Where’s the proof for organic health food?
This topic is right up the street as I often challenge the decision of paying a premium for produce, meat, candy, and juices which carry the “organic” label. Stores such as Trader Joes or Whole Foods make their massive profits because of the proposed health advantages over lesser non-organic equivalents. I’m glad to hear more and more people are challenging the advantages of organic consumables. Where’s the hard evidence?! The proof? An extra $4 for an equivalent 99 cent gallon of milk because it’s “organic”?!
Prompted by a quest for safer, healthier diets and a cleaner environment, more American consumers are buying the bountiful harvests of organic farmers. Last year, U.S. spending on organic foods reached close to $10.4 billion, making this the fastest-growing segment of the American food industry. Amid scares over mad cow disease, mercury in fish and produce tainted with harmful bacteria, new customers are joining existing ones in embracing organic foods as a sanctuary from harm and a surer route to long life and good health.
But as organic products â€â€? and their claims to superiority â€â€? have grown more common, scientists, policy analysts and some consumers have begun to ask for proof. Where’s the evidence, they ask, for the widespread belief that organic foods are safer and more nutritious than those raised by conventional farming methods?
The short answer, food safety and nutrition scientists say, is that such proof does not exist. Indeed, by one well-established measure of healthfulness � contamination with fecal matter and potentially harmful bacteria � some organic foods may pose greater risks to consumers.
Is the organic food movement just that? A movement, a temporary fad? What happens to giant food outlets which fly the organic colors 2-3 years down the road when consumers realize that that glistening apple from Joe’s chemically treated farm tastes and provides the same nutrients as the one from the “all natural” plantation [with the same type of risks]? “There’s certainly not sufficient science to prove that the claims of organic food advocates are true,”…
The problem is that most consumers make the decision to purchase organic consumables or products because their decision “supports ‘better health’”. Thoughts?
