The Benefits of Organic Foods

by Renee Lang, ND

Organically grown foods offer multiple benefits to the individual, to our society, and to the environment.  Three common arguments against the purchase of organic products include the higher cost, the uncertainty that they are really different than conventional products, and if they provide any benefit.  Organically grown foods cost more. However, the higher cost is balanced by the benefits of organically grown foods.

Organic vs. Conventional

HIGHER NUTRITION CONTENT

Organically grown foods provide more nutrients than conventionally grown foods.  A recent study conducted by The Organic Center for Education and Promotion found that organically grown foods contained on average 30% more antioxidants than their conventional counterparts.  

FEWER PESTICIDES

Organically grown foods have fewer pesticides residues than conventionally grown foods. According to a Consumers Union Report analyzing three different studies, pesticide residues were found on 23% of organic foods and 73% of conventional foods.  When they removed the incidences of DDT and other banned pesticides, the incidence on organically grown foods fell to 13%, but only to 71% on the conventional crops.  This indicates that roughly half of the incidence of residue found on organically grown foods is due to the persistence of past pesticide use.  The remaining pesticide residue was explained by drift from adjacent farms and mislabeling.  In contrast, almost all of the incidences of residue found on conventionally grown produce were due to current applications. 

Organically grown produce has a lower incidence of pesticide residue, fewer different types of pesticide residues, and a lower amount of total residue when compared with conventionally grown foods. This clearly illustrates that organically grown foods are different than conventionally grown foods.  This difference is seen in both the nutritional content of the food and the potential pesticide exposure rates and amounts. 

COST

On 5/3/05, I went to the co-op and compared the cost of 13 different items: broccoli, tomatoes, russet potatoes, gala apples, navel oranges, yam, 1% milk, butter, green pepper, celery, short grain brown rice, and bulk kidney beans.  I found that the organically grown products were on average 57% more expensive than the conventionally produced products.  Although this was not a comprehensive analysis, it offered a quick glimpse into the difference of cost of commonly purchased items.

HOW DOES THIS TRANSLATE INTO BENEFITS?

INDIVIDUAL NUTRITIONAL

As stated above, organically grown produce has on average 30% more antioxidants than conventionally grown produce.  A higher intake of antioxidants has been shown to have a protective effect against development of cancer, coronary heart disease, and cataracts. Additionally, antioxidants have been shown to decrease the number of deaths from cancer and decrease the incidence of colds and flus.  This nutritional benefit has the potential to translate into decreased costs and suffering from the above conditions.  As more and more insurance companies are discovering, prevention is much more cost effective than disease management.

DECREASE IN TOXIC EXPOSURE

A recent study showed that about 99% of Americans are walking around with a toxic cocktail of chemicals in their bodies.  Our bodies store toxins when the rate of intake and exposure exceeds the rate of elimination. A recent report by Pesticide Action Network Nowhere to Hide determined that in a hypothetical daily meal, individuals may have between 63 and 70 exposures per day to banned pesticides depending on where they live. This exposure may exceed EPA standards of acceptable levels for people.

The main waste processing plant in the body is the liver.  An increase in toxin processing by the liver will indirectly have a detrimental effect on cholesterol levels and hormonal balance in the body.  In addition, the back-up of toxins may be linked to increased incidences of asthma, allergies, chronic fatigue syndrome, and other conditions.

There are multiple chemicals that we are exposed to on a daily basis, pollution, preservatives, dyes, pesticides, and cleaning chemicals.  By reducing your exposure in areas where you have control (i.e. foods and home use of cleaning chemicals) you will help your body begin the process toward health and healing.  Choosing organic foods will reduce your exposure to toxic pesticides, which are designed to kill living organisms, by at least 50% and will increase your intake of nutrition by about 30%. 

ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

Conventionally grown foods use many more pesticides than organically grown foods. These chemicals have to go somewhere after being sprayed on the crops.  They do not just disappear.

The chemicals that are used on agricultural fields are found in our water supplies, in fish and in other animals that we later consume.  To illustrate the pervasiveness of the “drift” of pesticides, penguins in Antarctica have been found to have DDT in their tissues. 

PUBLIC HEALTH BENEFITS

Finally, eating organic foods will have a beneficial effect on our public health and healthcare industry.  The most common pesticide-associated health complaint is dermatitis. Other problems include cancer, neurological complaints, upper respiratory illness, and birth defects.  The majority of individuals that administer these chemicals are migrant workers without health insurance. When they become acutely ill, they go to the Emergency Room to receive care.  ER visits are many times more expensive than preventative and primary care visits.  This translates to higher insurance premiums for everyone else in the country and higher healthcare costs. 

Again, the pesticides sprayed on a field in central California do not stay on that field.  They drift  all over the state and have an effect on all of the residents in that state.  And as was illustrated by the penguins in Antarctica, here on the east coast we will eventually be exposed to those same chemicals. 

In conclusion, eating organically grown foods protects your individual health and the health of the environment. It also has the potential to decrease healthcare costs and human suffering.  The higher cost of organic foods is more than compensated for in higher nutritional content, decreased chemical exposure, and eventual benefits to our public and personal health.