There have been a lot of opinions and ideas on the subject of organic food and it’s safety versus cost and increased nutrition. So far, I was surprised that there was so much to be said on the subject and that it seemed quite polarizing. I also found that parties in support seemed to have some motives behind it. They sold organics as either farmers or organic markets.
The most moderate view was hospital research. I don’t think that they served organics. I did try to find that connection but came up empty. They supported locally grown food and fresh, healthful whole food versus processed.
I think that nutrition is important so I went back to find more information on FSTA (Food Science and Technology Abstracts). It was the database that talked more about nutrition so I headed there initially. I used the topics organic foods and health benefits and cost effectiveness and came up with two articles but neither was relevant. They discussed clean drinking water and grape oil extract’s use in the diet. Since they weren’t on target I dropped the cost effectiveness and tried again but got 224 results and most were not in the United States so I added that to the search and came up with 12, which seemed right on target. But again, it didn’t directly address my needs. Two of the articles focused on elderly adults not getting enough vitamin B which affects cognition and inner-city poor not having access to high quality foods (organic and whole). Both of those concerns are valid but take me down other paths.
I found several articles that seemed pertinent and was interested in the depth and variety of angles they covered. This is a topic that has a lot of research about food value and nutrition. The first article was very interesting to me. I love chocolate. It talked about the burgeoning organic market and how dark chocolate was being touted for it’s antioxidant benefits. Organic confections don’t see themselves as a copycat market but a legitimate market for a discerning public who want to consume chocolate covered coffee beans, health bars and flavored granolas. The organic confection industry sees itself offering quality and health not found in everyday candy. Their items are often lower in fat and have items that are healthful and high quality.
Here’s the information for that article:
Authors: Vreeland, C.
Title: The Organic Confectionery Market
Date of Publication: 2004
Journal: Candy Industry; Vol. 169 (12), 2004, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46.
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&vid=6&hid=17
This next article investigated the way that consumers buy organics versus the information over bio-engineered foods or foods with hormones. The article discussed food safety. It also probed whether growth in the organic food industry was fueled by reports about engineered food being unsafe and whether it really was unsafe. And it hinted at organic food growth slowing if consumers felt that non-organic food was also safe long-term.
To read more click the link below:
Authors: Rimal, A. ; Moon, W. ; Balasubramanian, S. K.
Title: Perceived risks of agro-biotechnology and organic food purchases in the United States.
Date of Publication: 2007
Contact Information: Dep. of Agriculture-Agribusiness, Missouri State Univ., Springfield, MI, USA
Journal: Journal of Food Distribution Research; Vol. 37 (2), 2007, 70–79.
Link: there was not a complete article but article notes with more complete article review.
http://xz6kg9rb2j.search.serialssolutions.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/?v=1.0&dbcodes=cok9vz-&s=PN&c=JOFDR&L=XZ6KG9RB2J
And another relevant discussion included a comparison of organic foods and genetically modified foods. With all the discussion over additives like pink slime and other additives, it isn’t surprising that after polling students from two Midwestern cities, they found that students felt organics were safer. This isn’t the exact topic I had searched for however. I wanted to know if locally grown, non-modified foods were equally nutritious. But I think some of the desire for organics is being fueled by the genetic modification controversy. I think organics may be safer long-term as well but there is information to the contrary as well.
Titles: Perceptions of genetically modified and organic foods and processes.
Authors: Anderson, J. C. ; Wachenheim, C. J. ; Lesch, W. C.
Contact Information: Minnesota Crop Improvement Ass., 1900 Hendon Ave., St. Paul MN 55108, USA
Journal: AgBioForum; Vol. 9 (3), 2006, 180–194.
Date of Publication: 2006
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/detail?vid=8&hid=17&sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=ffh&AN=2007-05-Ag1365
The last article from this search was called Dairy Tales and addressed a variety of new products in yogurts that regulate digestion, improve health and have probiotics. Milk is one of the modified foods that people have concern about. I grew up on a dairy and we never used any shots or feed that had growth hormone or antibiotics. It makes me sad. I do buy my milk from a local dairy that doesn’t use hormones or additives.
Title: Dairy tales.
Authors: Roberts, W. A., Jr.
Journal: Prepared Foods; Vol. 176 (3), 2007, 43–44, 46, 49–50.
Date of Publication: 2007
Link: http://web.ebscohost.com.dist.lib.usu.edu/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a15664ed-c72a-4eb4-8e75-4bac57784b19%40sessionmgr11&vid=9&hid=17
The more I learn, the more I am convinced that I am on the right track and I feel that local foods and organics are fairly safe. I think that as a consumer I will be aware and it is sad every year when people buy food that makes them sick. I am also glad I was raised on a farm. I know my childhood food supply was wholesome and safe. Part of what I face now is avoiding processed foods and incorporating more healthful foods at my home when I am at night class and not there to feed everyone.
The search for the healthiest foods continues. I know that making informed choices is important and challenging with so many differing points of view but I feel more confident each time I search that I am learning what I need to know to find the answers. And the research is tasty…
Monday, March 19, 2012
Working Knowledge
There is a cell phone case where someone posted on Youtube showing 4 cell phones on a table facing the center and they put popcorn in the middle. The popcorn pops from the radiation supposedly and the researcher finds out more and more about it. Does the radiation have effects? Is there credible research?
She goes on to find that there are controversial views about whether there are effects and how they effect.
She wondered about who had done research and how effective it was.
So I am off to deepen my ideas about organics. Most of the questions here have been covered. I think that anything on the net will have pro and con information and much about organics is opinion. I found information that the Mayo clinic had which actually had tested for nutrient density versus conventionally grown and they found that it was a tie basically.
I found opinions from all sorts of sources from the Mayo clinic to Organic Facts, which is cool and I found them to be unbiased which is impressive since they are pro-organics. I loved the comment from Organic Facts that the benefits of organics are "more perceived than actual" which is why there has been 30% growth in the past few years.
The cell phone researcher went to several different sources to research. She read a lot of information from sources she felt were viable and then made her own decision. I think that it is similar to what I found. She could have chosen to limit use until she found more information and felt it was conclusively safe.
My scenario was similar. I found conflicting information but the more credible information to me was the Mayo Clinic that organics are good but so are conventional. I think they are both more effective if you make good choices and eat five a day. Here are some additional links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2011756,00.html
There are specific things growers do to have foods certified organic:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6305856_health-benefits-organic-foods.html
Dr. Oz and Time magazine point out that foods are much safer now than they ever were and fewer people get sick from eating them than ever before. He also points out that tips like buying in season, peeling fruits to get rid of pesticides and buying food that is as natural as possible are helpful and make the conventional and local food on par with organics. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2011756_2011732,00.html
Many of the pro-organic sites were trying to make money and seemed to have motivations beyond health so I credited them with less pure motives. I do see benefits to farms where food is grown inexpensively by composting and limiting impact on the planet. However, conventionally food is cheaper pound for pound. So if consumers can influence growers to minimize impact and sell locally, everyone wins.
I was surprised that this same argument is being waged in Britain and other places as well and a large independent study done there shows that there are no unique benefits, indeed none at all. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8174482.stm
There will always be more to learn about health and nutrition but on this subject I feel confident that local, conventional or organic, food is food and healthier if it is in its basic forms. I feel like I understand the information and it took several hours to sift through. In an aside, I used Metacrawler to do some of the searching and came up with very similar results to Google. When I had searched other topics the results were different. My original hypothesis was that I would find organics much healthier and I would spend more on produce. Now I am fairly certain that I will continue to buy on the cheap and incorporate fruits and veggies into more of my meals. It wasn’t hard for me to decide but there is a lot of information so I will continue to be curious and learn more as I go along.
She goes on to find that there are controversial views about whether there are effects and how they effect.
She wondered about who had done research and how effective it was.
So I am off to deepen my ideas about organics. Most of the questions here have been covered. I think that anything on the net will have pro and con information and much about organics is opinion. I found information that the Mayo clinic had which actually had tested for nutrient density versus conventionally grown and they found that it was a tie basically.
I found opinions from all sorts of sources from the Mayo clinic to Organic Facts, which is cool and I found them to be unbiased which is impressive since they are pro-organics. I loved the comment from Organic Facts that the benefits of organics are "more perceived than actual" which is why there has been 30% growth in the past few years.
The cell phone researcher went to several different sources to research. She read a lot of information from sources she felt were viable and then made her own decision. I think that it is similar to what I found. She could have chosen to limit use until she found more information and felt it was conclusively safe.
My scenario was similar. I found conflicting information but the more credible information to me was the Mayo Clinic that organics are good but so are conventional. I think they are both more effective if you make good choices and eat five a day. Here are some additional links:
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,2011756,00.html
There are specific things growers do to have foods certified organic:
http://www.ehow.com/list_6305856_health-benefits-organic-foods.html
Dr. Oz and Time magazine point out that foods are much safer now than they ever were and fewer people get sick from eating them than ever before. He also points out that tips like buying in season, peeling fruits to get rid of pesticides and buying food that is as natural as possible are helpful and make the conventional and local food on par with organics. http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2011756_2011732,00.html
Many of the pro-organic sites were trying to make money and seemed to have motivations beyond health so I credited them with less pure motives. I do see benefits to farms where food is grown inexpensively by composting and limiting impact on the planet. However, conventionally food is cheaper pound for pound. So if consumers can influence growers to minimize impact and sell locally, everyone wins.
I was surprised that this same argument is being waged in Britain and other places as well and a large independent study done there shows that there are no unique benefits, indeed none at all. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8174482.stm
There will always be more to learn about health and nutrition but on this subject I feel confident that local, conventional or organic, food is food and healthier if it is in its basic forms. I feel like I understand the information and it took several hours to sift through. In an aside, I used Metacrawler to do some of the searching and came up with very similar results to Google. When I had searched other topics the results were different. My original hypothesis was that I would find organics much healthier and I would spend more on produce. Now I am fairly certain that I will continue to buy on the cheap and incorporate fruits and veggies into more of my meals. It wasn’t hard for me to decide but there is a lot of information so I will continue to be curious and learn more as I go along.
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