- By Henry Stark
- Around Town
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I’m continually amazed to learn how much confusion there is about organic food. Almost everyone I talk with has a different opinion, consequently I’ve decided to devote my next two or three columns to this subject in the hope of shedding some light. Loyal readers may remember that I wrote a piece about this a few months ago however I would now like to deal with the subject from a very different point of view.It’s important to recognize that there is strong growth in the purchasing patterns of organic foods among American consumers. About ten percent of fruits and vegetables purchased in the United States are now organic and that number is increasing about 10-20% each year.
By most accounts, organic is good. The question is how good and how much hyperbole intrudes into the conversation. Consumers may be purchasing more potentially healthy compounds, and farmers may fare better in drought. Organic farmers also encourage the survival and propagation of critical pollinators like butterflies and bees. We all may benefit from the reduction of contamination of our water supplies due to reduced runoff from synthetic fertilizers.
When the same varieties of vegetables and fruits that were grown in similar regions were compared, in 60% of the studies organic produce was higher in nutrients than conventionally grown produce. However, in the same studies, about one third of the food showed no difference and, here’s a bit of a shocker, in 5-10% of the food studied, the conventionally grown food was higher in nutrients than the organic food.
The levels of nutrients in organic food were usually 5-15% higher but varied widely. In some cases 30-100% more polyphenols (antioxidants) in organic food were not uncommon. In a study published this spring, organically grown tomatoes in Barcelona, Spain had twice the quantity of some polyphenols than conventionally grown produce purchased in the same market.
Having spent some time in Spain, my first thought is that farmers who grew tomatoes using traditional fertilizers and chemical sprays used a larger quantity of these products than farmers use in the US so the contrast was more pronounced in the foreign country. And, when I traveled abroad I wasn’t thrilled to see fertilizers, which included human fecal matter, applied to soil in some backward and poorer regions of several European and South American countries.
Are you wondering why organic plants tend to be healthier? Well, organically grown plants have to resist a wide range of insects on their own so they grow a wider range of defensive compounds resulting in their natural defenses turning on earlier. This results in them being naturally stronger than plants protected by insecticides. There’s also something called the dilution effect. As farmers apply more and more nitrogen fertilizers, yields and plant sizes grow. This brings in more money from consumers who tend to gravitate to larger, more attractive fruit. However the level of vitamins, minerals, and polyphenols could easily be reduced in each fruit.
If you’re tempted to purchase a very large, juicy apple be aware that the apple you choose may have more sugar and a diluted amount of the healthy elements you’re looking for. That’s because the tree converted the extra nutrients into sugar. You could be trading healthy vitamins, minerals and antioxidants for more sugar. Something to think about on your next shopping trip?
Because organic fruits have more antibacterial phenolic acids under their skin, they normally have a longer shelf life than conventionally grown fruit. Mold and bacteria are not comfortable growing in these compounds so they don’t prosper.
“When I buy organic food I can at least be assured that it’s pesticide free….right?” Not necessarily. Don’t forget that farms are often located adjacent to each other and it’s possible, and often likely, that the pesticides used on one farm are blown onto produce on a nearby farm. Same thing applies to water. Streams can transport fertilizers and chemicals from one farm to another. And, even if the produce makes it to the processing plant chemical free, it could come into contact with contaminated water or packing materials there.
On that happy note, I’m going to end this first discussion of organic foods. While you’re chewing on the information in this column, a good rule of thumb to follow is: if you have a choice between produce grown in the US or in a foreign country, it’s generally safer to choose the American product. I try to purchase locally grown products for a whole host of reasons.
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