Magazines? Food network shows? Nightly news? Friends? "They"? The pretty section in the grocery store?
Ever read a scientific research article conducted by a research university, the FDA, or Consumer Reports on the claims that organic food is healthier/better for the environment/tastes better?
Probably not.
Or you would know that organic food has never been proven to be any of those things. What has been proven? It costs more.
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| That sure is a pretty sign! |
What are we talking about?
Organic food is defined as "food grown without pesticides, artificial fertilizers, or preservatives, hormones, and antibiotics (Public Hearing in the Matter of Organic Foods). Basically, this refers to the method used to produce food, rather than the quality of the food itself. Great! I'm all for growing food the way Adam and Eve did! What does the USDA say about food grown in this way?
"No distinctions should be made between organically and non-organically produced products in terms of quality, appearance, or safety."
Ohhhh. So we're not allowed to claim that just because food was grown "organically," that it is better than food not grown organically? Why would you say that USDA? Logically, if food is grown without pesticides, fertilizers, or preservatives, it MUST be better!!
Ohhh....you have research that it's not. Our bad....
The research.
Organic food is soooo much more nutritious!
The number one claim from organic fans is that organic food is more nutritious. Nope. Dozens of studies have been conducted to determine the nutritional value of organic food compared to non-organic food. There has been no difference. According to Food Technology, a research publication on foods, nutrition content is determined by heredity, not how a food is grown. No nutritional difference exists between organic and non-organic food.
Organic food is totes safer for you.
Organic food is not grown with pesticides. This doesn't mean they are pesticide-free when they enter yo' belly! And foods that are grown with pesticides CAN be pesticide-free when they enter yo' belly. The FDA found in a 1997 study that 60% of non-organic food contained no detectable pesticides. That same year, Consumer Reports found that 25% of organic food contained some level of pesticides. One actually exceeded the federal limit! In fact, every vegetable contains about 5% of its weight in natural pesticides, many of them carcinogenic. But before you freak out, you should know that one cup of coffee contains more carcinogens than a year's worth of synthetic pesticides found on produce.
I don't see a movement to limit coffee coming any time soon.
Oh yeah, in 2007, Consumer Reports found that organic chicken contained 300% more Salmonella than regular chicken. University studies have repeatedly found more illness-causing bacteria in organic food because of the lack of pesticides.
Organic food is better for the environment.
Another big claim of organic peeps is that organic food is better for the environment because of the absence of pesticides. What is your motivation for wanting to save the environment? Most people would answer, "To preserve this world for future generations." Great answer. However, the methods that must be used in organic farming are far too inefficient to meet the world's food demand. Without the use of pesticides (which remember: are not enough to even give you a cold), crops die so much faster. If every farmer in the world used organic farming methods, the world would quickly starve.
To conclude, organic food is not dangerous. It's not going to kill you or give your unborn child three arms. But neither is non-organic food. Research has consistently proven that no difference exists between the two groups, except for the method in which the food was grown. The results are nearly identical. The only notable difference is that farms that use pesticides are much more productive than organic farms. They don't lose crops because an army of beetles moved in.
In the end, I'm really just trying to save you some money. If you want to buy your organic vegetables, pasta, chicken, etc., go ahead. I really won't be mad. I would just rather spend my little teacher salary buying more vegetables that I would be able to afford if I bought organic. In the end, I will be equally as healthy as you. And maybe not surprised when I still get cancer after a lifetime of "doing everything right."
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