally occuring substance when proteins are cooked for long periods of time. however, why should the food industry add msg to fruit juices and call it flavorings! why do they add it to the wax they rub on apples and cucumbers? why do they add it to the fertilizer and allow the foods to be sold in the market when they understand it’s a toxin causing many health issues, including weight gain. this isn’t a religion for me, this is survival, because the poisons in the foods available to me in the grocery store are causing serious health problems for me.
May 26th, 2010 at 2:30 pm
The test sounds like another Monsanto attempt to abolish organic farming..Nature knows best..because its the only way
September 18th, 2010 at 7:05 pm
JUST THINK BACK A HUNDRED YEARS AGO an futher EVERYTHING WAS BASICALLY ORGANIC NO CHEMICALS OR ETC THEN PEOPLE INVENT FATTIES FOODS LOL ITS WEIRD WHAT PEOPLE WOULD DO OR USE JUST TO EARN MONEY. ME PERSONALLY I RATHER PREFER ORGANIC AND HEALTHYIER FOODS IT DOES SHOW A DIFFERENCE TO ME MY BODY IS MORE ALERT I DONT BE SO TIRED AND ETC BUT LET ME EAT FAT FOODS AN BAD FOODS I HAVE PAINS AN IT MAKES MY TUMMY HURT LOL TRUE BUT IT DOES BECAUSE ONCE YOUR BODY IS USE TO EATING A CERTAIN WAY AND YOUR SCARE IT. WITH HARMFUL THINGS BIG DIFFERENCE!