Are Organic's Really Worth It?

Sept - the first tomatoes and bell peppers of the season from our organic garden...finally!

The short answer....yes.

Once I understood that I had a choice in produce, I was always a champion, albeit a fair weather consumer until a few years ago, of eating organics. On a very basic, surface level, it just didn't make sense to me. Spraying and eating artificial poisons....duh, there might be a problem somewhere, right? Also, I thought, we've survived this long without poisons in our food supply, why do we need them?

Granted, people would give me arguments galore about how conventional foods are no big deal, and actually helpful to the planet and people. I had an aunt and uncle who had a peach farm and gee, all these chemicals and gmo's are going to help feed the hungry around the world, right? That's the line they had been fed and regurgetated onto my parents. But something in me never bought it, even though I wasn't well versed on the subject.

Luckily, many studies have come out, spelling out in detail, not only the risks of conventional food and gmo food, but the benefits of organic food. I won't delve into the risks of spraying and sprayed food, but will highlight some points about organic food:

• organic foods contain, on average, 25 percent higher concentration of 11 nutrients than their conventional counterparts.***

• Organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40 percent more antioxidants**

• Organic produce had higher levels of beneficial minerals like iron and zinc**

• Milk from organic herds contained up to 90 percent more antioxidants**

• Organic blueberry has higher fructose and glucose levels, malic acid, total phenolics, total anthocyanins and antioxidant activity***

• concentrations of dimethyl metabolites, one OP metabolite group, is six times higher for children eating conventional diets.***

• The average level of salicylic acid (responsible for the anti-inflammatory action of aspirin, has been shown to help prevent hardening of the arteries and bowel cancer) 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.***

• organically grown oranges contained up to 30 percent more vitamin C than those grown conventionally.***

• 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. ***

• Five servings of organic vegetables (lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes and cabbage) provides the recommended daily intake of vitamin C for men and women, while their conventional counterparts do not.***

• Organic lemonade contains ten times more eriocitrin (an antioxidant) than a glass of its conventional counterpart. ***

• Organic lime juice had three times the level of eriocitrin compared to conventional lime juice.***

• organic tomatoes contain on average 79 and 97 percent more quercetin and kaempferol aglycones (beneficial flavonoids) that their conventionally grown counterparts.***

• grass-based organic cattle diets reduce the risk of E. coli contamination while grain-based conventional diets increase the risk.***

• Antioxidant levels in sustainably (using fertilizer but no herbicides or pesticides) grown corn are 58.5 percent higher than conventionally grown corn.***

• organically and sustainably grown marionberries have approximately 50 percent more antioxidants than conventionally grown berries***

• Sustainably and organically grown strawberries have about 19 percent more antioxidants than their conventional counterparts.***

• organic milk contains 68 percent more omega-3 fatty acids, on average, than conventional milk.***

• mothers consuming mostly organic milk and meat products have about 50 percent higher levels of rumenic acid, a conjugated linoleic acid, in their breast milk.***

• Improved immune system status*

• Better sleeping habits*

• Less weight and were slimmer than rats fed other diets*

• Higher vitamin E content in their blood (for organically fed rats)*

Buy This, Not That

I understand that going completely organic is not practical for everyone, due to cost and/or availability. When I tell people, though, that eating 1 organic apple is like eating 1.5 conventional apples in terms of nutrition, their ears perk up just a bit.

I have such a hard time getting my 4 year old to eat any fruit or vegetable, so when I can get one in her, you bet I'm going to make sure it packs as much punch as it possible can. I make her chocolate chip banana bread (from my A World of Wisdom Cookbook, minus the chocolate chips....look, she'll only eat it if there's chocolate in it, okay?!) with only the finest, organic half rotted bananas I can ;). And the peanut and almond butter in the Better Than Rice Krispie Treats (WOW cookbook again) are with freshly ground organic nuts. That girl needs all the nutriets she can get.

But, if you feel like you have to choose, here is a list of produce that you should always buy organic and has highest pestitcide load:

• Peaches
• Apples
• Sweet Bell Peppers
• Celery
• Nectarines
• Strawberries
• Cherries
• Lettuce
• Grapes
• Pears
  
• Spinach
• Potatoes

The produce with the lowest pesticide load aka, they are alright to buy conventionally:

• Broccoli
• Kiwi
• Pineapple
• Eggplant
  
• Asparagas
• Cabbage
• Sweet Peas
• Avocado
• Banana
• Mango
• Onion
  

Non-organic meats actually have far higher concentrations of pesticides than all of the fruits and vegetables. And the highest concentration of pesticides is actually in non-organic butter.

So, the heirarchy priority to buy organic is:
Butter
Meat
Milk
Produce

I've been spoiled since moving to Northern Utah in that I can get raw, grass fed, organic milk and meat pretty easily. Can I tell you, there IS a difference in not only the way it tastes, but the way it makes us all feel. If you can get it, use it.

I have to admit, before I researched for this article, organic butter and orange juice weren't high on my organic purchasing list, but they are now. One of the biggest deterants to buying organic is cost, which I understand. But you have to look at it as an investment, and that you will be lowering your health care costs buying ingesting organics. And if you are eating in harmony with the WOW, you won't be buying as much meat so your dollars can be converted into buying higher quality organic produce and grain. Yes, I am a big champion of organics. The only thing it could possibly hurt is your wallet, and that's only in the short term. Slowly, but surely, organic costs will come down as more consumers switch to organics, and I am anxious for the day that we make converts out of everyone. And that uncle and aunt of mine? They are no longer peach farming. He has a very severe, deblitating form of alzheimer's, which is one risk of heavy exposure to pesticides. It makes me sad, but it's a very real lesson in the importance of giving your body only the best.

*Journal Agricultural Food Chemistry February 26, 2003;51(5):1237-41,
**Quality Low Input Food Study
***Organic Trade Association