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Loading...Is Organic Food Healthier?
- Becky Striepe
- September 10, 2012
- 2:42 pm
- 83 comments
By now, I’m sure you’ve seen the headlines about the recent Stanford University study on organic food. Even the New York Times and NPR declared “Expensive Organic Food No Healthier, Study Finds!” But how credible is this study?
The research they’re talking about is not a new study. Rather, it looks at the results from previous studies on the nutrient content in organic food. The problem with the way the researchers presented their results is that it grossly oversimplifies what makes food “healthy.”
After analyzing around 200 studies on organic food’s nutrient content, the researchers found that organic meat and produce did have an equivalent nutrient content – so that organic kale probably has around the same amount of iron as conventional kale. What the study failed to take into account are two important health factors associated with organics: the impact of long-term exposure to pesticide residues on food and the indirect health impacts of conventional farming.
On the next page, read about where the study fell short, and tell us your thoughts on this research!
Read more: Conscious Consumer, Diet & Nutrition, Eating for Health, Environment, Food, Health, Nature, News & Issues, conventional farming, industrial agriculture, is organic food healthier, organic food, organic food and health, organics, pesticides, pesticides and health, pesticides and public health, Standford organic study
Becky Striepe
Becky Striepe is a freelance writer and vegan crafter living in Atlanta, Georgia. Her life’s mission is to make green crafting and vegan food accessible to everyone! Like this article? You can follow Becky on Twitter or find her on Facebook!
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this was a good article
Thank you for the article.
I adore cats.
Thank you.
83 comments
+ add your ownYes, it is best I believe
Thank you :)
I'm going to keep on eating what I can financially afford on less than $200-worth of food stamps.
organic food shines in a special category that conventional agriculture does not even participate. Organic farmers and gardeners use leaves that contain trace elemnts from deep in the earth and this adds them to your food. Trace elements are important to provide the enzymes that we need to utilize our foood.
I think about it like this, we have polluted the land, the air and the water, so even organic foods have toxic chemicals, but there is a good chance that the organic food aren't as bad since they aren't covered in chemicals as well.
The study wasn't about pesticides it was about whether ther is more nutrient value in organic foods. On that account there is not any difference. The problem being that the pesticides on unorganic fare are harmful which presents another problem that was not addressed by the study.
I believe that organic foods are healthier due to the lack of toxic chemicals. Thank you!
What is believable these days? When it comes to profit what won't they do or say to get more, since money has become the god of this nation. I am not confident in the scientific community either. Ever watch the debate whether coffee is good or bad for your health? the debate continues because the scienfic communty doesn't know for sure either. The same is true about GMO and pharmaceutical drugs and myriad of other products.
I would like to think if I buy" Organic" it is free of pesticide/herbicides and synthetic chemicals of which science has little knowledge of their repective interactions in the environment. I maybe deluded since I do live in this age of misinformation, motivated by bias and sheer greed that are unfortunately hallmarks of living in this day and age, but one has to feel hopeful that ones own actions aren't shafting the rest of creation while trying to survive.
Frankly, I see nothing wrong with the food nature has provided this and all other species over the milennia but I don't trust my fellow human beings and their tamperings which always seem to cause problems down the line.
thanks for sharing!
I've also read the article that say many things labelled organic are not, and am pretty confident that they would not be healthier than those not labeled. Maybe they need to study that. Would be a useful study if that is what it leads to.
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