I’ve often wondered what the big deal about organic food was. Most people are either religious about organic food or they don’t know enough to have an educated opinion. I fall in the latter category. I’ve always found it frustrating that I consider myself an above average healthy person yet I feel completely uninformed when it comes to the organic food debate. I decided to do some research and share what I found.
There are a number of angles to consider in the organic debate from environmental impact to animal cruelty to nutritional value to food toxicity. What I found was that regardless of what position you take on the ethical or environmental issues, conventional methods of farming turn your body into a chemistry lab.
First it’s important to understand the difference between what is referred to as organic food and what is referred to as conventional food.
ORGANIC:
- Organic food is regulated by the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), which restricts the use of non-organic pesticides and fertilizers.
- Organic produce cannot be genetically modified.
- Organic livestock are raised without the use of antibiotics or growth hormones.
- Organic livestock are generally fed a healthy diet, and raised in much more humane conditions.
CONVENTIONAL:
- Conventional farming involves heavy use of fertilizers and chemicals to maximize crop yield.
- May be genetically engineered to get that perfect color, shape, or flavor.
- Often genetically modified to have a resistance to a particular pesticide that will kill all other organisms but not the plant itself.
- Livestock is raised in conditions so dismal that the animals need to be pumped full of antibiotics just to stay alive.
Moral and environmental issues aside, what I wanted to know is: is food produced through conventional farming methods equally nutritious to organically grown food? The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition maintains that there is no evidence to suggest that organic food offers more nutrition than conventional food. Leading organic farm activists passionately disagree.
There isn’t too much conclusive evidence to suggest that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food, however the average American consumes about 150 pounds of food additives each year. These range from food coloring to preservatives to flavoring to chemical residue on produce. That’s a lot of chemicals to eat. All that stuff can’t be good for you.
The amount of chemical fertilizer used in the US is daunting. Over 10 million tons a year is dispensed just for corn alone, with 23 million tons for all crops. When all the fertilizer that is used across the Midwest washes into the Gulf of Mexico, it creates a dead zone of almost 6000 sq. miles where there is no oxygen and thus no sea life. Those same chemically treated crops not only enter our supermarkets, they’re fed to our livestock as well.
Cows eat grass. Except that in the commercial farming system they don’t. They’re fed corn. It’s a lot cheaper and it fattens the cows faster because cows can’t digest corn as well. The animals are kept in giant feeding lots where they live shoulder to shoulder in their own feces. They’re constantly pumped full of chemicals to ensure that they don’t die from disease. So we have animals that are eating genetically engineered corn that’s been heavily treated with chemicals while the animals themselves are heavily treated with chemicals so that they don’t die from eating a diet they weren’t designed to digest in living conditions that would kill them if they weren’t so heavily medicated with antibiotics. Yeah, I’ll take a Double Quarter Pounder with extra pharmaceutical sauce please.
Beef has a bad reputation for raising cholesterol and clogging arteries. But organic grass fed free-range beef is actually good for you. It’s high in beta-carotene, omega-3, Vitamin E, and good saturated fat. Corn fed beef actually changes the quality of the meat, making the fat much worse for you. The same applies to most conventional farming.
From Paul Chek, author of one of the best books on diet and exercise out there, How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy:
A study of 110 urban and suburban children in Washington state found that children who ate primarily organic foods had significantly lower organophosphorus pesticide (nervous immune system disruptor) exposure than children on conventional diets. Out of the children tested, only one did not have measurable levels of the pesticide in their urine. This child was on an all-organic diet.
There are many experts on both sides of the organic food issue, but one thing is not up for debate – conventional farming uses tons of chemicals that our bodies are not designed to process. Do your own research as far as nutritional content and make peace with any ethical or environmental issues on your own terms. The modern food industry turns your body into a chemistry lab. Next time you struggle with whether or not to buy organic, ask yourself how much your long-term health is worth.
[ photo: flickr / wordridden ]
I often think about food I eat….I mean they kind of hide additive name by inventing the names that sound good…I mean sugar often hide in the word end with “ose”, and some other colourings of food hide in some names that sound intelligent….These actually scares me, but I do not have too mcuh choices as I do not have easy access to organic food(they dont sell it in every super market) and also i do not wanna get stress purchasing organic products…I mean stress could be worst;-) I think government should regulate food industry more as this is federal level problem….politiicans get together with food companies(like in other industry)to generate their own profit….On the other hand, we are in the era when we have to mass produce food to support the growing poppulation….As for genetically modified food, it is not proven that it is bad for you, but there is no proof that it has no harm in long term as well, I live in Japan and conservaative that we are, we do not really import genetically modified food, there has been many debate, but we are not very welcome toward this new technology as alot of things are still in ???? area. I think all we can do is try to eat good, and believe that we are eating good(placebo effect), do excercise daily,love,laugh,good sex and all other things that make you happy whatever it might be;-)
Toshi, I completely agree. It's easy to get overwhelmed in the mass of information out there, especially since you have experts on both sides of the argument. A lot of it is common sense, and people need to remember to live healthy without getting lost in the details. Whether you choose organic or not, eating natural unprocessed food, avoiding sugar, drinking lots of water, exercising, loving, laughing, and having really good sex will generally make you a much happier person. Cheers to that!
I have a great consumer guide, which I follow, to help ease the stress over which products contain GMOs in our supermarkets and grocery stores.
The effects of Genetically Engineered Foods (GMOs) have long been a debate among researchers and doctors, and there is still no concrete evidence of it damaging our bodies….but it has shown great damage on the rats and mice that were part of the research. I personally believe it to be very damaging, not only to our health but also for our unborn babies.
Major contributors of the genetically engineered foods are the two (giant) biotech corporations Novartis and Monsanto.
Go to this site and download the shopping guide!
http://truefoodnow.org/campaigns/genetically-en…
Hope this helps!
Maria Sayessian
Awesome! And it's free too. Thanks a lot Maria. I'm going to push this out on Twitter 🙂
This informative post has the potent to give precise info about the dietary supplements that have positive effect on our health. Super Sea Veg is another product that is prepared from nutrients of see weeds and extremely useful for our body’s natural mechanism.
Agree with you fully! Say NO to GM foods!
Organic is really good as long as its prepared clean, its health benefit is superb.
Organic is really good as long as its prepared clean, its health benefit is superb.