Organic food not much healthier: study

reply to post by moniesisfun


I think that all2human has a point in his post, I don't mean to offend, but simply stating that someone is biased or spewing propaganda, in my opinion, defeats the point of discussion. I find that it is rather common for people to disagree on a subject, if you'd like to get your point across perhaps you'd be willing to state just where it is that you disagree and why rather than accusing someone of being biased.

I really think that some organic foods are not as healthy as the label might ascertain. It's important that we get the facts straight if we're going to come to any type of conclusion and I see people claiming that organic foods do not use pesticides at all, but from what I've read organic foods are required to omit the use of synthetic pesticides, but in my earlier post I noted that the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants found that 9 of the 12 most dangerous and persistent organic chemicals are pesticides. I believe food labeled as organic is legally allowed to use organic pesticides.

Edit: Now I'm sure that not all organic labeled foods use organic pesticides, but I'm certain that at least some of them do. Simply because a food is labeled as organic does not mean it is a healthier option, but it might be.

Organic food is minus their radiation and minus their GMO. HELOOO.....!!!! Of course its healthier.

Originally posted by Unity_99
Organic food is minus their radiation and minus their GMO. HELOOO.....!!!! Of course its healthier.

I agree with this, but not all non-organic food use radiation and GMO and not all organic food is pesticide free. I'm saying that some organic foods are probably healthier than some non-organic foods, but if you're looking to eat healthier it'll probably take some additional leg work than simply trusting a government sanctioned label.

reply to post by Symbiot


Yes, there are organic pesticides and yes some of these organic pesticides are as dangerous as man made ones and yes they are legal on certified organic food. You are dealing with use of the plant defense system. I researched some of these things a while back and didn't like what I was seeing. Also I read in an organic gardening book that the BT gene foods were certified as organic. I'm not sure the author of the book was right, I never verified it. I was disappointed with what the book was promoting and I even bought it at the food coop. A waste of seven bucks........or was it. It did tell me that all we assume about organic food is not real.

Organically grown food usually tastes better though and it does fill you up with less.

What Types of Produce Have the Highest and Lowest Levels of Pesticide Residues?

I don't know -- I guess I'm spoiled.

I get organic produce delivered fresh with no store in between -- You can get it through here

They give the details of how the food is grown. All I know is eat this food fresh and the taste is unbelievable. The fruit is so delicious -- non-organic doesn't even seem like food anymore.

Multiple studies have shown that organic diets significantly lower children’s dietary exposure to pesticides. One University of Washington study analyzed urine from children ages 3 – 11 for organophosphorus (OP) pesticides and found that children consuming conventional foods had concentrations in their bodies that were on average nine times the EPA-established safe level for human health. When the children’s conventional foods were replaced with organic equivalents, their organophosphate levels dropped significantly. When the children resumed a conventional diet, the chemical concentrations in their bodies went back up to original levels. Scientists concluded that, "An organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate protective effect against exposures to organophosphorus pesticides that are commonly used in agricultural production.”8,9

Yeah Organic Valley is a great cooperative in Wisconsin -- my housing cooperative invested in their business

I love organic food but I feel that it's best if I grow it myself.

I'm actively searching out a place to rent with a nice backyard for growing food. I want my own fruit trees, etc.

reply to post by fulllotusqigong


That sounds interesting, how are their prices there? Maybe PM me, this is a little off topic.

reply to post by fulllotusqigong
That link to the study is great. I dont understand how a News Organization can run with a headline but doesn't give any other data to cover the other side. Isn't it the job of a Journalist to be unbiased in a News Story?? This is what concerns me. This story about Organic Foods being the same as Conventional Foods started popping up everywhere. Some used the same exact story printed in other media and some put there own spin on it. This morning I look and its moved up the Google News as a major story/headline.

Also, the link showing how they only compared legal limits of Pesticides is laughable. Any pesticide cant be good for you and creating "legal limits" is crazy. Didn't Japan increase the legal limit of Radiation so people could go into the Nuclear Reactors and clean up?? Either way, increasing a legal limit or applying a legal limit on Poison is not a good thing no matter how you spin it.

We purchased property about 6 years back and started raising our own chickens to start out with. The taste from a freshly laid egg is totally different than the taste of a store bought egg. Whether that makes it more healthy, not sure. About 3 years ago, seeing how things were going down hill fast in this Country, we started a Garden. The first year pretty much just Tomatoes, different types. They grow crazy here in the Central Valley. Last year we did tomatoes, peppers, and carrots. This year, Corn, Tomatoes, and Peppers. We will start prepping the ground for a Fall Planting pretty soon as its still Hot here. The Tomatoes are much sweeter, juicier, and overall a better color than store bought. The Corn was the same. The Peppers you could actually smell the difference than store bought.

Next year we are thinking of buying a Cow and a Pig for our Meat production as well as increase the size of our Garden. Also, I have been doing some research on Aquaponics. I have listed some Youtube videos below in case anyone else is interested. Seems like a very cool way to create a Self Reliant food system:





Found another newer video:



Those are just two videos but there are many more on Youtube.

It all depends on the state of the soil.
Soil requires feeding in a natural way with organic waste matter to enrich it.

Food can be grown "Organically" yet if the soil is neglected it will yield inferior results.

The general state of soil worldwide is very poor due to neglect or ignorance

Soil not fed over time will turn to sand.
Sand fed with organic matter will turn to soil

Charles Benbrook, PhD, a professor of agriculture at Washington State University and former chief scientist at The Organic Center who reviewed the Stanford study and most of the underlying literature, found the study misleading. He noted that several well-designed US studies show that organic crops have higher concentrations of antioxidants and vitamins than conventional crops. For crops like apples, strawberries, grapes, tomatoes, milk, carrots, and grains, organic produce has 10 to 30 percent higher levels of several nutrients, including vitamin C, antioxidants and phenolic acids in most studies.

As the Environmental Working Group notes, the Stanford study also contradicts the findings of what many consider the most definitive analysis in the scientific literature of the nutrient content of organic versus conventional food. In that 2011 study, a team led by Dr. Kirsten Brandt of the Human Nutrition Research Center of Newcastle University in the UK analyzed most of the same research and concluded that organic crops had approximately 12 to 16 percent more nutrients than conventional crops.

Critics were quick to point out flaws in the Stanford study’s methodology as well. First, meta-analysis (that is, examining a large number of studies for commonalities) does not allow for the nuances and range of each of the studies—such as differences in testing methods, geography, and farming methods. There are a wide variety of different organic farming practices, and any given sample of food will reflect the soil in which it is grown. Chinese soil, for example, is notoriously deficient in selenium, and this carries through to the food. This makes it very hard to generalize based on an overview of a wide variety of studies.

Second, when researchers select studies for meta-analysis, they are free to cherry-pick whichever ones they like—and leave out any that might not support their conclusions. For example, a 2010 study by scientists at Washington State University found that organic strawberries contained more vitamin C than conventional ones. Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler, a member of the Stanford team, said that this strawberry study was erroneously left out of the analysis, but that she doubted it would have changed the conclusions when combined with thirty-one other studies that also measured vitamin C! What this comment completely omitted is that the chemicals used to treat non-organic strawberries are considered to be among the most dangerous. So arguing about the exact amount of vitamin C in the fruit ignores the main point that conventional strawberries are especially to be avoided because of contamination by a recognized poison.

Third, there was no long-term study of the health effects on humans of consuming organic foods versus conventional foods. The duration of the human studies ranged from two days to two years. Most of the health effects will take a lot longer than that to show up.

New Junk Science Study Dismisses Nutritional Value of Organic Foods September 4, 2012

Yeah we have terrible clay soil and so I just composted animal manure with biochar -- charcoal from wood fires -- and we don't have any animals except that I am the biggest animal around here. haha.

Read F.H. King's 40 Centuries of Farming book on how humanure composting is the secret to maintaing sustainable organic farming.

reply to post by fulllotusqigong


Add some gypsum to the clay soils and it helps keep them from getting so hard. Clay soils have lots of minerals in them, they are locked in and a little garden lime releases the minerals and makes them bio-available to the plants..

Good info in your post.

What a completely misleading propaganda piece! Of course Organic doesn't "automatically" mean more nutritious. Food is only going to have the nutrients it is fed. But 30% more pesticide alone in non organic produce is worth the switch. These propagandists focus on nutrients and say the pesticides on non-organic is at "safe levels yeah right. How much over a lifetime is safe?

And gee did this so called study list where the organic food was grown what types of soil fertilizer and trace minerals were in the soil or added etc... Of course they didn't way to many variables they left out for them to reach their biased conclusion. I can tell the difference in free range organic chickens eggs by the color of thier yolks if they are more nutritious.

They are banking on the sheeple reading this crap and taking their word for it by the authority of these medical establishment educated doctors. Oooh a doctor said it so it must be true...

When I was a member of a self sufficient group - We used soil toilets.

We dug trenches in the fields to receive the Human Manure. Immediately covering with a layer of soil.
This way no odors are emitted. It took only a matter of a few months before the waste (for want of a better word) broke down and was indistinguishable from the soil.
For a diet which includes eating animal flesh the process is far longer.

The results of feeding the soil were truly amazing.
I recall on the wheat and barley crops the plants grew a third taller - also during Winter the ground did not freeze where it had been fed - the soil was warmer.

What we term as waste is in fact a biological product intended for the Earth.
Yet so many are appalled by this natural function that it is taboo to them.
Yet the Earth crys out for nourishment - Deserts encroach for lack of it - The ground becomes colder.

Imagine all the world living naturally in this way - It would soon warm up the Earth.
Oils and gases would be extracted also by the functioning of the Earth itself - all would be in a better way.

reply to post by artistpoet


If you eat a bunch of chemicals the residue is excreted in our waste. Meat eaters also have problematic waste which should be processed differently than Herbivores waste. Cat crap shouldn't be used as fertilizer. This is what I have read anyway. If our waste was organic I would say it may be ok, but it isn't anymore, it is full of chemicals and medicines.

They can come out with all the propaganda they want, organic food tastes better most times and it isn't that much more expensive anymore. I'll buy it when I can afford it.

Originally posted by rickymouse
reply to post by artistpoet

 

If you eat a bunch of chemicals the residue is excreted in our waste. Meat eaters also have problematic waste which should be processed differently than Herbivores waste. Cat crap shouldn't be used as fertilizer. This is what I have read anyway. If our waste was organic I would say it may be ok, but it isn't anymore, it is full of chemicals and medicines.

So the answer is surely to eat organic crops/food as we did.
The results spoke for themselves.
Even flesh eventually breaks down into the way of the soil

But yes accumulated chemical additives in food are a problem - the answer is to not eat such things or to do so if that is your choice.

reply to post by rickymouse


I agree with you - I grow organic food for that reason

Some food for thought, incase this wasnt already posted
io9 - organic food not more nutritious than regular food

reply to post by Expat888


Seriously, though, I do plan on visiting thailand here in a year or two when my schedule permits to visit a few ex-pat friends. I will have to hit you up to see if your in the area!

Also, you mentioned you live in SE asia and that you were fishing for dinner. Arent you a little worried about the nuclear accident in japan? I have a little hesitant to eat fish since that and the deepwater oil spill. which sucks because I love seafood!