In one survey, the reasons why people consumed organic foods were to avoid pesticides (70 percent), eat fresh food (68 percent), maintain health and nutrition (67 percent), and avoid genetically modified foods (55 percent) (3). However, some people choose to eat organic food for ethical purposes, which is commendable.
Most organic food advocates I’ve spoken to eat organic foods because they feel organic foods are safer. “I don’t like chemicals in my foods,” they say. Or they might say, “Natural has to be safer than artificial.” Both statements are erroneous. Organic foods do contain chemicals, and natural isn’t necessarily safer (4).
Every living molecule inside every living organism is created through chemical reactions. The natural chemicals contained in organically grown coffee, peppers, mushrooms, apples, celery, potatoes, nutmeg, and carrots present a greater risk of cancer to people than DDT, DDE, or Alar, three pesticides that are banned in the United States and many other countries (Silver, 2006).
Rotenone is a potent neurotoxin used by organic farmers that has long been used to kill fish and has been linked to Parkinson’s disease (6). Betarbet and colleagues (2000) found that chronic exposure to rotenone could reproduce the anatomical, neurochemical, behavioral, and neuropathological features of Parkinson’s disease. Another pesticide used by organic farmers, pyrethrin, which is sometimes used on the day of harvesting, can result in breathing difficulties when inhaled (7, 8). Other pesticides used in organic farming include hypochlorite, sodium hypochlorite, copper sulfate, boric acid, lime sulfur, elemental sulfur, and oils (9).
Bahlai and colleagues (2010) conducted a study examining the environmental impact of several new synthetic and certified organic insecticides under consideration as reduced risk insecticides for soybean aphid (insects that live on plants by sucking juice) control. Established and novel methodologies were used to directly quantify pesticide impact in terms of biocontrol services. They found that in addition to reduced efficacy against aphids compared to novel synthetic insecticides, organic approved insecticides had a similar or even greater negative impact on several natural enemy species in lab studies, were more detrimental to biological control organisms in field experiments, and had higher environmental impact quotients at field use rates.
“Consumers are often willing to pay more for products they believe are produced in the most sustainable way possible, but we have shown that the organic methods available are not always the most sustainable choice,” says Bahlai.
The Institute of Food Technologists issued a “scientific status summary” on the organic foods industry (9). Here is an excerpt from that summary:
“Organic fruits and vegetables possess fewer pesticide residues and lower nitrate levels than do conventional fruits and vegetables. In some cases, organic foods may have higher levels of plant secondary metabolites; this may be beneficial with respect to suspected antioxidants such as polyphenolic compounds but also may be of potential health concern when considering naturally occurring toxins. Some studies have suggested potential increased microbiological hazards from organic produce or animal products due to the prohibition of antimicrobial use, yet other studies have not reached the same conclusion. While many studies demonstrate these qualitative differences between organic and conventional foods, it is premature to conclude that either food system is superior to the other with respect to safety or nutritional composition.”
A review conducted by Sil Dangour and colleagues (2009) published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition investigated the nutritional differences between conventional and organic foods. Eleven crop nutrient categories were analyzed. The researchers identified 162 studies; 55 were of satisfactory quality. Only the satisfactory studies were analyzed. Conventionally produced crops had a significantly higher content of nitrogen, and organically produced crops had a significantly higher content of phosphorus and titratable acidity. There was no difference between the two for the remaining eight of eleven crop nutrient categories analyzed.
Analysis of livestock products indicated no difference in nutrient content between organic and conventional livestock products. After reviewing these studies, the researchers concluded that there was no evidence of a nutritional difference between organic and conventional foods.
If you like the taste of organic food and have the extra money to spend, go for it. However, don’t consider it a necessity. When choosing the foods to include in your diet, the first consideration should be a well-balanced diet. Whether it is made up of conventional or organic foods has little significance.
References
- Bahlai CA, et al (2010) Choosing organic pesticides over synthetic pesticides may not effectively mitigate environmental risk in soybeans. PloS One 22(6):e11250.
- Betarbet R, et al (2000) Chronic Systemic Pesticide Exposure Reproduces Features of Parkinson Disease. Nature Neuroscience 3:1301–06.
- Hale J. Organic Food: The Real Story! At: http://maxcondition.com/page.php?148. Accessed: December 21,2010.
- Hale J (2010) Should I Eat the Yolk? Separating Facts From Myths to Get You Lean, Fit & Healthy. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press.
- Sil Dangour AD, et al (2009) Nutritional Quality of Organic Foods: A Systematic Review. AM J Clin Nutr 90:680–85.
- Silver LM (2006) Challenging Nature. Harper Collins.
- Silver LM (2006) The Environments Best Friend GM or Organic? Update Magazine.
- Sitting M. Handbook of Toxic and Hazardous Chemicals and Carcinogens (1991) 3rd ed. Vol. 2. New Jersey: Noyes Publications.
- Winter CK, Davis SF (2006) Organic Foods. Journal of Food Science 71(9).
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In addition to exercise & nutritional consulting, Jamie Hale is a Research assistant at Eastern Kentucky University in the Perception & Cognition Lab. He is a member of the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and Board Member for Kentucky Council Against Health Fraud. He has written numerous books, and contributed to numerous magazines. Currently, Jamie is writing a research review with Dr. Varakin, cognitive Scientist, in the area of behavioral nutrition. He will also be conducting primary research investigating caffeine ingestion and neural correlates. He’s also working on a new book title, The Pleasure of Food: The Science Of Eating Behavior. To learn more about Jamie visit his sites www.knowledgesummit.net and www.maxcondition.com 
Jamie, Thank you so much for this Article, and EFS for getting back on track with good quality articles. As somebody who was raised on a dairy farm (we also harvested about 1000 acres of crops) I know that there is no real difference between “organic” and standard foods. I’m glad you put together the research and brought this to light. Great job!
My wife and I switched to organic (still regular pasturized) milk about a year ago. Tastes a bit different and cost a tad bit more but I have noticed alot less bloating then with the regular milk. Nothing scientific simply observational reactions with my body.
Jamie,
Have you looked into studies on higher levels of anti-oxidants in organic fruits? Also, what about people who eat local organic? As local eating and CSA’s get more of a food hold in our society should we not begin this discussion? I like the article I just think there is so much more to this.
Thanks
Hamer
“You are what you eat has eaten.”
-John Meadows
Come on now, are we still listening to these studies that disapprove Organic foods superiority? Some Organic food may have some small traces of chemicals but over a 5 year period it will be way, way less than commercial raised rubbish. It will keep your immune system as strong as is possible in our toxic environment and will nourish your body allot better. Since changing to a 90% Organic diet i have not been ill (its been about two years now during that period one of my girlfriends had swine flu bad and i did not feel a thing), and I was really prone to colds when I was younger and raised on commercially farmed foods.
Every time someone starts speaking about there being no important difference between Organic food and commercially raised food I start to wonder which company is paying them.
I really mean no offence to Jamie Hale, please believe, but no amount of studies and polls will make me believe what real life has proven to me time and again.
I appreciate the topic, but the point is kind of mute that organics are not anything special. The point of organic is not to eat some food labled by the USDA as organic, but instead to try to get to the very nature of how plants were supposed to be grown.
That means that substituting organic pesticides for conventional ones is not the right way to go either. What it means is not growing uniform rows of uniform plants over and over again and needing pesticides and fertilizers. Instead, plants should be grown in “polycultures” where one plant can help the other and vice-versa. The point of organic was perverted by companies like conagra, and monsanto with studies substituting conventional for organic processes. THAT IS NOT THE POINT. The process for truly organic and sustainable plants is different. One substitution does not suffice.
Compare all of the qualities (beyond macronutrients) of a vegetable grown sustainably, in a poly farm, along with the land it is grown on, and then let’s have the conversation again.
A simple solution is to grow your own garden. It may not be certified organic but it is a much better option than store bought. Also, as another post mentioned, buy local.
I highly doubt that apples are more carcinogenic than DDT. What was that statement all about??
No difference? Why do more and more doctors treating cancer get their patients on an organic diet immediately? At a digestive health center, a worker reports that when someone is diagnosed with colon cancer and placed on an organic diet, this act alone reduces the tumor by 25% percent. We don’t argue nutrition between organic and non-organic, but we do argue that the pesticides are more poisonous and medical studies are daily pointing this out. Read the latest article on the subject on Dr. Mercola’s website.
Grass fed beef vs corn fed?
Health is not the only reason to eat organic. Many people choose organic food for ethical reasons. Yes, the label “organic” is not consistent in its meaning, but that doesn’t change that fact that if you buy a Tyson Brand chicken it has probably died one of the most painful deaths imaginable.
And even if you think animals have no mind, no soul, feel no pain, etc it still might be useful for us to at least treat animals well so we do not fall into habitually ignoring what appears to be suffering.
I find it surprising that the nutritional content of livestock did not change between organic and “enhanced.” Changing from Corn to Grass alone is enough of a change to make a huge impact in the fat content of beef. And accounting for the nutritional content is not the only worry.
I won’t argue the safety of chemicals added to the food. What’s also at issue is how large food suppliers like Tyson foods typically slaughter their livestock. Chickens and Cows are slaughtered in ways that expose the fecal contents of their entrails, and the harmful fecal bacteria within their entrails, to the meat. These shotty, dangerous practices in slaughtering do not occur because the animals have been given compounds. However, such dangerous slaughterhouse practices are symptomatic of most companies that choose to use compounds on their livestock.
I know it seems cool to shit on organic food since such sentiments seem like what down-to-earth, blue collar people want to hear. It’s automatically appealing to shit on anything that hippies endorse. But just because a group of people you don’t like do something doesn’t mean you have to hate that something. The Nazis drank German Beer. Does that mean you hate all German Beer?
John: If you didn’t notice, Dr. Mercola is the kind of person who doesn’t believe in vaccinations. So that pretty much discounts anything else that he says.
Anytime someone says they will disregard all studies in favor of their own, 1 person, anecdotal evidence based belief, they are beyond help and hold no valuable opinion on the subject.
I purposely DONT buy anything labeled organic. The science is there to dissprove anything the organic people use as propaganda. Its really easy science to perform really. We are going to need more and more technology as our world population continues to explode. We want to reduce our carbon foot print right? Organic agriculture practices actually take us backwards. Ever wonder what happens to lets say an organic dairy cow when she gets sick? Cant use antibiotics……often times the outcome is bleak. Simple treatable diseases such as pneumonia make a tremendous impact on organic farms. Any myths I can help dispell? Anybody want to banter back and forth about this? Ill be glad to and educate…..Im a food animal veterinarian.
Hey John, just to let you know….many reports have been released on the dangers of vaccines. And for one, the flu vaccine is a fukin joke. Ya want to know the truth!? Here’s the real deal, and this information was disclosed to me at my current medical university that I am attending. You have these doctors and this comittee board that sit around literally guessing what the the next flu strain will be for America. This is how they come up with their vaccinations. They literally guess the antibodies that they will place in their vaccines. And also…all the micrograms of aluminum and reports of mercury don’t really make me ever want to get a vaccine. I have eatin organic for over a year and have literally healed myself from chronic rhinitis and I rarely, if ever get sick. You know when I do get sick!? It’s when I eat fastfood bullshit. Here’s some good videos on major food processing and nutrition education: “Fast Food Nation” and “Food Inc.” Also…go read some stuff from a worldly acknowledge strength coach…I can’t remember his name…oh wait, it’s Charles Poliquin. He also know his shit in regards to nutrition…why does he have all his atheletes eating organic!? Just some things to think about and chew on. Take care. Peace.
“Organic agriculture practices actually take us backwards.” Really Geoff!??? Feed me a logical explanation……
geoff, these non organic meat producers subject the animals to a very “unnatural” lifestyle where they are confined in ridiculously small spaces and fed a very unnatural diet no where similar to what the animal would eat on their own. So what do they do? Feed the animal antibiotics so that they can survive as zombies. Look I will agree that it doesn’t make sense that you can’t feed a cow an antibiotic so that it can survive a small bout of pneumonia but these are the standards that are set. Ideally we would raise cattle and animals how they were traditionally raised, letting them eat their desired diet with a desirable amount of space to be happy and healthy and giving them medications only when they need it but as you correctly brought up the world population is exponentially growing and this makes the traditional way obsolete. However preserving a “semi-traditional” approach is very important to some people and IS WITHOUT ARGUMENT much healthier for the animal and those consuming its flesh (review grass fed vs corn feed beef studies).
I dont have chronic rhinitis at all. Can I credit that to the vaccines I have had and McDonalds? If you want to eat organic, that’s so sweet. Please continue. You may want to look into how many people, worldwide, would starve to death without GMO foods that increase crop yields. I have seen the documentaries, and they never have an agenda, as well as reading slaughterhouse 5, and a couple of books by Robin Cook about diseases. That’s as scientific as believing eating organic food, which is very vaguely defined, cured you of anything. If Charles Poliquin said drinking piss would increase your squat, would you do it? OK, poor example, I might try it. Dont get so wound up, do what you want, step down from the soapbox.
I don’t get sick much but when I go paleo, I always do. When I do paleo, I tend to go for the gusto and get organic. When I get sick, I try to maintain diet. Once I maintained cold symptoms for over 2 weeks until I reverted back to crap foods. The day after reversion I was back to normal.
Whenever I read about such and such chemical being super dangerous I just try to remember that water can be deadly if inhaled. It helps keep things in context.
I’ve got to agree with Sam Stewart. More power to you if you can do things like Paleo and organic foods. I guess for me i’ve found that Organic fruits, grassfed beef, organic milk etc, etc are all WAY more expensive than comparable off-brands I can get at Walmart. I’m not Jane Fonda trying to make a political statement, I’m just your average joe who thinks about money. When organic foods become similiar in price to what I can buy now at the supermarket, then I will seriously consider switching over.
I have to agree with Sam here. Most of the documentaries and “expert” literature seem to purport a pro-vegan/anti-meat agenda. Yet without GMO’s, perservatives, and the overall increase in mass food production and the ability to deliver it without spoilage/keep it on hand, it would be alot more difficult to feed American communities and, moreover, the world. I think many fail to realize that organic is a luxury, not a necessity, despite it’s pending purported health rewards. I spent twelve years living in the projects until as a family we were able to get out but for some, its a far less fortunate ordeal, where they don’t have enough of a paycheck to appropiate towards “nutritious/organic” food and have to stick with basics like milk, bread, beans etc. Just going by experience, I wouldn’t say these children from a health stand point where anywhere worse off.
And while we criticize our modern food selection, many poor families or over populated families are thanking places like Wal-Mart or Save-a-Lot’s or whatever discount food suppliers for not having to spend so much of there limited budget on foods from prime grocery retailers. And in a perfect society we could al go organic but it is so far off that using it as a primary source of health elongation may not be the best strategy on an epidemiologic level.
This is stupid…so many important aspects untouched, poor evidence…poor article
Hopefully lots of people buy into this so when I go to the store they wont be out of grass fed beef all the time. Organic food has nothing to do with nutrient content. Our crappy soil (from years of over farming) has more to do with that. I personally, dont enjoy stuffing GMO’s and chemicals in my body.
Recently I wrote a blog entry offering a leftist critique of the ideology of “Green” environmentalism, organicism, deep ecology, animal rights activism, eco-feminism, and lifestyle politics in general (veganism, “dumpster diving,” “buying organic,” etc.). I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on the matter and any responses you might have to its criticisms.
A few points to clear up.
1. If you don’t like pesticides on your food wash it!
2. Grass fed beef does not =organic, it just means they eat grass… I agree that this is better than corn fed. I’m all for natural, but not the organic food BS.
3. Tyson is far more inspected and supervised for slaughter techniques, and cleanliness than any organic company.
4. I love how bodybuilders and powerlifters claim they don’t want chemicals in their body from food they eat, and then go and take god knows what supplements (which aren’t regulated by FDA at all!), Anabolics, GH, insulin, etc. It’s pretty hilarious reallly.
5. All these Organic food proponents have never been on a farm I swear. They have simply seen some video of a factory farm. Factory farms may not be pretty… but they get us cheap food so we can over eat.
6. It’s crazy to me to see people on a site like this talking about sustainability… as people striving to improve size, and strength we chronically over eat and therefore use of global food supply. Big deal, as our technology has allowed us to do this. If you don’t like this only eat what you can catch and grow yourself and limit your calories to 1000-2000kcal/day.
7. There is no test that shows that non-organic food has anymore chemicals or hormones it it…. it’s all propaganda! Growing up on a diary farm we were forced to stop using a growth hormone to increase milk production by the state. There was no difference in testing between cows treated with or without this agent, so it was all honor system… but the hippies forced this upon the farmers and many had to loose out on money, and it drove up the cost of milk for everyone.
@ Hassan, I don’t follow the Paleo diet, but I have researched it and it pretty much states that the first 2-4 weeks of the diet, you’re detoxing your body, thus, this explains the cold and flu like symptoms.
Mike, exactly. I came on here to say that “organic” means “food for rich people, who have nothing better to do than find another way to feel superior to everyone else, based on nothing”. People who eat organic food are the same people who think colon cleanses, liver “flushes”, etc., mean anything or relate to how the body works. it’s feeling-based, not science based.
I can tell you that no legitimate doctor recommends “organic food” for cancer patients; doctors will recommend a low-glycemic diet, because insulin preferentially feeds cancer cells. Nothing to do with organic.
Bondor, 3 doctors also told me I needed to take chemo drugs to blunt my auto-immune arthritis. Turns out, all I needed was some omega 3 (fish oil tabs). Honestly, doctors are about the worse people to seek diet advice from.
As far as organic food goes: I buy it when the price is comparable. If you think big corporations are producing food with people’s “health” in mind, you’re freaking crazy. That’s not to say organic farmers are, but I would argue there’s probably a higher percentage who take some pride in knowing their product isn’t packed with garbage chemicals.
Jamie,
Do you have a reference for this line
“Analysis of livestock products indicated no difference in nutrient content between organic and conventional livestock product”
I would like to read the full study, but want to make sure it is the same one you are discussing.
Any time we think we can do better than mother nature we shoot ourselves in the foot. I am all for science, but most times our arrogance leads to poor results.
Rock on
Mike T Nelson PhD(c)
I’m an agricultural scientist and it is great to see an article that is telling people what the scientists in my field have known for decades.
Every single one of the organic claims that are touted are usually false or misleading. Basically food is food, get the freshest you can and wash it before cooking.
Cheers, Tim.
BSc, MSc
@Jeff and Time: Great points.
I’m a little late to the party, but still have a few things to weigh in on.
As a Canadian Prairie farmboy, I can tell you that going organic doesn’t deliver any extra health benefits. The difference in many cases is paperwork. Many farmers will “go organic” and not follow any of the regulations. But, the surrounding farmers will be forced to follow them, ie will have to relinquish 10 feet around their sections of land to make up for “Non-organic runoff.” Again, the hippies fearing things they know nothing about, but, as they say, the sqeaky wheel gets the grease.
It’s not just about your health guys. It’s about the health. With all these chemicals everywhere, they get into our water and air. It also affects animals and creatures around them. Numerous studies have shown that the reason for bees disappearing (CCD) is strongly related to pesticide use.
Since bees pollinate a third of our crops, I think they’re kinda important. Also, it’s been shown standard farming erodes the topsoil. You go on sites like Mercola.com and others, you can see how Indian farmers commit suicide due to GM seed companies f*ckin them over.
A little note: No maybe not everyone can get sustainable, real food. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t at least try.