by: Courtney Jenkins 

Nowadays, people are doing anything they can to look better and feel better; from working out to plastic surgery to eating healthier. As of late, eating organically has become a growing trend. The one problem is that organic food sometimes costs two and three times more than normal processed food, and in harsh economic times like these, eating organically is not necessarily easy to come by. It seems as though having lots of green goes hand in hand with “going green” and eating “green”. So, those of us doing our best to stretch out wallets in everyday life are stuck with eating nonorganic food most of the time. So, this led me to ask the question; is eating organic food actually healthier or is it just an excuse for companies to charge more for food?

             Magkos, Arvaniti, and Zampelas, authors of Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature wrote that even though it is difficult to know the exact risks and benefits of organic vs. non-organic food, you must keep in mind that organic does not automatically mean safer. However, they also wrote “At our present state of knowledge, other factors rather than safety aspects seem to speak in favor of organic food (Magkos et al., 2006). Their research found that modern conventional agriculture uses chemicals that ultimately end up in produce. There are more than 130 different classes of pesticides containing around 800 entries. Pesticide residues enter food four ways: on-farm pesticide use, post-harvest pesticide use, pesticide use on imported food, and cancelled pesticides that are in the environment (Magkos et al., 2006). Pesticides are prohibited in organic food production, and after many experiments over long periods of time (under controlled conditions), researchers have found that organically cultivated fields have up to 96.5% less pesticides than those that are conventionally cultivated (Magkos et al., 2006). We must keep in mind that organic foods are not free of pesticides; they just contain considerably less amounts than conventional foods. Magkos and colleagues’ research did not conclude whether or not organic foods were safer than their conventional counterparts. They concluded that even health benefits and risks associated with eating organic food or conventional food was yet to be successfully evaluated. The only evidence they could support was that there were less pesticides present (Magkos et al., 2006).

            Diane Bourn and John Prescott had about the same conclusions as Magkos, Arvaniti, and Zampelas. In their article A Comparison of the Nutritional Value, Sensory Qualities, and Food Safety of Organically and Conventionally Produced Foods they stated that in the U.S., consumers who purchased organic food purchased it because they felt it was safer, fresher, had better health benefits, and better nutritional value (Bourn and Prescott, 2002). Bourn and Prescott researched all four of these components and found the results to be lacking in evidence to support consumers’ reasoning to buy organic over conventional, as did Magkos et al. Bourn and Prescott’s research concluded that the different factors that can affect plant composition make investigations of the nutritional value of organically and conventionally grown food difficult to research and interpret.  However, because of the growing interest in the topic of organic food vs. conventional food, many studies have been conducted. The results in the differences in nutritional value of organic and conventional food varied from study to study. The finding that seemed to be consistent throughout the different tests was that the nitrate content seems to be lower in organic crops as opposed to conventionally grown crops. This could be a result of less compost being used in organic farming (Bourn and Prescott, 2002).

            Bourn and Prescott’s research differs somewhat from Magkos et al. in that they concluded that because of the lack of data on pesticide content of organic food, definitive conclusions could not be made about differences in pesticide use on conventional food. However, to be certified organic in the organic production system, the use of pesticides is prohibited, and because of the documented use of pesticides on conventional farms and food production, it is likely that certified organic food contains less residue levels (Bourn and Prescott, 2002).

             Lu et al., discovered through their experiment that substituting organic food for conventional food in children’s diets considerably lowered the children’s exposure to pesticides (Lu et al., 2006). The researchers substituted most of children’s conventional diets with an organic diet for five consecutive days and collected two urine samples a day. They discovered that the concentrations of the metabolites for malathion and chlorpyrifos (pesticides used in conventional farming) were undetectable after the organic only diets were introduced to the children. The pesticides remained undetected until the children were given conventional food again. They were able to show that an organic diet provides a protective effect against exposure to pesticides that are used in conventional farming (Lu et al., 2006). This experiment provided supporting evidence to the research that Magkos et al. and Bourn and Prescott did on organic food and pesticides.

            After reading about the research and experiments that these people conducted the question that I originally asked still remains partially unanswered. Is organic food healthier? Well, we can now conclude that it is definitely lower in harmful pesticides that may have adverse reactions to our health. However, better nutritional value and freshness of organic food compared to conventional food is yet to have substantial evidence supporting the claim. So, what do we do? Should we give in to the trend and pay a bit extra for the organic food with less pesticides, or do we take our chances on the foods with more of the bad stuff? I think it depends all on what food you are buying. There is not enough evidence out there to support the media’s claim that the residue found in conventional food causes cancer and other chronic illnesses.  Maybe organic food is better for us, more time and research will tell. Until then, it’s up to you if you want to eat organic or conventional. 

Below is a chart I found on Wikipedia that documents the pesticide load in produce.

Sources:

Bourn, Diane and Prescott, John. A Comparison of the Nutritional Value, Sensory Qualities, and Food Safety of Organically and Conventionally Produced Foods. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 42(1):1–34. 2002.

Lu, Toepel, Irish, Fenske, Barr, and Bravo. Organic Diets Significantly Lower Children’s Dietary Exposure to Organophosphorus Pesticides. Environmental Health Perspectives, 114(2). 2006.

 MAGKOS, ARVANITI, and ZAMPELAS. Organic Food: Buying More Safety or Just Peace of Mind? A Critical Review of the Literature. Critical Reviews in Food  Science and Nutrition, 46:23–56. 2006.