Science Debunks Organic fantasy garden

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http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2012/09/05/science_debunks_the_organic_fantasy_garden_106363.html

Return to the Article September 5, 2012 Science Debunks the Organic Fantasy Garden By Alex B. Berezow & Tom Hartsfield A familiar dilemma: to grab the allegedly wholesome, overpriced carton of berries under the halogen bulbs of the organic section, or to trudge back to the corporate produce aisle and pick up a batch of the less beautiful regular ones in a bag for half the price? Organic activists say the outrageous cost is worth it. According to them, organic food is more nutritious, better for public health, environmentally friendlier, and even tastier than conventional food. Science, on the other hand, has something entirely different to say: Go for the cheap stuff. ItÃÔ just as good as organic food. LetÃÔ examine each of the claims routinely made by organic supporters. How do they measure up scientifically? Claim #1: Organic food is more nutritious. A peer-reviewed research study published Tuesday in Annals of Internal Medicine, one of the top medical journals in the world, addressed this claim. The study found that organic foods are not more nutritious than conventional food. Organic food has more phosphorous, but the regular stuff already contains enough to satisfy our dietary requirement. Å£ias! we hear the organic activists shouting. But this study received no outside funding. They canÃÕ blame Monsanto for this one. In defiance of this study, Brian Fung writing in The Atlantic defended organic food, anyway. Contrary to highly visible marketing campaigns, he says that organic food was never about being more nutritious. Instead, it is about better public health and friendly environmental practices. Is he right? Claim #2: Organic food is better for public health. This is both true and false. First, the true part. On one (and only one) claim, organic supporters are correct. Organic food is produced without using antibiotics in livestock feed, and this is good for public health. Because inappropriate use of antibiotics contributes to the increasing problem of antibiotic resistance, microbiologists endorse not using them in animal feed. Indeed, the above study concluded that conventional foods were much likelier to contain bacteria with resistance to multiple antibiotics. Now, the false part. Activists claim that organic food is also better for public health because it has less pesticide residue. While organic foods indeed contain less residue, there is no reason to believe that this is a problem in the first place. A 2011 study published in the Journal of Toxicology concluded that ÅÆxposures to the most commonly detected pesticides...pose negligible risks to consumers. Claim #3: Organic food is better for the environment. Not necessarily true, concludes a brand new meta-analysis published in the Journal of Environmental Management. The study found: ...that organic farming practices generally have positive impacts on the environment per unit of area, but not necessarily per product unit. Organic farms tend to have higher soil organic matter content and lower nutrient losses (nitrogen leaching, nitrous oxide emissions and ammonia emissions) per unit of field area. However, ammonia emissions, nitrogen leaching and nitrous oxide emissions per product unit were higher from organic systems. Organic systems had lower energy requirements, but higher land use, eutrophication potential and acidification potential per product unit. Organic farms are inefficient and have crop yields substantially lower than those of conventional farms. They cannot produce food efficiently enough and at a price that most people in the world can afford to pay. That is why Nature News reported earlier this year that the planetÃÔ population could not be fed on organic food alone. Claim #4: Organic food is tastier. There is not a lot of data on this issue, but at least one taste test conducted by a consumer watch group concluded that organic food was not tastier. Ever heard a friend rave about how much better non-irradiated blueberries are? Remember that taste is highly subjective and not immune to marketing. On the whole, science has soured on the promises of organic food. While it is good practice not to use antibiotics in livestock feed, the rest of the claims made by the Ã…Ãatural food movement simply donÃÕ hold up to scientific scrutiny. Organic farmers and ranchers are not saving the world, one apple and one pasture at a time. So, donÃÕ buy into the scare tactics or the bromides. Instead, it is time to face up to reality: If youÃÓe a regular organic shopper, youÃ×e been duped. Dr. Alex B. Berezow is the editor of RealClearScience and holds a Ph.D. in microbiology. Tom Hartsfield is a physics Ph.D. candidate at the University of Texas and a regular contributor to the RealClearScience Newton Blog. Page Printed from: http://www.realclearscience.com/articles/2012/09/05/science_debunks_the_organic_fantasy_garden_106363.html at September 05, 2012 - 04:02:18 PM EDT

[surajmal]

Can you say PAID article/research.

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Can you say PAID article/research.

Whatddya mean? Check out the links within the article to peer-reviewed science done by real scientists with no agendas. If anything, the nonsense put out by agenda-driven non-profits (e.g., Environmental Work Group) is what you should be complaining about. It is amusing that the "greenies" will accept the science of AGW, but not the science against organics.

[surajmal]

Whatddya mean? Check out the links within the article to peer-reviewed science done by real scientists with no agendas. If anything, the nonsense put out by agenda-driven non-profits (e.g., Environmental Work Group) is what you should be complaining about. It is amusing that the "greenies" will accept the science of AGW, but not the science against organics.

Not a "greenie" and don't believe the GW BS (not the way the clowns portray it atleast) that we have been fed over the last decade. Lets say I believe first 3 points mentioned in the article. 4th point is extremely debatable. Sure tasting is subjective but after living the west for almost a decade, I can say that organic vegetables/fruits taste much better. Regular maal is swollen with water content (which is obviously a plus point since with organics you have a lot of wasted water) but it tastes bland. Regular maal doesn't even have any smell (Walk in a organic store - you'll see the difference). Secondly, Organics allow for diversity (sure you can "simulate" that in lab produced seeds but it is just not the same - Nature always does a better job). For e.g. - if you have a single kind of wheat grown in a Country, whole crop is at risk of being wiped out by a disease originating in one region of that country. Imagine the kind of impact to global food prices, if that were to happen to a country like India or China. But if farmers were growing organics (seeds would obviously differ region to region), there is a chance that said disease could be contained to a minimal area. Lastly, and most importantly, Growing Organic empowers the farmer - He/She doesn't have to buy new seeds at the end of every season (see Monsanto's Terminator seeds). Which is a major plus in a country like India with millions of subsistence level farmers. And if You can prevent an evil corporation like Monsanto (and they are evil whether you believe it or not) from a holding a gun to a farmer's head, I say more power You. I'm not saying , "Ban the GM foods" but rather regulate. Pick and choose. And make sure that the farmer isn't negatively affected by the choices . You can have a combination of High Yield and prosperous farmer. But you simply don't want corporations having control over the food supply.

[punjabi_khota]

Nice. I don't have to feel cheap buying inorganic anymore.

[surajmal]

I just wanted to add that I didn't mean organic foods in the stricter sense (like the hippies do it). Rather Organic seeds (hell seeds are organic so I meant non-GM seeds). Since Indian farmers still use pesticides, fertilizers etc.

[Prakat]

This organic food fad has become such a milch cow. It hasn't caught on much in india. Someone I knew started a business, but had to scale it down to a out of home business delivering directly because his initial surge of customers turned out to be one time buyers. All they wanted was cute bottles with artsy labels to line their cabinets and leave around the dining area carelessly. Also, no preservatives :hehe:

[DomainK]

it's true that organic products do not necessarily contain anything special, but at least we know that we do not have to worry about pesticides, artificial chemicals to make them look bigger/better, artificial color etc. That is enough reason for me to buy organic.

[ganeshran]

Dont know about organic foods in the supermarket but vegetables grown in the backyard or terrace with natural fertilizers are definitely more tastier than what we get in the market.

[Crookbond]

Dont know about organic foods in the supermarket but vegetables grown in the backyard or terrace with natural fertilizers are definitely more tastier than what we get in the market.

Is this a matter of "legacy"? Taste is quite a personal experience. Something which may be tasty for me may not be tasty for you & vice-versa.

[DomainK]

I agree completely with Ganeshran.

[ganeshran]

Is this a matter of "legacy"? Taste is quite a personal experience. Something which may be tasty for me may not be tasty for you & vice-versa.

Well the tomatoes grown at home are more riper, juicier and stay fresh for longer. I think that would qualify as tasty for most people.

[beetle]

Dont know about organic foods in the supermarket but vegetables grown in the backyard or terrace with natural fertilizers are definitely more tastier than what we get in the market.

true.. My mom grows almost all veggies andfruits in her garden .She has plants growing in old helmets,kettles , tins buckets and even an old washbasin.They do taste much better. I have never been too influenced by the 'only organic brigade'.Some of the organically grown stuff can also be bad for you . One should be sensible while buying fresh produce. 1) Buy stuff that is in season.....it is most likely to be without chemicals that increase shelf life, will be cheaper . 2) buy local...and also reduce your carbon footprint. 3) buy vegetables that look like it has come from a farm and not out of a bath.Super clean shiny stuff is more likely to have been treated by chemicals.

[The Outsider]

Not convinced about the "debunking". The four main reasons for me preferring organic food over other produce for the past few years have been: 1. Presence of antibiotics: On which the article actually agrees as being a problem. 2. Presence of hormones: The article does not address this issue at all. 3. Presence of pesticides: This one has been "debunked" in the article by providing a grand total of one reference. 4. Tastier: Yeah, it's subjective but I certainly find it better.

[Crookbond]

Well the tomatoes grown at home are more riper' date=' juicier and stay fresh for longer. I think that would qualify as tasty for most people.[/quote'] Taste is subjective and develops over time. Therefore, people like you and me saying organic not tasty than inorganic has an inherent "legacy" bias as we are more used to having fruits grown in the backyard. Also, are there any studies to show inorganic foods are more riper, juicier etc. than organic ones? These metrics should be easy to quantify.

[ganeshran]

Also, are there any studies to show inorganic foods are more riper, juicier etc. than organic ones? These metrics should be easy to quantify.

Dont know if any studies are done, Its pretty common knowledge that Fruits and vegetables in the market are often ripened artificially to put them on the shelves soon, There are a lot of pesticides used in their cultivation too. When the same vegetables are grown in the backyard using better quality seeds, natural fertilizer (manure), minimum pesticides and allowed to ripen naturally, the end product will obviously be better than what we get in the supermarkets. Edit: I said organic foods are riper and juicier than inorganic, and not the other way round. The legacy bias actually doesnt come into play because I have consumed inorganic foods far longer than organic.

[ganeshran]

true.. My mom grows almost all veggies andfruits in her garden .She has plants growing in old helmets,kettles , tins buckets and even an old washbasin.They do taste much better. I have never been too influenced by the 'only organic brigade'.Some of the organically grown stuff can also be bad for you . One should be sensible while buying fresh produce. 1) Buy stuff that is in season.....it is most likely to be without chemicals that increase shelf life, will be cheaper . 2) buy local...and also reduce your carbon footprint. 3) buy vegetables that look like it has come from a farm and not out of a bath.Super clean shiny stuff is more likely to have been treated by chemicals.

This. Great advice :two_thumbs_up:

[JaFanatic]

Not convinced about the "debunking". The four main reasons for me preferring organic food over other produce for the past few years have been: 1. Presence of antibiotics: On which the article actually agrees as being a problem. 2. Presence of hormones: The article does not address this issue at all. 3. Presence of pesticides: This one has been "debunked" in the article by providing a grand total of one reference. 4. Tastier: Yeah, it's subjective but I certainly find it better.

[Crookbond]

Dont know if any studies are done, Its pretty common knowledge that Fruits and vegetables in the market are often ripened artificially to put them on the shelves soon, There are a lot of pesticides used in their cultivation too. When the same vegetables are grown in the backyard using better quality seeds, natural fertilizer (manure), minimum pesticides and allowed to ripen naturally, the end product will obviously be better than what we get in the supermarkets. Edit: I said organic foods are riper and juicier than inorganic, and not the other way round. The legacy bias actually doesnt come into play because I have consumed inorganic foods far longer than organic.

I misread your comment.

[Brainfade]

3. Presence of pesticides: This one has been "debunked" in the article by providing a grand total of one reference.

But that one reference was as thorough a meta-study as I have seen. They analyzed data gathered over 8 years. Published in the Journal of Toxicology - not a corporate shill. Solid statistics. Within that article are references to USDA, FDA and other peer-reviewed publications that tell the whole story. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/pmc3135239/ And if you think the organics don't use harmful pesticides, you would be wrong. Look up rotenone. It is natural, plant-derived and deadly. Your other points need more explanation.