Choosing organic. Is it worth the price?
Organic food has now become a common household term in the United States and around the world. What is organic food? Is it really better for your health?
Organic food has now become a common household term in the United States and around the world. What is organic food? Is it really better for your health?
Organic food is produced according to certain standards: crops must be grown without conventional pesticides, artificial fertilizers, human waste, and sewage sludge and processed without ionizing radiation or food additives. Additionally, in most countries, organic produce must not be genetically modified.
Since October 2002, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) National Organic Program (NOP) has set up standards for labeling food as organic. You can visit their website at http://www.ams.usda.gov/nop/index.htm. The USDA Organic seal is voluntary. It tells you that a food is at least 95% organic.
Is organic farming better for the environment?
The benefits to this type of farming include nurturing abundant and diverse populations of plants, insects, and other animals, and releasing no synthetic pesticides or herbicides. Organic farming also uses less energy, both per unit area and per unit of yield (7% more efficient in one study); requires less water; produces less nitrous oxide, one of the causes of acid rain; is better for soil quality and encourages long-term sustainability of the system; and generates less extraneous waste, such as packaging materials for chemicals and feed. The disadvantages include greater methane emissions because dairy cows who do not receive growth hormone yield considerably less milk, requiring more cows, which collectively pass more methane; producing on average 20% less crops than conventional fields; difficulty in providing enough grain to sustain livestock; and perhaps the most crucial to the average consumer is cost!
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Animals identified as organic must be reared without growth hormones or antibiotics, except under specific conditions and for specific diseases, and not within ninety days of slaughter or within thirty days of milking or laying. There is an absolute ban on the feeding of mammalian and poultry slaughter by-products to organic mammals and poultry, and they must be fed organic feed. Additional regulations are that organic animals must be allowed access to outdoors, living conditions must accommodate the natural behavior of animals, and ruminants must have access to pasture.
The milk and meat industry have additional standards for organic food production. Milking animals must be fed organically (at least 95% of feed is organic) for one year before being certified organic. The same rule applies for egg-producing poultry. In the US, organic cattle must be fed and managed organically for their entire lives in order to be slaughtered for organic beef. A calf’s mother must be fed and managed organically during the last third of the calf’s gestation in order for the calf to be sold as organic slaughter stock.
Cost is indeed higher for organic food. Check out any supermarket where organic and non-organic produce is stocked. You will notice a 50% premium on many of the organic items. This increased cost can be explained by several factors, such as: organic farming is more labor intensive due to less reliance on chemicals; growing, harvesting, transportation and storage are more costly; organic foods meet stricter regulations; processing and packaging add to costs; and the most basic economic explanation of all - demand is high and supply is restricted.
Most people buy organic food for specific reasons, including concerns about growth hormones, antibiotics, and pesticides in the food supply, the belief that diet is a strong influence on health, and the general viewpoint that organic food is healthier. Let’s tackle the latter issue about organic food and whether it really is healthier.
Several studies have been published noting increased pesticide residue on conventional or non-organically raised produce. Curl, et.al. from the Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle performed a dietary recall study on pre-school children ages 2-5. The study demonstrated that those children whose diets were at least 75% organic had a significant reduction in urinary metabolic by-products of organophophorous pesticides. Their conclusion was that consuming an organic-based diet lowers risk for pesticide exposure.
In a 2007 study from the University of California, Davis looked at tomatoes grown over a 10-year period in organic fields and in conventional ones. Results were that organically grown tomatoes have higher levels of flavonoids. Flavonoids are anti-oxidants and may confer protection against heart disease. Tomatoes, as previously mentioned in my nutrition column on fruits and vegetables (see Fall 2006 Radius magazine), are full of antioxidant compounds, notably vitamin C, beta-carotene, lutein and lycopene.
How to buy organic foods:
- Buy fruits/vegetables in season to ensure the highest quality.
- Buy the day of delivery to ensure the freshest produce. Ask your grocer what day new produce arrives.
- Read food labels carefully. Some organic products may still be high in sugar, salt, fat, or calories.
- Natural does not mean organic. Only those products with the USDA Organic label have met USDA standards.
- Wash all produce thoroughly with running water. Washing reduces dirt and bacteria. Scrub fruits/vegetables with a small scrub brush if you eat the outer skin.
- Peel produce and trim outer leaves to lessen pesticide exposure. But peeling may reduce the nutrients and fiber. Pesticides also may collect in fat, so remove fat from meat and the skin of poultry and fish.
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Reviewing 41 published studies comparing the nutritional value of organically grown and conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains, certified nutrition specialist Virginia Worthington has concluded there are significantly more of several nutrients in organic crops. These include 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium, and 13.6% more phosphorus. As confirmation of Worthington’s findings, research by chemistry professor Theo Clark and undergraduate students at Truman State University in Missouri found organically grown oranges contained up to 30 percent more vitamin C than those grown conventionally.
A study published in the Netherlands in 2007 demonstrated lower risk for atopy (allergic skin conditions and eczema) among infants and toddler children consuming organic foods.
Lastly, beef produced from animals fed a diet high in forage, also known as pasture or grass— organic standards require that cattle be fed predominantly on forage-based diets—rather than grain reduces the saturated fatty acid concentrations and enhances the content of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids in beef. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in abundance in salmon and other specific fish, are being promoted for their heart-healthy effects.
In the end, organic foods may seem healthier based on the information provided above, but no long-term studies have been done comparing organic and non-organic food and the effects on overall health or any specific disease.
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"Choosing organic. Is it worth the price?"
authored by:
Dr. Grief is a graduate of McGill University, Montreal, Canada. He is a past Residency Program Director of the University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Family Medicine, and former radio health show host in New Hampshire. Dr. Grief's main inter...
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