March 2013
Dear EarthTalk: There’s been a lot
of coverage on the topic of organic
foods and how they aren’t actually
any healthier than conventional
foods. Is this true?
– Gina Thompson, Salem, OR
There is no doubt that organic
foods are healthier—for our bodies
individually as well as for the envi-
ronment—than their conventionally
produced counterparts. The ques-
tion is how much healthier and does
the difference warrant spending
more on your grocery bill.
Conventional food is produced
using synthetic chemical inputs such
as fertilizers, pesticides, hormones
and antibiotics to repel pests, boost
growth and improve the yield of
marketable product. It stands to
reason that trace amounts of these
chemicals are likely to get ingested
into our bodies.
Before such chemicals became
widely available, most food was
produced organically. Recent aware-
ness about the dangers of synthetic
chemicals and antibiotic resistance
has triggered a renewed interest in
organic food.
As a result organic farms con-
stitute the fastest growing sector
of the U.S. agriculture industry.
Given that these farms are smaller
and have more of a niche clientele,
they must charge more for organic
products. These costs get passed on
to consumers willing to spend extra
to be healthy.
But after surveying over 200 other
studies comparing organic and con-
ventional foods and in some cases
their effects on the body, Stanford
medical researchers found results to
be marginal.
While eating organic produce can
lower exposure to pesticides, the
amount measured from convention-
ally grown produce was also well
within safety limits.
They also found that organic
foods were not particularly more
nutritious than non-organic foods.
The findings were published in the
Annals of Internal Medicine in Sep-
tember 2012.
The one area where the team
found a divergence was regarding
antibiotic-resistant germs in meats.
While the chances of bacterial con-
tamination are the same for organic
FEATURES
and non-organic meats, germs in
conventionally raised chicken and
pork had a 33 percent higher risk of
being resistant to multiple antibiot-
ics.
Many farmers and ranchers rely
on antibiotics to fatten up their
animals and keep them healthy until
slaughter, but converting to more
organic meat could help stem the on-
coming tide of antibiotic resistance
that threatens to make many of our
medicines obsolete.
Of course, consumers may opt
for organic foods despite the lack
of much difference in nutritional
content or chemical residues.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a
non-profit medical care and research
institution and a leading voice on
public health and health mainte-
nance, some people simply prefer
the taste of organic food.
Others like organic food because it
doesn’t typically contain preserva-
tives, artificial sweeteners, coloring
and flavorings.
Meanwhile, others take a longer-
term view and go organic for the
sake of the environment, as organic
agriculture reduces pollution and
conserves water and soil quality. If
you’re trying to be both healthy and
frugal, selectively buying organic is
one option.
The Environmental Working
Group (EWG) publishes its Shop-
pers Guide to Pesticides in Produce each
year to let consumers know which
produce have the most pesticide
residues and are the most important
to buy organic.
EWG’s 2012 “dirty dozen” non-
organic foods to avoid were apples,
celery, sweet bell peppers, peaches,
strawberries, imported nectarines,
grapes, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers,
blueberries and potatoes.
Contacts: “Are Organic Foods
Safer or Healthier than Conventional
Alternatives?” http://annals.org/
article.aspx?articleid=1355685; En-
vironmental Working Group, www.
ewg.org.
EarthTalk® is written and edited by
Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a
registered trademark of E - The Envi-
ronmental Magazine (www.emagazine.
com). Send questions to: earthtalk@
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The Southwest Portland Post • 5
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