Organic food stimulates the health, economy

While organic food might conjure up images of good wholesome foods, in some situations organic might not be the way to go, either because of minimal health benefits or economic reasons.

Perhaps the biggest difference between organic food and regular food is the way farmers produce the food.

With regular or conventional farming, fertilizers, insecticides and herbicides are used to grow food, according to a report by the Mayo Clinic titled "Organic Foods: Are They Safer?"

Organic farmers use natural fertilizers, crop rotations and hand weeding to produce food. People might want to avoid the chemicals, and can do so by buying organic, but it brings up a dilemma.

Nutritionally speaking, no finalized data exists showing organic food to be better for you, according to the Mayo Clinic. Additionally, the Mayo Clinic reports the USDA doesn't claim organic to be better for you either.

"If you get your organic food locally, it's more likely to have been ripened on the plant and will probably taste better," said Amy Lanou, assistant professor of health and wellness. "If you get one of the large produce companies in California, for example, and it's picked two weeks before you eat it, it's going to taste different."

Lanou further discussed the relationship between produce and nutrients.

"On the nutritional end, it matters how live and rich the soil is," she said.

So why does the organic market continue to grow in grocery stores and markets?

For one thing, marketers love the term organic. If you imagine eating rich foods while sitting in the green field and under the blue sky the food was made in, then the marketers probably reached you. But just because organics don't necessarily bring better nutrition doesn't mean you should cut out organics.

Definitely the way organic farmers produce their crops helps the environment. Organic farming preserves the environment while conserving resources, according to the Mayo Clinic.

As far as pesticides matter, experts say they contain negligible health risks, according to the Mayo Clinic.
But Consumer Reports takes issue with this.

They list several fruits and vegetables like apples, cherries, spinach and potatoes as produce people should always buy organically because even after washing, pesticides stick around, according to USAD research.

However, they don't say whether or not these foods are safe to eat. They simply have higher levels of pesticides after washing compared to other fruits and vegetables.

"The safe level of pesticides is zero," Lanou said. "If there's something that older individuals shouldn't consume and babies shouldn't consume, then probably adults shouldn't consume it either."

So by buying these foods organically, people will avoid the ill effects of chemicals. True, but avoiding pesticides costs money.

On average, buying the above produce organically costs around 50 percent more, according to Consumer Reports. If you want to eat organic, you'll have to pay a premium, and such a premium remains a luxury. They also discuss buying seasonally and locally, but we'll get to that in a minute.

In our current economic situation, most people cannot afford to buy organic food. They simply lack the means. And there doesn't seem to be much of a push to get organic foods to poor people. When people can't afford organic produce, they must buy the cheaper fruits and vegetables. And no intelligent person would make the argument of totally avoiding conventional produce if people cannot buy organic.

"A very, very important part of maintaining health is increasing the fresh, whole-plant food consumption and the issues related to the way foods are grown are secondary to that," Lanou said.

Clearly, if the Mayo Clinic reports pesticides having minimal health risks while Consumer Reports says some fruits and vegetables should always be bought organically, then it's a cloudy debate even the experts can't agree on, which brings us to buying locally and seasonally.

People can often find good deals on food by going to tailgate markets when food is in season, according to Lanou.
Also, buying locally helps the local economy and also reduces greenhouse gases. For example, Lanou discussed buying apples from Hendersonville rather than Washington state because the purchase would be local.

Buying seasonally reduces the cost of produce because the stuff you buy generally came off a farm or out of garden just days ago. This also means less time from plant to plate, which means better tasting food.

But meat and dairy remain foods people really should try to eat organically as often as possible.
For one thing, buying organic meat means you avoid toxins in non-organic feed and the added hormones and antibiotics, which hinders human immune systems, according to Consumer Reports.

Also, non-organic dairy cows receive bovine growth hormones, which get into the milk, according to Lanou.

Unlike produce where you can peel away the skin to avoid pesticides, meat contains whatever chemicals used throughout the body, so people should heed this advice.

People don't always need to buy organic just because of the label. Sometimes the best stuff comes from an area's local farms. Of course you can still spend money on organic food, but the next time you do, think about where it comes from and think about other options.

Originally published in The Blue Banner, Spring 2009