Recent Findings On Organic Produce

Well, it’s not really news. But a recent article published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (5/12/2010) supports the current scientific consensus regarding organic foods:

Eating organic produce exposes you to less pesticides. There is still no evidence, however, that your long-term health will be any better because of it.

To flesh out this discussion further (and I invite you to chime in with your opinions) let’s touch upon the different issues that are often raised regarding organic produce.

The Health Issue

As I summed up above, there is no long-term evidence from well-controlled studies that eating organic produce will benefit a person’s health in any way. That said, it remains a reasonable assumption that down the road, studies could find potential dangers to consuming pesticides, so I wouldn’t think it preposterous to want to avoid pesticides just to be on the safe side. However, I wince when activists make claims  like “conventional crops are laden with poisons!” Really, now… be factual. There are limits on how much pesticide residue is allowed in crops, and conventional produce is full of health-promoting substances despite a higher pesticide residue. Furthermore, for a family considering organic and conventional produce, it’s hard to weigh the difference in price versus the benefit, when the benefits remain purely theoretical at this point.

The Research Issue

An article published by Reuters last week summarized a recent review of the existing research on organics. It noted that most research which has been done on organic produce consumption has been small and short term, mostly looking at anti-oxidant status in the body, rather than long term endpoints such as longevity, cancer risk, etc. In response, a reader commented:

“When will researchers start asking the right questions? Or is it that they are paid to ask the wrong questions so that we can see headlines like “No Evidence Organic Foods Benefit Health: Study”. With studies like that, who needs ignorance?”

As a researcher, I’d like to ask this person if they would like to provide the millions of dollars necessary to fund a study that would take decades to complete. Why doesn’t the government pour millions into funding organics research? If I had a guess, I’d say because we are plagued by more pressing issues: diabetes, cancer, obesity and cardiovascular disease kill millions of people each year. Does conventional “poison-laden” produce kill millions? Hardly. In fact, study after (long-term, well controlled, international) study shows that eating more (conventional) produce protects one’s health, decreasing risk for virtually every preventable disease from dementia to diabetes. Given this existing data, who could justify spending millions of dollars to research what in produce is so bad for us?

Lastly, I will briefly point out that many outbreaks of foodborne illness such as E.coli stem from organic farms, which use manure to fertilize crops. I don’t have evidence that organic foods are riskier in this aspect, but they certainly are no more safe than conventional.

The Environmental Issue

It’s popular to be green nowadays. And I think that’s a great thing; the more we can individually take steps to decrease damage to our environment the better! Yet, let’s not get caught up in pseudo-greenery, doing what sounds environmentally friendly but really isn’t. As an example of this pseudo-greening, consider the amount of energy/pollution required to transport organic carrots from California to New England. Now, would buying those carrots in Boston be better than buying carrots form a conventional, local farmer? How about shipping organic blueberries from Chile?  What about buying processed foods like cereal bars, that are trucked as ingredients to a factory, packaged in a plant, trucked to the store, and sold in individual plastic wrappers, in a box that will end up in the trash? Is organic more eco-friendly now?

Especially when it comes to environment. There are plenty of factors to consider: the amount of energy, water and chemicals required to produce a food, process and ship it, the packaging, and so forth. I am not an expert in environmental science, so I’ll leave this topic for now to those with more expertise than I. My point is only that we should refrain from making (and thinking) blanket statements about organic being superior or inferior in all cases.

The Cost Issue

Regardless of an individual’s budget, no one wants to waste money. Why do organic foods cost more? In part, because organic farming is less efficient in terms of land usage and crop loss due to pests. If a farmer needs to plant twice as much crop to have the same yield as a conventional farmer, (twice as much seed, twice as much water…..) you can begin to see why the end product is pricier. It also may spoil faster, leading to more unpurchased goods left at the grocer. Even if someone wants to eat organic, no one wants to buy strawberries, at twice the price, that are already growing mold.

A Practical Guide

We may not have concrete evidence in hand, but minimizing consumption of pesticides sure sounds smart. Where should someone begin, though, if they can’t afford to go all-out organic on everything? The Environmental Working Group has published a list of which fruits and vegetables carry the most and the least pesticides. These can help you prioritize your shopping, and judge whether the markup for organic is indeed worth it for any given item. Using this guide, you might decide to purchase organic spinach, for example, but opt for conventional kiwis.

Where I Stand

Like most people and most dietitians, I like the idea of eating food with less chemicals on it. Who wouldn’t? Yet like many other nutrition professionals/researchers, I simply want keep people’s eyes upon the big issues: Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight, avoiding things that are already proven to be detrimental to health, and eating more fruits and vegetables in general. In my experience, I’ve found that the most influential improvements people can make in their diets are not swapping organic carrots for conventional, it’s buying carrots at all. And kale, and apples, and squash … and building them into a plant-based, mostly unprocessed diet. I do buy some items organic, and I buy some that aren’t. I choose to focus more on eating as many plants each day as possible, end enjoying them.

Got something to say on this topic? Do you buy organic? Leave a comment!

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