Last week the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition announced a study, a meta-analysis, of the research on the nutrient content of organic and conventional produce. The authors found no difference between organic and conventional, but they did limit their inquiry to the narrow question of food micro-nutrients. They did not examine pesticide residues or the impact of pesticides and herbicides on the environment.
As you probably know, major news outlets covered the story as did a whole lot of bloggers. Here’s one and another and another. The Organic Center wrote a rebuttal.
Not to be outdone, I thought I’d offer my response in video:
“I sure hope conventional produce has the nutrient content of organic…” on YouTube:
Here are two of the graphs used in the video, both archived at FoodGraphs.net for your use:
The “pesticide pee” study is available online.
“I sure hope conventional produce has the nutrient content of organic…”
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Amanda Rose, Ph.D., is a political scientist and author of "Rebuild from Depression," on the link between nutrient deficiencies and depression. She has been depression-free for over four years, even during the recent pregnancy of her second child. Read her postpartum depression success story.
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I had a little rant about this subject a few days ago on twitter. I will not RT here. The bloopers weren’t that bad. You recovered nicely Thanks
Living with a blooper is far superior to a second take.
I haven’t read study, but I wonder *which* organic they looked at? Was it just those who took a conventional farming mindset – replacing chemical inputs/pesticides/etc with organic ones?
Do practices that encourage soil diversity/crop diversity make a difference?
You know I’ve been chewing this one over for a few days. And I’m not convinced that conventional produce does have the same nutrient values. Does it really???? I would think that because organic is grown in soil that it is superior, then it would actually have more…..am I all washed up???
I sure hope that my homegrown organic veggies are superior!
I guess I need more proof!
What a great response
Thanks…
Here in Denmark most of the serious scientists have said that the sudy wasn´t good enough- mainly cause they didn´t use any of the newest results – from EU- regarding organic ( grass fed dairy) and veggies.
The orgnic diary report showed that organic dairy contained far more omega 3, CLA and vitamins than regular danish dairy.
It was due to organic cows have to be pastured here in EU and is fed a more natural diet with hay, roots etc and less corn and modern feed.
Veggies- looking at them showed a more concentrated nutrision – actually instead of 600 grams fruit and veg ( if conventional) – you could eat 500 gram organic
BUT the main reason I eat organic is all the pesticides I dont want to eat !!!
and I don´t want farmers to be exposed to ( my Dad was a gardener and died from cancer he got from use of pesticides.
These studies often reduce all of the variables down to a choice that most of us don’t make in the first place. That is, to know if “organic” really does have more nutrients than “conventional,” you should take the same over-farmed land, side-by-side, and produce the two forms of crops. As organic consumers, however, we often are not seeking out the produce from the guy who grows 500 acres of carrots, but rather produce grown by people like my mother. She uses intensive production methods and adds a great bit of compost between every planting. The crop is a totally different crop and well worth any extra money on a number of counts. This is why I don’t get too concerned about the studies.