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Organic Food

Organic food: What it is, what it’s not By Kathleen Barnes www.kathleenbarnes.com

Organic food is good for you and good for the planet. Most of the readers of this site would agree on that point.

In the U.S., organic foods are subject to federal regulations that govern how the foods can be grown, raised and processed.

In general, organic foods and livestock must be grown without the use of non-organic pesticides, insecticides and herbicides. Livestock must be raised without the routine use of so-called prophylactic antibiotics (an oxymoron if there ever was one!) and fed a generally healthy diet.

Processed organic foods (another oxymoron, in my opinion) must be free of artificial additives and preservatives and they must not result from genetically modified ingredients or be subjected to food irradiation or chemical ripening.

What a wonderful toxic soup!

Differences between conventional farming and organic farming

Conventional farmers Organic farmers
Apply chemical fertilizers to promote plant growth. Apply natural fertilizers, such as manure or compost, to feed soil and plants.
Spray insecticides to reduce pests and disease. Use beneficial insects and birds, mating disruption or traps to reduce pests and disease.
Use chemical herbicides to manage weeds. Rotate crops, till, hand weed or mulch to manage weeds.
Give animals antibiotics, growth hormones and medications to prevent disease and spur growth. Give animals organic feed and allow them access to the outdoors. Use preventive measures — such as rotational grazing, a balanced diet and clean housing — to help minimize disease.

Source: http://www.mayoclinichealth.com/health/organic-food/NU00255

Organic food is now big business

Until the 1990s, organic food growers were largely Mom and Pop farms and their produce was sold in local farmers markets. Not only were these farms sustainably operated, the food traveled a short distance from farm to market to table and was therefore environmentally sound and more nutritious.

Now organic food and beverages count as the fastest growing segment of the U.S. food industry with upwards of $15 billion in annual sales.

As a result, the organic food movement has become big business. With that comes the baggage of agribusiness, including shaky standards full of loopholes, including the import of so-called “organic:” ingredients from other countries with few, if any, organic certification standards.

Organic food is good for you. Research shows organic food contains 50% more nutrients, minerals and vitamins than produce that has been intensively farmed. It’s questionable whether that is still true in view of the mega farming practices that include soil-depleting intensive single crop production and dairy operations where cows rarely if ever, see the light of day.

Organic food may not be organic at all

Buyer beware: Organic food isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

You can pretty much trust foods that contain only one ingredient. Fruits, vegetables, eggs or meat are labeled 100% organic have fulfilled the ever-more-lax USDA certification standards and are marked with a small “USDA Organic” seal.

However, foods that contain more than one ingredient, like cereals or bread are much more complex. Read your labels carefully:

  • A food is 100% organic only if it contains label that specifically says so.
  • If a food carries a “USDA Organic label,” it means that 95% of the ingredients are organically produced. The other 5% is anybody’s guess.
  • Worst of all, if the label says “Made with Organic Ingredients,” that means the product must contain at least 70% organic ingredients. In other words, 30% can be non-organic and contain artificial preservatives, additives and other harmful substances.

Organic foods are more expensive

Organic food is generally more expensive than conventionally produced food, largely because of the labor-intensive farming methods necessary to produce organics.

However, many supermarket chains now carry private label “generic” organic foods at more comparable prices.

Consider the pesticide load in Fruits & Vegetables

If your budget won’t permit going entirely organic, consider the chart below to help you decide which foods are worth the expenditure:

Pesticide Load in Fruits and Vegetables

Rank Fruit / Vegetable Pesticide Load
1 (worst) Peach 100 (highest)
2 Apple 93
3 Sweet Bell Pepper 83
4 Celery 82
5 Nectarine 81
6 Strawberries 80
7 Cherries 73
8 Kale 69
9 Lettuce 67
10 Grapes-Imported 66
11 Carrot 63
12 Pear 63
13 Collard Green 60
14 Spinach 58
15 Potato 56
16 Green Beans 53
17 Summer Squash 53
18 Pepper 51
19 Cucumber 50
20 Raspberries 46
21 Grapes-Domestic 44
22 Plum 44
23 Orange 44
24 Cauliflower 39
25 Tangerine 37
26 Mushrooms 36
27 Banana 34
28 Winter Squash 34
29 Cantelope 33
30 Cranberries 33
31 Honeydew Melon 30
32 Grapefruit 29
33 Sweet Potato 29
34 Tomato 29
35 Broccoli 28
36 Watermelon 26
37 Papaya 20
38 Eggplant 20
39 Cabbage 17
40 Kiwi 13
41 Sweet Peas-Frozen 10
42 Asparagus 10
43 Mango 9
44 Pineapple 7
45 Sweet Corn-Frozen 2
46 Avocado 1
47 (best) Onion 1 (lowest)

Source: Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Penguin Books 2008)

I have to add a personal note here: I know coffee is technically a vegetable, certainly it is a staple of life for many of us. However, coffee is not included on the above list.

Coffee is one of the most pesticide intensive crops in the world. If you’re a coffee lover like I am, consider lowering your toxic load by buying organic coffee, better yet shade grown and fair traded to add to the eco-friendly perks. (Pun intended!)

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