The value of organic foods

The recent “big news,” on television, on radio and in print having to do with food was a highly accredited study from Stanford University with results that proved organic food was not nutritionally better than non-organic products. If it was meant to solve the question as to why one should buy sometimes more expensive organic products, it didn’t come close. The phrase “comparing apples to oranges” comes to mind. The study didn’t cover the only point that makes organic food so much more valuable. 

Most farmers, especially with commercial farms, spray their produce with doses of pesticides and like products that poison and kill the insects that would harm their crops. The spraying starts at the beginning of the growing season, so these poisons also wash into the soil with rain that feeds the plants through their roots. The justification is that they are needed to maintain the food crops needed to feed the expanding world population. They are strong enough to eliminate insects, but not strong enough to sicken human beings. Some have been found to be harmful in small amounts and are banned from use in this country, such as DDT, but there is no ban against them in South American countries where some of America’s produce comes from. 

In the case of meat and farm raised fish, most are fed produce grown commercially. They are also fed antibiotics to prevent disease and in the case of meats, growth hormones to allow them to gain weight at a higher pace to be market ready at an earlier time, reducing the amount of feed needed to raise them and the real estate needed to keep them for a longer time. There are articles concerning the fact that growth hormones are also given to cows to promote larger quantities of milk.

These are a few ofthe basic facts to consider when thinking about the real value of organics for yourselves and your family. Research is available online with specifics on both the pros and cons. There are those who say traces of pesticides with each meal have no effect on the human body, but is it possible that those traces, taken in each and every day are to some extent absorbed and build up in a human body to weaken and destroy organs? It is possible that growth hormones in meat, fish and milk are absorbed and build up to cause abnormal cell development and cancers, part of the reason there are now many busy hospitals devoted only to the care of cancer patients? Is it possible that part of the extensive obesity problem is due to trace chemicals in everything eaten that is not organic? Genetically altered foods (GMO) are also a consideration. 

The comparison of vitamin and mineral content in organic versus non-organic foods is not the important study that is needed. The number of organic products available in some part in every large supermarket, and in stores devoted entirely to carrying them is validation that many people are aware of the value of organics in guarding health.