Is Organic Better For You?

Maybe not, according to a study by Stanford University scientists:

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 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 that it says do not harm humans.

“When we began this project, we thought that there would likely be some findings that would support the superiority of organics over conventional food,” said Dr. Dena Bravata, a senior affiliate with Stanford’s Center for Health Policy and the senior author of the paper, which appears in Tuesday’s issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine. “I think we were definitely surprised.”

Kenneth Chang of The New York Times has the story: Link


Hands up, those who thought that organics had more nutrition than regular foods? How did this idea get started? All they have is less pesticide, but not zero pesticide residue. I won't buy any kind of boxed or canned food that says 'Organic' on the lable. I have gotten too many canned and frozen Organic labeled foods that were spoiled or smelled disgusting. To me Organic=Spoils Sooner.
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You actually need to use organic pesticides in greater amounts to achieve the same effectiveness. Also, certain GM crops are designed to be undesirable to local pests, yield more crops per acre, and can be sustained with less water. I recommend reading up on Norman Borlaug, the man who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize and credited with saving the lives of over 1 billion people worldwide with GM foods. Cross pollination is a roll of the dice. You can get a good result mixed with some bad as well. We now have the ability to target specific genes to express the traits we want, but maintaining the integrity of the food....so much more efficient.
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@Moonpie, organic food uses organic pesticides, which are not only still mostly toxic, but less effective than conventional pesticides. This means that much greater quantities are used, leading to more runoff polution in surrounding areas.
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@Romke, no one is making claims about taste. That is a purely subjective matter. I'm sure any food grown and purchased locally, whether non-organic or organic will taste better. Buy whatever your preference is. Just wash the organic stuff more thoroughly since organic food is more likely to have e coli. Organic fertilizer is poop....literally :)
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key sentence : "The Environmental Protection Agency sets the limits at levels that it says do not harm humans."
In France/Europe as well in the States I guess, every year molecules are banished from phytosanytary use...
I'm eating organic because there is less pesticides (and because I can afford it...)
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When I was growing up, we moved out to the country. We had a half-acre garden, chickens for eggs, rabbits and a heifer a year for meat, and well water. I had perfect skin and no weight problems.

We then moved to the desert, to an area with water even the FDA had problems with and started buying all of our food in stores, and this was before some of the more extreme factory farming was involved. I gained weight, my skin broke out, and nothing tasted good. I moved away a few years later, but to the suburbs and the continued factory farmed food.

The last year or so I've made a point of buying a lot of organic food, and we've lost weight, and our skin has gotten better. We've noticed that the food tastes a lot better, but we find ourselves eating less. We don't graze all day.

The hormones and antibiotics that they feed to factory animals stays in the meat. You have to have a prescription for hormones and antibiotics, but the FDA lets it through in your food.
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