Organics - Is there really any benefit?

I have been thinking about Organic food and wondering if it really is the way to go when it comes to food for my family. I remember David talking about an article in Time earlier this year, so I looked it up and found it. It was entitled: Rethinking Organics and authored by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, Chief Medical Correspondent for CNN. We actually try to watch his show "Fit Nation" whenever we get a chance.

According to Dr. Gupta, "Few things make you feel better about your health than eating organic fruits and veggies. A diet high in produce is commendable enough, but organic produce? That's a double dose of virtue. What's less clear is how much good that virtue does you. Are there real benefits to going organic? If so, are some organic fruits and vegetables better than others? And how do you choose?"

Let me add something quickly. I am a huge skeptic when it comes to things that are hyped up in the media. Whether it's BPA in bottles or vaccinations (potentially) causing Autism I think those people who definitively (without doing any research) say things like "I am going to use all BPA free because it's harmful to my child" and "I don't want my child vaccinated because he/she may get autism" are giving into the hype. Because if you are so concerned about BPA you are screwed because it's in everything you yourself eat (meaning it is in the breast milk you are feeding your baby). Heck, it's in your fillings for crying out loud!! Where is the study on it's effects on adults? Why is it okay for me but not my child? (Yes I know children are not yet developed mentally or physically but there is no study saying what (if any) effects BPA has on development) As for vaccinations, the preservative the media got all hyped up about was only in vaccinations produced prior to a date several years ago (which currently slips my mind) and it's unlikely that your Pediatrician is using vaccinations that are that old. (Willow has been fully vaccinated at the recommended times) But, it's a good idea to check and do your own research instead of being a sheep and following the crowd. Knowledge is power. Again, that's just MY OPINION.

Anyway, back to the article. Does Organic = better?

According to Dr. Gupta, "One thing is certain: it's easier than ever to find organic produce. As demand for pesticide- and chemical-free foods has grown, the onetime niche product has gone mass market. Sometimes organic produce simply looks or tastes better, which for me is often reason enough to pay the higher price it may sell for. And sure, it makes sense to avoid pesticides as much as possible. At the same time, scientists have yet to document a definite, long-term negative effect of modern pesticides on our bodies, meaning that while organic foods do you no harm, they may not turn out to be as beneficial as you think.

"The evidence of nutritional advantages is almost as thin. Never mind the idea that organically grown foods fairly burst with vitamins that modern farming techniques drain out of crops. To date most studies have either shown no difference between organic and conventional produce or found very small pluses in the organic column, such as slightly higher levels of vitamin C or other antioxidants."

But, let's not discount studies which have been conducted.

"Researchers at the University of California at Davis, however, have recently added to our understanding of hidden benefits in organic foods. In a 10-year study, the longest of its type so far, food chemist Alyson Mitchell and her team compared levels of two antioxidants—quercetin and kaempferol—in tomatoes. They found that tomatoes grown in organic fields yielded significantly higher amounts of these nutrients (an average of 79% and 97%, respectively) than their conventional counterparts.

Impressive as these findings are, they alone may not be enough to advocate shelling out the extra bucks or driving those few miles farther to buy organic. For starters, the study was conducted in a highly controlled setting, so it's not clear we'd get the same results in the real world of organic farming, where conditions vary from farm to farm and field to field. Also, Mitchell points out that tomatoes are what is known as a botanical fruit, something that isn't necessarily comparable to, say, the leaves of organic spinach. "It's a totally different part of the plant, so would the results be the same? We just don't know yet," she says."

So, is Organic better? I think the IDEA of Organic is nice, but shelling out the bucks in this sagging economy for a nice feeling that doesn't have a lot of nutritional or health benefits isn't something I, personally, intend to do.

Dr. Gupta specifically says to shy away from mass produced "organic" food because "The act of processing significantly changes the chemical composition of foods, possibly erasing the benefits you think you're getting."

Time also had an article (a cover story actually) entitled: Eating Better Than Organic, which touts the benefits of buying local produce whenever possible. According to THAT article, "...for food purists, "local" is the new "organic," the new ideal that promises healthier bodies and a healthier planet. Many chefs, food writers and politically minded eaters are outraged that "Big Organic" firms now use the same industrial-size farming and long-distance-shipping methods as conventional agribusiness. "Should I assume that I have a God-given right to access the entire earth's bounty, however far away some of its produce is grown?" asks ethnobotanist Gary Paul Nabhan in his 2002 memoir, Coming Home to Eat: The Pleasures and Politics of Local Foods. Nabhan predicted my apple problem when he vacillated over some organic pumpkin canned hundreds of miles from his Arizona home. "If you send it halfway around the world before it is eaten," he mused, "an organic food still may be 'good' for the consumer, but is it 'good' for the food system?"

You can read that one on your own and decide for yourself.