Organic Food No Better For You Says Influential UK Agency
The Food Standards Agency in the UK has declared that, “… there are no important differences in the nutrition content, or any additional health benefits, of organic food when compared with conventionally produced food.”
In a comprehensive study, researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine examined more than 50,000 studies on the nutritional value of foods going back to 1958. Of these, 55 met the criteria of the project. Dr Alan Dangour, the principal author, commented on the marginal differences found during the studies, “A small number of differences in nutrient content were found to exist … but these are unlikely to be of any public health relevance. Our review indicates that there is currently no evidence to support the selection of organically over conventionally produced foods on the basis of nutritional superiority.”
Those marginal differences were that conventionally-produced fruit and vegetables had more nitrogen, while their organic counterparts had more phosphorus. But these differences were small compared to the similarities in nutritional content, including similar levels of vitamin C, calcium, iron and fatty acids in both kinds of food.
Doubters still doubt
Those who support organic production point out that the study didn’t consider possible side-effects resulting from the consumption of pesticides and herbicides used in conventional food production, and that organic farming may improve the welfare of livestock.
The Food Agency commented on negative responses to the report by saying “The Agency supports consumer choice and is neither pro nor anti organic food. We recognise that there are many reasons why people choose to eat organic, such as animal welfare or environmental concerns. The Agency will continue to give consumers accurate information about their food based on the best available scientific evidence.”
Soil Association sees the bigger picture
The Soil Association, Britain’s biggest ‘licensing body’ for organic products, has given its own immediate response to the report, saying that it needs time to examine the detail of the work closely but that, “… it’s a popular myth that people who buy organic food only do so because they think it will make them healthier. Recent EU research has found that regular buyers of organic food (who buy about 80% of all organic products) have a much more sophisticated understanding of the range of benefits that organic farming and food deliver.” The Soil Association also noted that The European Commission, in 2006, reported links between certain cancers, male infertility and nervous system disorders and exposure to pesticides.
Beyond the issue of personal nutrition, buying organic food also promotes a healthy environment. The average industrially-produced apple may have been sprayed up to 16 times with 30 different chemicals. Organic farms have on average 30% more species and 50% more wildlife like birds, butterflies and bees.
Organic food box courtesy of AndyRob at Flickr under a creative commons licence
They taste better! Honestly, a person could very well remain alive regardless of which of these ways they eat, but mere survival is no way to judge sustenance. Only a fool eats non-organic food and thinks it’s as good as OG food. Also, what kind of crazy upside down world do we live in where a government is saying “we certainly support peoples’ choice to eat food that grew naturally, without industrial pesticides all over it, if that’s what you want to do!” as if that’s an unusual choice to make.
I don’t agree that organic food tasts better every single time. There are certain substitutes in regular food that isn’t in organic food.
Well obviously they both have the same nutriants if they’re the same food, a carrot is a carrot after all. The whole point of organic food is what isn’t in it rather than what is, i.e. you know there are no unwanted chemicals in it, and it’s more than likely grown by some local farmer (if you get it from a grocery store) than packaged God knows where by some faceless machines.
I mean, Hell, why don’t we all eat Astronaut food if no one cares, I’m sure it’s just as good for you…
It all depends on the organic produce with which they were doing the comparison. If coming from a large scale farm that either grows produce en masse or recently switched from conventional produce to organic produce, the soil is likely to be rather depleted of nutrients so of course the nutritional content will be largely the same.
If you take organic food from a farm that has put a lot of care into re-mineralizing their soil or rotating crops/grazing areas, then the nutritional value and content of the organic produce is likely notably higher then that of it’s conventional counterpart.
organic food is so decadent, there are people starving in the world and we are grow food inefficiently so it can be endowed with magical properties, like health benefits that can not be measured. There are harmful substances every where in everything, both man made and natural it all about concentrations, search for fecal bacteria anywhere in your house and you will find them but in concentrations to low to worry about, search for harmful stuff in your food both natural and man made and you will find them, again in concentration to low to worry about. The variability in food quality is much to varied to make a judgement about which taste better as a individual, you would need to do a large study to determine that, though you may find that your local supermarket has better quality organic food because the people who buy organic food are willing to pay for better quality. We should be trying to make food as cheaply and efficiently as possible in a sustainable way. If we could grow meat in petri this would be great for the environment and greatly reduce the cost of food, we should be trying to make food as cheep as possible so there is no excuse for anybody to go hungry .
@ Nathan
There is nothing decadent about my organic produce farm. I grow sustainably on a small scale (10 acres) and sell my produce at the same prices as the local grocery stores. Not at the same price as the organic produce at the grocery stores, the price of regular produce. I make a decent living. I donate anything not sold to local food banks and a soup kitchen.
The people who are starving around the world are not helped in any way by industrialised agriculture. If they are going to survive it will have to by by growing their own food sustainably, the way I am doing it. Sending them tractors and patented seeds will only make things worse. Teaching them how to grow food for the long run and providing seeds that will thrive in their climate are the keys.
I went blueberry picking on a farm recently and there were almost zero bugs - I saw two small spiders the whole time. Everything must have been killed by pesticides.
@Marshall
I bet you 100 bucks you can’t identify organic vs non-organic in a taste test. Seriously. If you’re reasonably close to me I’ll organize something and you can put your money where your palate is. Ping organicbet@mailinator.com if you wanna throw down
@ Scott
What are the conditions of your taste test?
I have roma tomatoes out in the field that look exactly like the ones at the grocery store except that mine are a little redder. I pick some of them just before they are ripe so that they will last a little longer on the shelf at a store I sell to. Even those taste different. They taste like a tomato. Even though they are normally for paste and not meant to be eaten out of hand, I often do. I can’t say the same for the flavorless non-organic romas at the store.
My spinach tastes better. My radishes taste better. My corn tastes better. I only grow a few non-heirloom varieties, so I don’t have many things to compare. It wouldn’t be fair to compare my heirloom tomatoes picked at the peak of the season to anything non-organic picked up off of the shelf at the store.
fools who say that Organic food is better tasting and better for you, or even better for the environment need to do some actual scientific research. I think you’d be unpleasantly suprised at how wrong you all are. If you’re too lazy to do your own research you can always try watching Penn and Tellers Bullshit for the short story.
Try season 7 for starters