Natural and organic: studies show it is not a marketing ploy; reality shows it is not fail-safe

It appears that the organic farming process has become the sacrificial lamb of the natural food movement in recent days.

Due to a recent spate of stories regarding the contamination of organics, along with various stories questioning the nutritional superiority of organics, the pristine image of natural food is being questioned by consumers, media and officials, alike.

What prompted this line of questioning was the death of one woman and the hospitilization of at least 29 others (in America and Canada) due to deadly E.coli bacteria found in organic spinach. Days before the spinach contamination became public, several California kids were hospitilized due to permanent kidney failure from the same virulent strain of E. coli after consuming raw, un-pasteurized milk. Add this to the large sticker prices slapped on organic and natural food items and people have begun to second guess the benefits of organic food matter.

However, in order to appreciate any benefit organic and natural food items have, it is important to understand what these labels entail. The organic label is not just for fruits and vegetables. There's now organic milk, organic cheese and organic butter. There are even organic processed foods - including cereals, pastas and even corn chips. And organic is no longer confined to specialty shops or remote counters in supermarkets. Organic can be found in the larger super-market chains and even in smaller mom-n-pop corner stores. In fact, organic beef production in Canada has increased by 30 percent and the industry is now worth nearly $350 million annually.

So, what does this pricey organic label mean? If you believe it means pesticide-free, you are wrong. Even organic farmers and breeders will state that pesticides are so prevalent in our environment (air and soil) that no crop or feed can be designated as totally free of synthetic chemicals. Organic, then, simply means that the producers do not intentionally use any chemical product in the growth and/or production of the food item. Also, organic is not synonymous with free-range or natural. Just because a product is labelled natural does not mean it is organic.

Most conventional farmers fertilize their food crops with chemical fertilizer, and put their livestock manure on feed crops like corn (that is also fertilized with chemical fertilizer). Organic farmers reject chemical fertilizer. Instead, they compost raw cattle manure for some weeks; this process kills dangerous organisms that could contaminate the food. Most of the time it works. Sometimes it doesn't -- as witnessed by the tragic events spurred by the contaminated spinach and milk. The sad fact is organic farming, like traditional farming, must pay particular attention in dealing with bacteria -- only organic farmers do not have chemicals to aid in this process.

Perhaps because of this and other stories regarding the questionable benefits of organics, a few media sources have begun to do their own research. Global National News health reporter, Jennifer Tryon, tested both organic and regular beef to determine if the high price for organic was worth the cost to consumers.

Using the University of Guelph laboratories, Tryon tested the cuts of beef for pesticides, antibiotics and other chemical residues. Tests showed that neither the organic nor the conventional meat had enough residues to show on standard government tests.

However, before you dismiss organic as another marketing hype, pay heed to the numerous studies that do identify organic food as a better nutritional source. For example, a study released in 2003 in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society, the world's largest scientific society, showed that organically grown food was higher in cancer-fighting chemicals than conventionally grown foods. Specifically, the study stated that fruits and veggies grown organically show significantly higher levels of
cancer-fighting antioxidants than conventionally grown foods, according to a
new study of corn, strawberries and marionberries. The research suggests
that pesticides and herbicides actually thwart the production of phenolics --
chemicals that act as a plant's natural defense and also happen to be good
for our health. Fertilizers, however, seem to boost the levels of
anti-cancer compounds.

Other studies support the notion that organic food matter does hold superior nutritional benefits. This year, for example, a US research team from Emory University in Atlanta found that by analyzing the urine samples of children aged three to 11, they could determine who ate organic food material and who did not. The children that were fed on an organic diet did not contain metabolites of two common pesticides: malathion and chlorpyrifos. Those that did not eat organic foods did contian the chemicals. More importantly, when the test group of children returned to their regular diet, the levels of these pesticide metabolites increased sharply. Another study out of Britian analyzed government nutrition data on meat and dairy products from the 1930s and from 2002; this analysis included mineral content of milk, cheese and beef and showed a marked decline, by as much as 70 percent, during this period.

While agricultural farmers (and their advocates) on either side of the divide continue to debate the validity and safety of organic, it is important to remember that the safety of our food is not always in the growing, but also in the preparing and serving. Often, the contaminants that can cause us the most harm, can be most efficiently eliminated through proper handling and preparation of the food material.

As for the people seriously injured by the virulent and deadly E.coli found in unpastuerized milk and bagged spinach -- my heart goes out to you; it is a shame that your health and welfare have become the microscope with which we examine our agricultural supply; however, this examination is necessary if we want to gain a greater appreciation and understanding of what it takes to go from field to table.

For more information on the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry article go to:
http://www.organicconsumers.org/organic/polyphenolics031203.cfm

For more information on the US and UK studies on organics from 2006 go to:
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0304-03.htm

For more information on Global National News' report on the price of organic beef go to: http://www.canada.com/globaltv/national/story.html
?id=27fc0e28-5943-44cb-b0b7-2c185f64dc1c

For criticism of organics go to:
http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/1006/1006organic.htm