Organic Trumps Conventional
More Evidence Shows Benefits of Organic Foods
A growing body of scientific research shows that organic farming benefits the environment, the farmer and the consumer.
Ever wonder whether choosing organic over conventional foods really made a difference? Well, there's plenty of evidence pointing to organic being a much better alternative, both from a health and an environmental standpoint, in many cases. While it doesn't make sense to travel 20 miles out of your way to choose an organic tomato over a conventionally-produced, locally available one, it does make sense to keep the realities of modern agriculture, for better or for worse, in mind.
Consider these recent news reports:
Flavenoids, those natural compounds that show signs of helping to fight against cancer, heart disease and other illnesses, apparently increase over time with organic farming methods. The study focused on the health benefits of tomatoes, but it doesn't take much to extend those results to other vegetables and fruits as well.
Antibiotics, commonly used to protect cows, pigs and chickens from the health hazards associated with high-density, high-stress modern agriculture, end up in manure that might be used to fertilize crops -- meaning they all make their way back into things like tomatoes, beans, corn and other foods.
Organic farming, contrary to some nay-sayers in the fields of "conventional" agriculture, has excellent potential to feed the world's hungry. In fact, a recent study by University of Michigan researchers found that organic farms can yield up to three times as much food as other methods on farms in the developing world.
"My hope is that we can finally put a nail in the coffin of the idea that you can’t produce enough food through organic agriculture," said Ivette Perfecto, professor at U-M's School of Natural Resources and Environment, and one of the study's principal authors. "Corporate interest in agriculture and the way agriculture research has been conducted in land grant institutions, with a lot of influence by the chemical companies and pesticide companies as well as fertilizer companies -- all have been playing an important role in convincing the public that you need to have these inputs to produce food."
So is organic always the best choice? Not necessarily. If you have a farmer's market or community-supported agriculture program in your area, the overall environmental impact of your food choices might still be better if you choose local-conventional over organic-shipped-from-Chile. When the fossil-fuel miles are equal, though, organic wins hands-down. So keep that in mind when you're food-shopping, whether you're at the local grocery store, the town mega-mart, the community co-op or another source.
