Organic Foods

Today’s consumers may find a large variety of certified-organic produce, meats and other foods in traditional “health food” stores, and now even in conventional grocery stores. Two common questions are whether it’s worth the extra price to buy organic food versus conventional, and whether we can trust the sign that says “certified organic.”

With great hesitation my answer to both questions is yes, but with an asterisk. The USDA organic program is now part of an international phenomenon. The regulations are better than the previous unregulated organic movement, when anyone could say a product was organic. Many of the guidelines are potentially good for consumers —  organic animals must be raised with organic feed, filtered water and certified organic pastures, and many commonly used drugs can’t be used. Organic produce must be grown without commonly used pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals. Many food product ingredients — additives, chemicals, preservatives and others are not allowed in organic foods. And, the program is relatively strict, helping to rid the market of dishonest vendors. So if a product has the USDA organic label, it’s as good as the USDA’s ability to police the program, just like the rest of what the agency does for all foods sold to consumers.

But like the rest of our food supply, you have to be a careful consumer, reading labels and being aware of and avoiding organic junk food, which makes up most of today’s organic products.

True to Jerome Irving Rodale’s ideas of the mid 1900s, organic food is better, whether certified or not. For example, organic vegetables and fruits usually taste better. They’ve not been genetically altered, and contain much smaller amounts of chemical fertilizers, or none at all. Moreover, many studies indicate that organic produce is more nutritious, containing more vitamins, minerals and phytonutrients. Some of the nutrients studied in organic produce were twice that of conventional equivalents. Many vegetables have been studied, including carrots, cabbage, lettuce, kale, tomatoes and spinach, with a variety of fruits studied by various researchers. The increased nutrients found in certified-organic vegetables and fruits are most likely due to better care of the soil through organic farming methods, including composting, crop rotation and cover crops.

I’ve also conducted my own research and found that some organically grown vegetables had significantly higher levels — 10 times or more — of certain nutrients such as folic acid, compared to the same vegetables tested and listed in the USDA database.

For years, nutritionists insisted that today’s conventionally grown foods were as high in vitamins and minerals as the meals of our grandparents. There is now sufficient evidence indicating this is not necessarily the case. Reductions in food quality have taken place since the mid-1940s, when the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides rapidly became the norm in U.S. farming. A study in the British Food Journal compared the 1930s nutrient content of 20 fruits and vegetables with foods grown in the 1980s. Significant reductions were found in the levels of calcium, copper and magnesium in vegetables; and magnesium, iron, copper and potassium in fruit. Similar trends can be found in foods produced in the United States, with reductions in some nutrients of as much as 30 percent.

Most foods are farmed with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, with the exception of certified organic foods, which contain significantly less nitrates and heavy metals, both of which can be very harmful, especially to children. Heavy metals enter the plants through certain chemical fertilizers — some of these fertilizers are even derived from industrial waste. As discussed earlier, important phytonutrients have been genetically engineered out of some common foods to make them less bitter. Organically grown foods don’t contain genetically engineered ingredients or genetically modified organisms, making them a better choice.

Then there’s another factor to consider when choosing organic food. Many of the foods in grocery stores are imported. The countries of origin may not have as stringent restrictions regarding the use of fertilizers and especially pesticides as we have in this country. In fact, some countries still allow the use of pesticides that were banned decades ago in the United States. Choosing organic produce eliminates this potential problem.

When shopping for organic food, watch out for the organic junk food — it’s all over the store! Buy the basics — real food. This includes vegetables, fruits, meats, nuts, seeds, cheese and eggs.