Organic Foods No Better Than Regular

The FSA (Food Standards Agency) inexplicably took a stab at discrediting the value of organic foods by commissioning a recent study from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, which found no major differences in "nutrient content" between organic and conventional foods. "What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and that there is no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food." The report went on to concede that they did find traces of pesticides in the urine of participants who consumed the non-organic foods, though it was buried towards the end. The findings were then presented under the false assumption that consumers pay higher prices for organic foods believing they have a higher content of nutrients or those figures printed on a food nutrition label. The report, however, is fatally flawed in that it completely fails to recognize the primary reason consumers buy organic in the first place. The bigger picture is missing, thus this fleeting "discovery" is just that, fleeting.

Let's forget for a moment that there are just as many studies that actually reached the opposite conclusion. One of the most significant, being a four-year study done by Newcastle University in which researchers grew fruits, vegetables, and raised cattle on both organic and non-organic sites across Europe spanning 725 acres. The study found that organic fruits and vegetables contained as much as forty per cent (40%) higher levels of antioxidants, which are believed to reduce the risk of cancer and heart disease. The milk from the organic cattle contained between fifty and eighty per cent (50-80%) more antioxidants than "conventionally-produced" milk.

The study didn't even touch on the list of undesirable substances the "conventional" milk DID contain, which brings us to the number one reason why organic food is becoming more popular. Organic food, by law, does not contain pesticides, growth hormones, chemicals introduced to artificially ripen or preserve, or other potentially harmful substances in addition to prohibiting the use of genetically modified crop strains. It seems this most recent attempt by the FSA to discredit the importance of organic foods completely misses the mark and shows its bias by focusing solely on nutrient content and not on the potential dangers of non-organic food. Yet the titles of the reports are crafted to oversimplify into a "vitamins = health" argument, a grossly false premise which only leaves consumers confused and frustrated.

Even the most knowledgeable shoppers are duped by perfect packaging or creative marketing and the use of meaningless phrases like "all-natural" or "lite" and are totally in the dark when it comes to the actual origins of their food supply. Michael Pollan, best-selling author and professor of journalism at UC Berkeley states in his book, In Defense of Food, "We have changed the way we eat more in the last 50 years than in the previous 10,000." Real food has given way to profit-seeking corporations engaged in "manufacturing" and "engineering" food - as opposed to "growing" food - using crops subsidized by the government which rewards them with huge profits.

We've come up with brilliant inventions like high fructose corn syrup and partially hydrogenated oils so we can make cheap sugars and "plastic fats" that can stay on grocery store shelves for years without fear of spoiling. We've also found efficient ways of producing meat (though totally neglectful of our health, the environment, and the animals) that is cheaper and faster, therefore much more lucrative. We no longer eat "real food" and it's affecting our health. Back in the 1950s we Americans spent around 5% of our annual income on health care and almost 20% on food. Today it's almost the exact opposite, so it seems there must be a direct correlation between food quality and overall health. We as consumers are getting a lower quality of food at a lower price but at what cost? Those dollars we used to spend on quality food must now be diverted to prescription medications to counteract the effects of our poor food supply.

Andrew Weil, MD, best-selling author and expert on integrative medicine says, "Yes you can head to the doctor if you have a serious illness but head to the cupboard if you want to avoid illness. When we ingest food free of artificial chemicals and full of nutrients, our bodies can run like the well-tuned engines they were meant to be." The only way to ensure we're eating real food is to purchase organic, local foods whenever possible. This means buying poultry and meats that come from actual farms, produce that hasn't been sprayed with pesticides or injected with dyes
and packaged foods that don't contain chemicals. In the world of mass-produced foods, this is what's customary, though perhaps if this information were required on nutrition labels, the relevance of this recent study would have been tenuous at best.