LONDON (Reuters) - Organic food has no nutritional or health benefits over ordinary food, according to a major study published Wednesday.
Researchers from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine said consumers were paying higher prices for organic food because of its perceived health benefits, creating a global organic market worth an estimated $48 billion in 2007.
A systematic review of 162 scientific papers published in the scientific literature over the last 50 years, however, found there was no significant difference.
I've been told that God wants me to eat natural food because it is better for my body. The Bible certainly does ask us to treat our bodies well - but it also asks us to use our brains.
Organic vegetables are no different than ugly normal vegetables on a chemical level - nutrients are not more plentiful in the organic variety. Why? Because it isn't possible to take a healthy vegetable and make it less healthy. Sure, you can add something (like pesticide) to the food, but you can't take away the health benefits by doing so. If the non-organic food contains nothing harmful then there is no health benefit to eating organic.
The debate about the dangers of pesticides still rages on. I don't think there is any evidence that they are harmful but it is not immediately relevant to this part of the discussion. What we are discussing is the fact that the actual food itself is not any more nutritious.
(Obviously, if you prefer the flavor or have some other reason for eating organic food this doesn't apply to you.)
For more information on organic foods that you might not have heard (for example, these crops are grown mostly by business tycoons rather than local farmers and the cultivation of organic foods is more harmful to the environment then standard food) check out Brian Dunning's article here.
Please don't misunderstand me: I do not look down on people who eat organic food. However, the organic food industry has been lying to us and I think it's time for these lies to stop.
15 comments:
Not only that, but they picked a totally useless descriptive. All food is organic.
Good point. I guess I've been eating plastic steaks and drinking synthetic water.
That always drives me nuts, the misuse of the word "organic", as both you gentlemen have described so well. :-)
Think maybe those who harp on "organic" stuff as being "healthier" might actually look at the evidence and quit the sanctimonious posing?
Nah, me neither.
I try to buy organic because I personally like the idea that my food hasn't been doused with chemical pesticides and fertilizers that require a special permit just to be able to buy and handle. Are they any better for me? Maybe not, but I certainly can't see how synthesized nitrogen compounds not being dumped onto my food is going to do me any harm. Your mileage may vary.
I have long been a fan of pointing out the absurdity of the organic food craze. I often wonder when I see family members going crazy about organic food, how much are you spending on that label?
Pesticides have been shown to be a cause of health deficiency. (see Wikipedia here ) However, the term organic refers to more than just pesticides. People use it for differentiate between normal crops and crops that use things like pesticides and/OR genetic modification, chemical supplements, artificial fertilizers, etc. (Selective breeding, which is a form of genetic modification, has been going on for centuries.) The bottom line is that we don't know a lot of the effects these things have on food in terms of how they effect our health vs. not using them. The data is coming in, and some studies are suggesting negligible effect and others are suggesting to the contrary. In either case, this "organic food" craze is overblown.
On a side note: Where does the bible ask us to think? :-) I would appreciate a verse to back that up, please. :-p
Kelly, I'd start at Isaiah 1:18. ;)
How about the verse where it says to be wise as serpents and gentle as doves?
I think the organic food market started out with the best intentions; to sell a product locally grown or reared, WITHOUT pesticides/hormones/additives that may promote size/color/flavor improvements. Without these additives in the process, we would be recieving a more "Natural" product. But when this became popular, people saw the opportunity to make money, and now there is an all natural, locally grown grocery store chain nationwide. What? How is this possible?
The next step is for fruits and vegetables to begin learning how to think and problem solve. They will figure out that we are just using them for nutrients (and a higher level of nutrients to boot!) They will not be happy, and turn on us. If we are not careful, there will be giant spuds with glowing red eyes, trying to end our existence.
FelixAndAva & Bruce, you win easily. :-) I was being a little silly there.
Attack of the Killer Organic Tomatoes.
I think the "health savings" of organic is really an overall environmental health. By keeping the soil free from pesticides, and by keeping GM food off the land you are ostensibly maintaining the health of the environment in a sustainable way.
The question of pesticides we ingest (not just through our food, but our water and air as well) do build up in our systems and cause disease. Eating organic, however, should probably not be considered the cure-all.
Finally, just because something is organic, that doesn't make it good: industrial organic is, in many ways, just as bad as conventional industrial agriculture.
In thinking about God and growing our food, we might ask in what ways are we manipulating our food to be something it was never, by God's design, meant to be? Admittedly this is a slippery slope, but I think perhaps it is safe to say playing with the genetics of plant material is a little out of our league.
Good Discussion so far.
Adam- in regards to your initial argument: if people are making the claim that organic food is more internally healthier for you then non-organic food, they are of course making an absurd statement.
But I always thought the more thought out organic debate centered around pesticides/hormones/genetic-engineering and their health/ecological harmfulness.
That said I agree with “Mittens”; that industrial organic is just as bad as industrial non-organic. I recommend the book “Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan (for a well thought out non-Christian POV) or anything by Joel Salatin (for a good if slightly over the top Christian POV). Local is the way to go.
Concerning locally grown produce, I recommend this article:
http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4162
There's nothing wrong with locally grown produce - but it's not necessarily the most "green" thing to do even though it sounds good.
pathetic. Absurd! Pesticides, herbicides, fungicides; these are in no way God's, these are in fact man-made. Man-made things are corrupt, corruption affects those around it. Those chemicals will leech away nutrients by molecular bonding and may leave. They will also enter within the fruit or vegetable and nothing will clean the insides away. Also these artificial chemicals since our vessels, cannot at all understand these chemicals so thus makes nutrients not available to our bodies. The artificial synthesized (not natural) chemicals will also corrupt the body that God had given us. These are unclean, tainted, and toxic, the pure source of evil of toxicity that's worse than Foxglove or poison ivy and the such.
There's critical thinking for you. Don't be mislead though. You're being mislead by not trying to identify the reasoning behind it. You are you're worst enemy.
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