pedro san pedro
12th February 2006, 00:25
Are organic foods simply a 'capitalist marketing gimmick' or are there real benefits from growing and eating organics?
Nutrition
There is mounting evidence that organically grown fruits, vegetables and grains may offer more of some nutrients, including vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, and less exposure to nitrates and pesticide residues than their counterparts grown using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Reviewing 41 published studies comparing the nutritional value of organically grown and conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains, certified nutrition specialist Virginia Worthington has concluded there are significantly more of several nutrients in organic crops. These include: 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium, and 13.6% more phosphorus. In addition, organic products had 15.1% less nitrates than their conventional counterparts. She also noted that five servings of organic vegetables (lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes and cabbage) provided the recommended daily intake of vitamin C for men and women, while their conventional counterparts did not. Worthington said the results are consistent with known soil dynamics and plant physiology.
"Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains," by Virginia Worthington, published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001 (pp. 161-173), available at: www.foodisyourbestmedicine.com/organic.pdf. Worthington has her Masters of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Maryland, and Doctor of Science from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
Organic crops appear to be higher in vitamin C, essential minerals and phytonutrients, according to the 87-page report prepared for The Soil Association of the United Kingdom and released during 2001. Reviewing 400 published papers comparing organic and non-organic foods concerning food safety, nutritional content and observed health effects, the report noted the need for further studies.
"Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health: A review of the evidence," written and researched by Shane Heaton, The Soil Association, United Kingdom, 2001.
A study commissioned by the Organic Retailers and Growers Association of Australia (ORGAA) found that conventionally grown fruit and vegetables purchased in supermarkets and other commercial retail outlets had ten times less mineral content than fruit and vegetables grown organically. For the study, tomatoes, beans, capsicums and silver beets grown on a certified organic farm using soil regenerative techniques were analyzed for mineral elements. A similar range of vegetables grown conventionally and purchased from a supermarket was also analyzed by the Australian Government Analytical Laboratory. A major flaw of the study, however, is that it compared fresh produce at the farm to produce in a supermarket. Thus, there could have been a difference in freshness, which could have affected the nutrients measured.
Organic Retailers and Growers Association of Australia, 2000, as cited in Pesticides and You, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2000, News from Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides.
A study has shown that organic soups sold commercially in the United Kingdom contain almost six times as much salicylic acid as non-organic soups. John Paterson, a biochemist at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, and scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland analyzed 11 brands of organic soup and compared their levels of salicylic acid with those in non-organic varieties. Salicylic acid, which is responsible for the anti-inflammatory action of aspirin, has been shown to help prevent hardening of the arteries and bowel cancer. The average level of salicylic acid in 11 brands of organic vegetable soup was 117 nanograms per gram, compared with 20 nanograms per gram in 24 types of non-organic soup. The highest level (1,040 nanograms per gram) was found in an organic carrot and coriander soup. Four of the conventional soups had no detectable levels of salicylic acid.
New Scientist magazine, March 16, 2002, page 10; European Journal of Nutrition, Vol, 40, page 289
Research by visiting chemistry professor Theo Clark and undergraduate students at Truman State University in Missouri found organically grown oranges contained up to 30 percent more vitamin C than those grown conventionally. Reporting the findings at the June 2 Great Lakes Regional meeting of the American Chemical Society, Clark said he had expected the conventional oranges, which were much larger than the organic oranges, to have twice as much vitamin C as the organic versions. Instead, chemical isolation combined with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed the higher level in the organic oranges
Science Daily Magazine, June 2, 2002
Analyzing U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program data comparing the relative amounts and toxicity of pesticide residues in different foods, a Consumer Union report found that fresh peaches, frozen and fresh winter squash, apples, grapes, spinach, pears, and green beans had some of the highest Toxicity Index ratings. As a result, the Consumers Union recommended purchasing organically grown apples, peaches, pears, grapes, winter squash, spinach and green beans.
Do you know what you’re eating? An analysis of U.S. Government Data on Pesticide Residues in Foods," February 1999, Consumers Union of United States Inc., Edward Groth III, project director
Children
Organic agriculture minimizes children’s exposure to toxic and persistent pesticides in the soil in which they play, the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the foods they eat.
Here are reasons why minimizing exposure to toxic and persistent pesticides is so important:
"Pesticides pose special concerns to children because of their high metabolisms and low body weights. More than 1 million children between the ages of 1 and 5 ingest at least 15 pesticides every day from fruits and vegetables. More than 600,000 of these children eat a dose of organophosphate insecticides that the federal government considers unsafe, and 61,000 eat doses that exceed benchmark levels by a factor of 10 or more."
Food for Thought: The Case for Reforming Farm Programs to Preserve the Environment and Help Family Farmers, Ranchers and Foresters, pages 12-13
"Our children are born with a deposit of pesticides and other foreign chemicals in their bodies, caused by a shift of maternal pesticide ‘body burden’ through the placenta; after birth, children ‘inherit’ further load through breastfeeding. Pesticides have a cumulative multigenerational destructive impact on human health, especially behavior. Pesticides are a serious threat to the physical, emotional and mental development of children and future generations," according to a report from the Environmental Illness Society of Canada. Presented to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, the report called for a moratorium on pesticide use for cosmetic purposes. It noted: "Once released into the environment, the spread of pesticides cannot be controlled. Radioactively traced pesticides sprayed over in the United Kingdom were detected five to seven days later in the southern USA. Traces of insecticides used in tropical areas were detected in Arctic trees. Global air currents, hurricanes, etc., can transport pesticides and other chemicals even to the other hemisphere." Als "Pesticides and other pollutants can interfere with proper sexual differentiation; they can also cause other birth defects and multigenerational health problems, such as allergies, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and cancer in the individual, that individual’s offspring, and subsequent generations." In addition: "A Canadian-USA study detected pesticides in the amniotic fluid in one-third of human pregnancies."
Pesticides: Their Multigenerational Cumulative Destructive Impact on Health, Especially on the Physical, Emotional and Mental Development of Children and of Future Generations—Canadian Government Responsibilities and Opportunities, February 2000, Environmental Illness Society of Canada
A National Cancer Institute researcher who matched pesticide data and medical records in 10 California agricultural counties reported that pregnant women living within nine miles of farms where pesticides are sprayed on fields may have increased risk of losing an unborn baby to birth defects.
National Coalition against the Misuse of Pesticides Technical Report newsletter, April 2001.
"Exposure to pesticides can cause a range of ill effects in humans, from relatively mild effects such as headaches, fatigue, and nausea, to more serious effects such as cancer and neurological disorders. In 1999, EPA estimated that nationwide there were at least 10,000 to 20,000 physician-diagnosed pesticide illnesses and injuries per year in farm work. Environmental effects are evident in the findings of the U.S. Geological Survey, which reported in 1999 that more than 90 percent of water and fish samples from streams and about 50 percent of all sampled wells contained one or more pesticides. The concern about pesticides in water is especially acute in agricultural areas, where most pesticides are used."
Agricultural Pesticides: Management Improvements Needed to Further Promote Integrated Pest Management, General Accounting Office
A study, financed by Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council, has concluded that the combination of soil erosion, pollution and inadequate diet is affecting the intelligence of millions of people in the developing world, with effects ranging from severe intellectual disabilities to "sub-clinical decline" in whole populations. The report notes that Green Revolution crops produce several times as much grain as the traditional varieties they replaced, thus dramatically increasing food supplies. However, unlike their predecessors, the new crops fail to take up minerals such as iron and zinc from the soil.
The Environmental Threat to Human Intelligence, by Christopher Williams, a study funded by Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council in its Global Environmental Change Programme, April 24, 2000
Nutrition
There is mounting evidence that organically grown fruits, vegetables and grains may offer more of some nutrients, including vitamin C, iron, magnesium and phosphorus, and less exposure to nitrates and pesticide residues than their counterparts grown using synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.
Reviewing 41 published studies comparing the nutritional value of organically grown and conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains, certified nutrition specialist Virginia Worthington has concluded there are significantly more of several nutrients in organic crops. These include: 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium, and 13.6% more phosphorus. In addition, organic products had 15.1% less nitrates than their conventional counterparts. She also noted that five servings of organic vegetables (lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes and cabbage) provided the recommended daily intake of vitamin C for men and women, while their conventional counterparts did not. Worthington said the results are consistent with known soil dynamics and plant physiology.
"Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains," by Virginia Worthington, published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001 (pp. 161-173), available at: www.foodisyourbestmedicine.com/organic.pdf. Worthington has her Masters of Science in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Maryland, and Doctor of Science from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.
Organic crops appear to be higher in vitamin C, essential minerals and phytonutrients, according to the 87-page report prepared for The Soil Association of the United Kingdom and released during 2001. Reviewing 400 published papers comparing organic and non-organic foods concerning food safety, nutritional content and observed health effects, the report noted the need for further studies.
"Organic Farming, Food Quality and Human Health: A review of the evidence," written and researched by Shane Heaton, The Soil Association, United Kingdom, 2001.
A study commissioned by the Organic Retailers and Growers Association of Australia (ORGAA) found that conventionally grown fruit and vegetables purchased in supermarkets and other commercial retail outlets had ten times less mineral content than fruit and vegetables grown organically. For the study, tomatoes, beans, capsicums and silver beets grown on a certified organic farm using soil regenerative techniques were analyzed for mineral elements. A similar range of vegetables grown conventionally and purchased from a supermarket was also analyzed by the Australian Government Analytical Laboratory. A major flaw of the study, however, is that it compared fresh produce at the farm to produce in a supermarket. Thus, there could have been a difference in freshness, which could have affected the nutrients measured.
Organic Retailers and Growers Association of Australia, 2000, as cited in Pesticides and You, Vol. 20, No. 1, Spring 2000, News from Beyond Pesticides/National Coalition Against the Misuse of Pesticides.
A study has shown that organic soups sold commercially in the United Kingdom contain almost six times as much salicylic acid as non-organic soups. John Paterson, a biochemist at Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary, and scientists at the University of Strathclyde in Scotland analyzed 11 brands of organic soup and compared their levels of salicylic acid with those in non-organic varieties. Salicylic acid, which is responsible for the anti-inflammatory action of aspirin, has been shown to help prevent hardening of the arteries and bowel cancer. The average level of salicylic acid in 11 brands of organic vegetable soup was 117 nanograms per gram, compared with 20 nanograms per gram in 24 types of non-organic soup. The highest level (1,040 nanograms per gram) was found in an organic carrot and coriander soup. Four of the conventional soups had no detectable levels of salicylic acid.
New Scientist magazine, March 16, 2002, page 10; European Journal of Nutrition, Vol, 40, page 289
Research by visiting chemistry professor Theo Clark and undergraduate students at Truman State University in Missouri found organically grown oranges contained up to 30 percent more vitamin C than those grown conventionally. Reporting the findings at the June 2 Great Lakes Regional meeting of the American Chemical Society, Clark said he had expected the conventional oranges, which were much larger than the organic oranges, to have twice as much vitamin C as the organic versions. Instead, chemical isolation combined with nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy revealed the higher level in the organic oranges
Science Daily Magazine, June 2, 2002
Analyzing U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Pesticide Data Program data comparing the relative amounts and toxicity of pesticide residues in different foods, a Consumer Union report found that fresh peaches, frozen and fresh winter squash, apples, grapes, spinach, pears, and green beans had some of the highest Toxicity Index ratings. As a result, the Consumers Union recommended purchasing organically grown apples, peaches, pears, grapes, winter squash, spinach and green beans.
Do you know what you’re eating? An analysis of U.S. Government Data on Pesticide Residues in Foods," February 1999, Consumers Union of United States Inc., Edward Groth III, project director
Children
Organic agriculture minimizes children’s exposure to toxic and persistent pesticides in the soil in which they play, the air they breathe, the water they drink, and the foods they eat.
Here are reasons why minimizing exposure to toxic and persistent pesticides is so important:
"Pesticides pose special concerns to children because of their high metabolisms and low body weights. More than 1 million children between the ages of 1 and 5 ingest at least 15 pesticides every day from fruits and vegetables. More than 600,000 of these children eat a dose of organophosphate insecticides that the federal government considers unsafe, and 61,000 eat doses that exceed benchmark levels by a factor of 10 or more."
Food for Thought: The Case for Reforming Farm Programs to Preserve the Environment and Help Family Farmers, Ranchers and Foresters, pages 12-13
"Our children are born with a deposit of pesticides and other foreign chemicals in their bodies, caused by a shift of maternal pesticide ‘body burden’ through the placenta; after birth, children ‘inherit’ further load through breastfeeding. Pesticides have a cumulative multigenerational destructive impact on human health, especially behavior. Pesticides are a serious threat to the physical, emotional and mental development of children and future generations," according to a report from the Environmental Illness Society of Canada. Presented to the Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Environment and Sustainable Development, the report called for a moratorium on pesticide use for cosmetic purposes. It noted: "Once released into the environment, the spread of pesticides cannot be controlled. Radioactively traced pesticides sprayed over in the United Kingdom were detected five to seven days later in the southern USA. Traces of insecticides used in tropical areas were detected in Arctic trees. Global air currents, hurricanes, etc., can transport pesticides and other chemicals even to the other hemisphere." Als "Pesticides and other pollutants can interfere with proper sexual differentiation; they can also cause other birth defects and multigenerational health problems, such as allergies, immunotoxicity, neurotoxicity and cancer in the individual, that individual’s offspring, and subsequent generations." In addition: "A Canadian-USA study detected pesticides in the amniotic fluid in one-third of human pregnancies."
Pesticides: Their Multigenerational Cumulative Destructive Impact on Health, Especially on the Physical, Emotional and Mental Development of Children and of Future Generations—Canadian Government Responsibilities and Opportunities, February 2000, Environmental Illness Society of Canada
A National Cancer Institute researcher who matched pesticide data and medical records in 10 California agricultural counties reported that pregnant women living within nine miles of farms where pesticides are sprayed on fields may have increased risk of losing an unborn baby to birth defects.
National Coalition against the Misuse of Pesticides Technical Report newsletter, April 2001.
"Exposure to pesticides can cause a range of ill effects in humans, from relatively mild effects such as headaches, fatigue, and nausea, to more serious effects such as cancer and neurological disorders. In 1999, EPA estimated that nationwide there were at least 10,000 to 20,000 physician-diagnosed pesticide illnesses and injuries per year in farm work. Environmental effects are evident in the findings of the U.S. Geological Survey, which reported in 1999 that more than 90 percent of water and fish samples from streams and about 50 percent of all sampled wells contained one or more pesticides. The concern about pesticides in water is especially acute in agricultural areas, where most pesticides are used."
Agricultural Pesticides: Management Improvements Needed to Further Promote Integrated Pest Management, General Accounting Office
A study, financed by Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council, has concluded that the combination of soil erosion, pollution and inadequate diet is affecting the intelligence of millions of people in the developing world, with effects ranging from severe intellectual disabilities to "sub-clinical decline" in whole populations. The report notes that Green Revolution crops produce several times as much grain as the traditional varieties they replaced, thus dramatically increasing food supplies. However, unlike their predecessors, the new crops fail to take up minerals such as iron and zinc from the soil.
The Environmental Threat to Human Intelligence, by Christopher Williams, a study funded by Britain’s Economic and Social Research Council in its Global Environmental Change Programme, April 24, 2000