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Want to know if organic
food is really a better buy? Ysanne Spevack asks a
dozen of the top food experts, scientists, farmers,
professors and nutritionalists in Britain. Get the
information you need. Read on to find out the truth
behind organics...
Renée J Elliot is the founder of Planet Organic,
the original organic and natural food supermarket.
She is also on the Council of the Soil Association.
There's no question! Organic food is grown and stored
without the use of artificial pesticides and fertilisers.
The fact that residues remain on conventional foods
and are consumed by us over decades, accumulating
in our fatty tissues is well documented. Ignoring
this danger to health completely, as there has been
no comparative long-term research about the difference
between the long-term effects of consuming conventional
versus organic foods, it is still obvious that organic
food is better for you.
If you look at beef and dairy as a category, organic
food contains no antibiotic residues, growth promoters
or BSE. If you look at processed foods, organic food
contains no artificial additives, preservatives, colourings
or flavourings, and no hydrogenated fats, which are
directly related to increased rates of heart disease.
The seven thousand artificial additives permitted
in non-organic foods are used to make food last beyond
its natural sell-by date, make it appear brighter
or more colourful, and/or taste sweeter, saltier or
just plain better than the manufacturer could manage
without these crutches. At best, these additives are
unnecessary and annoying to those who question their
use and usefulness. At worst, they are possible carcinogens
and could be causing damage that no one has bothered
to study. Organic food contains only seven of the
most innocuous natural additives.
Lastly, all allegations linking organic food and food
poisoning have been disproved. Organic food has not
been associated with any case of food poisoning in
any year since the Center for Disease Control &
Prevention records began.
Dr Harding is the Head of the Food Standards Agency's
Food Chain Division. The Division leads focal investigations
into food safety and standards in specific areas from
the farm onwards. Issues related to organic food cut
across several of the Agency's Divisions. Dr Harding
heads and co-ordinates work in this area.The Food
Standards Agency position paper on organic foods can
be found on the Agency's website, www.foodstandards.gov.uk
Last summer, the Agency published a position paper
on organic food stating that currently there is not
enough information to say that, as far as food safety
and nutritional quality are concerned, organic food
is any better or worse than conventionally produced
food. Therefore, the Agency is opposed to members
of the food industry that make health, or quality
claims regarding organic food, simply because they
mislead the consumer.
Consumers may wish to buy organic food for a variety
of reasons. They may think it tastes better, or prefer
the methods of production. That is obviously a personal
choice. Our job is to ensure they can make that choice
based on clear and meaningful labelling and sound
scientific advice.
As far as nutrition is concerned, what matters is
the nutrient content and overall balance of the diet
as a whole. A varied and balanced diet which includes
plenty of fruit, vegetables and starchy foods should
provide all the nutrients that a healthy individual
requires, regardless of whether the individual components
are produced by organic or conventional methods. As
far as food safety is concerned, it is the Agency's
aim to work on behalf of consumers and ensure that
all food on retail sale, whether organically or conventionally
produced, is safe for consumption. That is our job,
and that is what we are doing.
Craig Sams founded Europe's first macrobiotic restaurant
in the 1960's, invented the VegeBurger in the 1980's,
and brought us Green & Black's chocolate in the
1990's. Craig is a very active and knowledgeable organic
speaker and pioneer.
There is so much research that confirms that organic
food is better for you that it is amazing that the
Food Standards Agency are either ignorant of it or
don't understand what organic food is about.
Organic food regulations prohibit hydrogenated fat
(cause of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity),
aspartame (neurotoxin), phosphoric acid (in cola drinks
— causes osteoporosis), antibiotics (reduced
immunity), hormones (gender confusion, obesity, multi-generational
cancer), pesticides (mutagenic, carcinogenic and with
unknown 'cocktail effects'), BSE (human vCJD), GMOs
(Puztai's research suppressed, but probably IBS, Crohn's
disease, autism, other gut-based disease), or any
of the 7000 artificial colourings, flavourings, preservatives
and processing aids that are permitted in conventional
food (cancer, liver disease, gut problems).
But that's only the dodgy chemicals that you avoid
when you eat organic. Organic farming also keeps animals
healthy as the use of drugs is restricted, so salmonella,
cryptosporidium and listeria are rare in organic foods.
E.coli O157:H7 kills over 200 Americans and Britons
each year and arises directly from intensive cattle-rearing.
It is virtually non-existent in organic beef. Surviving
E.coli is better than dying, but hamburger consumption
is now the main cause if kidney failure among American
kids. That's a high price to pay for a 99 cent hamburger.
Patrick Holford is the founder of the Institute of
Optimum Nutrition in London, and one of the world's
leading nutritionists. More details about his work
can be found at www.patrickholford.com
Organic, unadulterated wholefoods have formed the
basis of human diet through the ages. Only now has
the human race been subjected to countless man-made
chemicals found in food and the environment.
Eat foods that provide exactly the amount of energy
required to keep the body in perfect balance. A good
deal of energy is wasted trying to disarm alien and
often toxic chemicals, some of which cannot be eliminated
and accumulate in body tissue. Choosing organic foods
whenever possible is the nearest we can get to eating
a pure diet today. By supporting the organic movement,
we help to minimise the damage of chemical pollution
which poses a real threat to the future of humanity.
Raw, organic food is the most natural and beneficial
way to take food into the body. It is especially important
to buy organic grains. Each and every non-organic
grain has been sprayed. The surface area of your breakfast
cereal is vast, and many leading brands of cereals
are found to contain large amounts of organophosphate
fertilisers.
In straightforward nutritional analyses, organic food
tends to have more in it, both in terms of dry weight
and nutrients (see chart below). This is because organically
grown produce must be grown in enriched soil and because
modern methods of farming with agrochemicals can speed
up the growth of a plant, changing its structure to
be more full of water. In other words, although it
may still look like a carrot you are actually buying
less food.
The average price difference between organic produce
an non-organic produce is around 20 per cent. Organic
produce was found, on average, to contain 26 per cent
more dry matter (less water) — therefore actually
making it cheaper to buy organic. This is why non-organic
produce tends to shrink more on cooking as its high
water content evaporates.
Component Mean % increase in organic produce vs non-organic
produce
• Dry matter +26%
• Potassium +13%
• Calcium +56%
• Magnesium +49%
• Iron +290%
• Copper +34%
• Manganese +28%
• Protein +12%
• Essential amino acids +35%
• Nitrates +69%
• Phosphorous +6%
Charlotte and husband Bill have run Swaddles Green
Farm in Somerset for over 15 years. Charlotte trained
as a biochemist, and comes from a farming family.
Visit www.swaddles.co.uk for more information about
Charlotte and Bill's farm and their organic meat delivery
scheme.
Before World War II, farming was a noble occupation.
Farmers treated their land and animals with respect.
They had a duty to pass the farm on to the next generation
in good condition and were proud to produce some of
the finest food in the world. Urged by successive
governments to produce more and more as cheaply as
possible, and amply aided by Britain's burgeoning
chemical industry, our farms are now highly industrialised,
producing some of the most debased food in the world.
Animals become figures on a balance sheet and soil
a mere medium for advanced hydroponics. Hedges are
ruthlessly ripped out to make way for gargantuan machinery
and villages die as farm workers are no longer needed.
Organic farmers are fighting to redress the balance,
improve the land we farm and treat our animals as
living beings deserving respect and good treatment.
This requires dedication and hard toil. An outbreak
of docks in a field of wheat has to be taken out by
hand — back breaking work. Straw bedding is
expensive and has to be mucked out frequently —
labour intensive. There are no cheap feed alternatives.
Animals take twice as long to grow. Yields per acre
are lower. But we can continue to produce in this
way year after year. When we leave there will still
be song birds living on our insects and nesting in
our hedges. Trees that took a lifetime to grow will
still be there to give shelter from the sun and wind.
People will still be needed to work the land. And
we take pride in producing some of the finest food
in the world.
Philip Stott is Professor of Biogeography in the University
of London and Editor of the Journal of Biogeography
(Blackwell Science). He has a long-term research interest
in the construction of environmental myths, and his
latest book, edited with the anthropologist Dr Sian
Sullivan, is Political ecology: science, myth and
power (Edward Arnold, 2000).
All biologically-based foods are organic in that they
contain carbon and once demonstrated the attributes
of life. By contrast, concepts such as 'organic salt'
are simply nonsense. Salt is inorganic. The appropriation
of the word 'organic' for just one form of agricultural
production is totally unacceptable. Moreover, what
precisely constitutes this form of agriculture varies
around the world, and there are many different standards,
and sometime no standards at all. Like all farming,
so-called 'organic' systems have both benefits and
dangers, but there is no clear scientific evidence
that these systems are safer or that they produce
products which taste better or which are healthier
for you. Indeed, it is widely recognised that there
are potentially serious problems and dangers, including
the faecal contamination of streams; bacteria from
inadequate composting; the production of aflatoxins
and other carcinogens; poor storage, and so on.
Many of these problems could, however, be solved by
combining biotechnology with 'organic' production
systems, and the recent attempts to set biotechnology
and 'organic' agriculture in opposition to each other
are both false and very sad. Above all, 'organic'
agriculture and products are more about myth and 'New
Age' religion than about science and reality, and
about a lost golden 'organic' utopia, which never
existed. 'Organic' marketing also plays on many middle
class fads and fancies, with notable twaddle like
'Organic ginseng' and 'Organic hypericum'! My personal
prediction is that the overhyping of 'organics' will
ultimately end in tears.
Michael has presented 'Bodytalk' on LBC radio in London
for over twenty years. He is a highly skilled osteopath,
naturopath, acupuncturist and nutritional consultant,
and has written twenty books about nutrition and complimentary
medicine.
Organic food is not only better for your health, but
is also better for the environment. No-one in their
right mind trusts government or industry assurances
that agrochemical residues in food are safe —
we've heard it all before. Salmonella, listeria, BSE
and now foot and mouth disease all point to the failings
of factory farming. The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries
and Food has always been the friend of the farmer
and the chemical industry — not the consumer,
but it's the consumer who carries the can when things
go wrong. The assumptions on safety do not hold water,
especially when the precautionary principle of proving
safety rather than demonstrating minimal risk, is
not applied.
Not only is organic food free from the highly toxic
pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, antibiotics and
growth hormones used in intensive farming, but they're
also free of artificial colourings, flavourings, additives,
sweeteners and the thousands of other unwanted and
unnecessary chemicals used in food manufacturing.
Naturally grown and ripened produce, especially when
it's local, has a higher content of essential vitamins
and minerals. Organically reared beef contains less
of the artery-clogging saturated fats in the muscle
tissue, so more of the fat content is visible and
easily removed. Only grass fed beef contains the essential
CLA fat which helps regulate the way our bodies deal
with other fats. As well as all this, organic food
tastes better.
Shane Heaton is a nutritionist and organic food expert
from the Institute for Optimum Nutrition. For the
last 18 months, he has been investigating scientific
evidence about food quality, comparing organic and
conventional crops. Shane is currently writing a comprehensive
report of his findings for the Soil Association. He
can be contacted at ShaneandCathHeaton@compuserve.com
There are numerous studies demonstrating no nutritional
difference between organic and conventional fresh
produce. However, closer examination of these studies
often reveals fundamental flaws that either invalidate
their results or do not allow conclusions to be drawn.
The remaining valid comparisons demonstrate a strong
trend toward organic foods having more nutrients than
conventional foods. Pesticide residues in and on conventional
foods may be higher than is being reported due to
sample variations and losses during analysis. These
residues may be more toxic than expected due to the
synergistic effects of multiple residues on foods
that can accumulate in human tissue.
The health effects of pesticides in our food and the
environment are slowly becoming clear; immune suppression,
hormone disruption, neurological damage and more.
Accusations of organic food being a greater toxicological
risk (from E.coli 0157 or aflatoxins) are unsubstantiated,
with no real evidence or logic to justify them. For
the most complete answer to this question, look out
for the Soil Association report examining evidence
of the links between organic farming, food quality
and human health, due out this summer.
Carol Charlton is the founder of the UK's first registered
organic restaurant in Lonsdale Road, West London.
She now manages two organic restaurants, two organic
cookshops, and an organic home store.
There are only two words
to say to people who ask if organic food is better
for you.
The first is 'BSE'. Our own beef comes from an organic
farm in Pembrokeshire and neither they nor their parents
nor their grandparents before them have ever had sheep's
brains or other unnatural substances mixed up in their
food. Non-organic conventional farming, however, in
pursuit of a cheap food policy, has fed our cattle,
pigs and sometimes sheep for years on commercial food
processing waste including the carcasses of other
animals. Now we are reaping the results in the shape
of the terrible tragedy of BSE.
The second word is 'Pesticides'. People simply don't
understand how dangerous they are. Some of them are
related to nerve gases and all of them are poisonous.
They have to be — they are designed to kill.
But what we don't know is what the accumulation of
potent pesticide residues do to us. It is particularly
worrying for children, who may consume large quantities
of fruit juice and fresh fruit. It is not a risk we
should even contemplate taking and it is especially
not a risk we should take with our children.
Lizzie Vann is the founder of the children's food
company Organix, and Dianne Mulligan is her marketing
manager. Organix is the UK's leading organic babyfood
manufacturer, and has won over a dozen awards. Lizzie
and Dianne work closely with a community of parents,
health professionals and food campaigners, aiming
to raise standards on all foods that might be eaten
by children.
At Organix we clearly believe that it is — that's
why the company exists! However, organic food isn't
necessarily actually healthy. Organic sugar and sweets
still rot your teeth. Lashings of organic butter can
make you put on weight and fur up your arteries.
Organic food's strength lies in what it doesn't contain.
This stretches well beyond excluding agricultural
chemicals such as fertilisers and pesticides, to prohibition
of artificial preservatives, colours, sweeteners,
residual antibiotics, hydrogenated fats, processing
aids and meaningless starches. There is, in fact,
only food in organic food.
Whilst adults are well advised to avoid the chemical
cocktail cited above, babies and young children are
in a far more vulnerable position. Babies eat up to
five times as much food per kg of body weight compared
to adults, and they eat far more fruits and vegetables
— the very foods most likely to contain agrichemical
residues. Their central nervous system, kidneys, liver
and immune system are immature, and unable to excrete
these contaminants efficiently.
Food regulations recognise babies' delicate systems
by banning preservatives and artificial colourings
from all baby food, organic or not. It makes sense,
therefore, to avoid all the other synthetic chemicals
in our foods, with their potential links to asthma,
skin problems, behavioural changes, fertility issues,
laboratory cancers, and so on.
Organix believes passionately in the spirit, as well
as the facts, of organic standards, which is why we
are the strictest at excluding all the ingredients
that could make processing simpler or cheaper, but
don't add to its food value. Do read the labels even
on organic babyfoods — not all manufacturers
are as particular.
The 'real food only' factor is key to ensuring that
organic baby food is better for babies. Conventional
baby foods can contain starchy thickeners and more
water than is necessary, reducing the nutritional
density of the food. Babies don't eat much or very
often to begin with, so it's important that every
spoonful makes a positive nutritional contribution.
A glorious side effect of this is that babies are
'trained' to accept the taste of real food, and it's
becoming clear that this is a critical factor in the
food preferences they will have as adults.
A final point. Working with babies, it's impossible
not to consider the future, and the quality of life
they can expect for the next seventy years. Healthy
eating is one thing, but there's no question that
their lives would be much poorer if conventional farming
continues to pollute water, change historic landscapes
into arable deserts, reduce the ozone layer for the
sake of a few more strawberries and allow the return
of diseases that modern society believed it had beaten,
because of the over-use of antibiotics in animals.
For healthy children with happy prospects, choose
organic food.
(and there are many, many more!)
© Ben Gold
1. Organic produce is not covered in a cocktail of
poisonous chemicals. The average conventionally-grown
apple has 20-30 artificial poisons on its skin, even
after rinsing. Trust your instincts, and go organic!
2. Fresh organic produce contains on average 50% more
vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micro-nutrients
than intensively farmed produce. Science says that
it's good for you.
3. Going organic is the only practical way to avoid
eating genetically modified (GM) food. And by buying
organic food, you are registering your mistrust of
GMO's and doing your bit to protest against them.
4. If you eat dairy or meat products, going organic
has never been more essential to safeguard you and
your family's health. Intensively-reared dairy cows
and farm animals are fed a dangerous cocktail of anti-biotics,
hormones, anti-parasite drugs and many other medicines
on a daily basis, whether they have an illness or
not. These drugs are passed directly onto the consumers
of their dairy produce or meat., which must be a contributing
factor to meat-related diseases like coronaries and
high blood pressure.
5. About 99% of non-organic farm animals in the UK
are now fed GM soya. And there has never been a reported
case of BSE in organic cattle in the UK. Common sense
says that organic is safe food.
6. Organic produce simply tastes so much better. Fruit
and vegetables full of juice and flavour, and so many
different varieties to try! There are about 100 different
kinds of organic potatoes in production in the UK,
and that's just potatoes!
7. Organic farms support and nurture our beautiful
and diverse wildlife. Over the last thirty years,
intensive farming in the UK has led to dramatic erosion
of the soil, a fall of up to 70% of wild birds in
some areas, the destruction of ancient hedgerows,
and the near extinction of some of the most beautiful
species of butterflies, frogs, grass-snakes and wild
mammals.
8. Organic food is not really more expensive than
intensively farmed foods, as we pay for conventional
foods through our taxes. We spend billion of pounds
every year cleaning up the mess that agro-chemicals
make to our natural water supply. And the BSE crisis
cost us 4 billion pounds. Go organic for a genuine
more cost-effective future.
9. Intensive farming can seriously damage farm workers'
health. There are much higher instances of cancer,
respiratory problems and other major diseases in farm
workers from non-organic farms. This is particularly
true in developing countries, and for agrochemical
farms growing cotton. So go organic if you care about
other people.
10. And if you simply like the idea of your children
and grandchildren being able to visit the countryside
and play in the forests and fields just like we did
when we were young, go organic for the sake of all
of our futures.
Conventional agriculture, which depends on heavy applications
of chemical fertilizers, chemical pesticides and irrigation,
may inhibit plants’ natural production of cancer-fighting
flavonoids, while organic agriculture, which does
not use synthetic pesticides or chemical fertilizers,
may actually promote the production of flavonoids.
Flavonoids are plant by-products believed to protect
the plant from insects, bacterial and fungal infection
and photo-oxidation. These plant chemicals are also
thought to be useful in preventing cancer and heart
disease and combating age-related neurological dysfunctions.
Flavonoids work by protecting the cell against damage
caused by active oxygen radicals. Oxygen radicals
can cause cancer and are also associated with cardiovascular
disease and age-related nerve cell damage. In studies
comparing conventional farming with organic and sustainable
(environmentally sound) farming of berries and corn,
organic and sustainable produce was significantly
higher in flavonoids than conventional produce.
Although previous studies did not evaluate flavonoids,
results indicated that conventionally produced foods
had higher levels of nitrates and synthetic pesticides
and fewer total solids than organic foods. The natural
compounds showed various functions in the cell, including
the potential to kill cancer cells or prevent them
from spreading. Using plant chemicals in the treatment
of cancer could enhance cure rates if combined with
standard treatment methods, according to researchers.
Other studies have shown that flavonoids have protective
effects against cardiovascular disease and cancer,
although separate studies have found that the compounds
have no effect, and a few have suggested they could
have harmful effects. Plant chemicals may also be
useful in combating age-related neurological dysfunctions
such as Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s
disease, which are associated with long-term oxidative
stress.
There is substantial evidence to suggest that flavonoids,
which are more plentiful in organic than conventional
foods, are effective in the fight against cancer,
heart disease and age-related neurological dysfunction.
Additionally, increasing evidence indicates that organic
farming gives high yields and is more beneficial to
the environment than conventional farming. According
to researchers, supporters of genetically modified
foods often deny or ignore this large body of evidence.
USDA - United States Department of Agriculture
In 1862, when President Abraham Lincoln founded the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, 48 percent of the
people were farmers who needed good seeds and information
to grow their crops. Today, the USDA continues Lincoln's
legacy by serving all Americans.
NOP - National Organic
Program
The mission of the NOP is to develop and implement
national standards that govern the marketing of agricultural
products as organically produced, to facilitate commerce
in fresh and processed food that is organically produced,
and ensure consumers that such products meet consistent
standards.
OTA - Organic Trade Association
The Organic Trade Association is a membership based
business association representing the organic industry
in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The OTA
works to promote organic products in the marketplace
and to protect the integrity of organic standards.
Personal Care Organic Standards Group
A task force subcommittee of the Organic Trade Association,
comprised of five personal care manufacturers, four
certifying agencies, and one certified organic farmer,
whose mission is establishing organic standards for
the personal care industry that closely follow the
National Organic Program (NOP) for food.
CCOF - California Certified Organic
Farmers
CCOF was one of the first organizations to certify
organic farms in North America and has a long history
of implementing organic legislation. For 30 years
people have trusted California Certified Organic Farmers
(CCOF) to ensure their organic food is produced to
the highest standards. CCOF also emphasizes public
education on the benefits of organic foods for you
own health, the health of our children and the health
of our planet.
QAI - Quality Assurance International
An independent, third party certifier of organic food
systems that has been the foundation of the organic
food trade. The duty of QAI is to verify that organic
integrity is maintained in every step of the organic
chain: from the land on which the product is grown;
to the producers growing the product; to the post-harvest
facilities preparing the product; to the processing
and handling facilities transforming the product.
OCIA - Organic Crop Improvement
Association
OCIA is an accredited world leader in the organic
movement, certifying thousands of farmers and processors
in North, Central and South America and Asia. OCIA
is an accredited member of the International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), is accredited
to ISO-65 by the United States Department of Agriculture.
OCIA Japan is authorized to certify organic products
to Japan Agricultural Standards.
IFOAM - International Federation
of Organic Agriculture Movements
IFOAM main function is coordinating the network of
the organic movement around the world. We are committed
to a holistic approach in the development of organic
farming systems including maintenance of a sustainable
environment and respect for the need of humanity.
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