Organic Food: Superior in Every Way

[Guest guest]

Thank you Jerry, for your newsletter... I was so glad to read that

due to overhelming grassroots support, the Senate passed the Leahy

Amendment to repeal the anti-organic rider that would have allowed

non-organically feed livestock to still be called organic. Yea!

Be Well,

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

Organic Food: Superior in Every Way

19 September 2001

 

Evidence abounds that organic food is safer, more nutritious,

better tasting, better for the environment, and better economically

for growers and producers in comparison to commercially grown and

produced food. This research soundly discounts the negative myths

about organic food that have been spread by the Hudson Institute's

Dennis Avery (1), ABC 20/20's John Stossel (2), and others. Evidence

of organic food's superiority is confirmed by Consumer Reports (3),

the Soil Association (4), the Rodale Institute (5), Pesticide Action

Network (6), research at Johns Hopkins (7) and Washington State

University (8) ... the list goes on.

 

Unfortunately these findings have not put to rest rhetoric from some

members of the organic industry who are still trying to tell " the

rest of the industry " that we must not promote organic food as being

better in any aspect other than benefiting the environment.

 

When the USDA announced approval of the final national organic

standards in March 2000, then Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman

made a point to appease commercial food producers by saying " Organic

is a marketing tool ... Just because something is labeled as organic

does not mean it is ... superior, safer or more healthy than

conventional food. " (9) Not surprising coming from the USDA with its

long history catering to the conventional food imitation and

adulteration industry. More disturbing is that some in the organic

industry have been echoing this statement.

 

In the September 2001 Natural Food Merchandiser Katherine DiMatteo,

executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA)

says " Organic is not a preventive or a cure for some disease. " The

article continues, " DiMatteo says organics is vulnerable when it

says something is pesticide-free or healthier than conventional

crops... The industry needs to speak as one voice, she says, and

make the same basic, provable claims. " (10) Why would a group whose

members are organic companies claim that organic food is no

healthier than conventional food, given all the evidence that shows

that organic food is healthier? Whatever the reason, when

" organic " becomes diluted to a minimum expectation and when we are

dissuaded from promoting the virtues of organic food, the quality of

food labeled as organic is allowed to decline.

 

Organic producers' right to commercial free speech is already

hampered in Britain. In 2000 the Advertising Standards Authority

(ASA) ruled that the Soil Association could not claim organic food

was healthier, better for the environment, tasted better, or that

organically reared animals were happier or healthier than their

intensively farmed counterparts. (11) The ASA is responsible for

supervising the system applying the British Codes of Advertising and

Sales Promotion " to make sure that the public are not misled or

offended by advertisements. " This group can take action to have an

advertisement withdrawn or changed without having to wait for a

complaint. From their website: " Having advertisements stopped by the

ASA can be costly for companies, both financially and in terms of

their reputation. " (12)

 

We will also lose our right to commercial free speech in the U.S. if

we are not vigilant. Backed by giant corporations, groups like the

National Food Processors Association (13), the Hudson Institute

(14), and the National Center for Public Policy Research (15) are

just some of the organizations that actively campaign to make people

believe that organic food is no better than conventional food. The

only way to protect our right to free speech is by exercising that

right, now.

 

Of course before promoting organic food as superior, we must be sure

it is true. At Eden (16) we do this through meticulous audit trails,

through residue and GEO testing, through reliance on traditional

methods of conversion and fermentation rather than pharmaceutical

enzymes; through " above and beyond " third party certifications

including AIB/HACCP (17); and by knowing every field, every farmer,

and their families.

 

If challenged to prove that organic food is safer, we can present

evidence outlined by the Pesticide Action Network UK that it is

safer for children and babies to eat organic food because " Latest

pesticide residue results from the European Commission suggest that

residue safety breaches are getting worse. " (18) We can point out

that in 1997 the Consumers Union tested conventional foods and their

organic counterparts, and found that " Organic fruits and vegetables

have fewer pesticide residues than non-organic produce, they have

lower levels of pesticides, and they have much less overall

pesticide toxicity than fruits and vegetables grown with chemicals. "

(19)

 

If challenged to prove that organic food is more nutritious we can

point to studies such as " Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus

Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains " by Virginia

Worthington, doctoral candidate at John Hopkins University. Her

research found that " Organic crops contained significantly more

vitamin C, iron, magnesium, and phosphorus and significantly less

nitrates than conventional crops. " (20) We can also compare

nutrition panels of organic food and their commercial

counterpart. For example comparing a can of EDEN Organic Kidney

Beans (21) with a can of commercial kidney beans (going by USDA

Nutrient Database for Standard Reference (22), the organic beans

provide seventeen percent more protein, fifty five percent more

fiber, forty two percent more calcium, forty two percent more zinc,

fourteen percent more thiamin (vitamin B1), and twenty five percent

more potassium. Commercial beans also have about fifty to sixty

times more sodium than EDEN beans, plus refined sugar and disodium

EDTA to preserve color.

 

If challenged to prove that organic food tastes better we can point

to the recent Washington State University study (23) in which a

panel of tasters rated organic apples to be tastier and sweeter than

conventional apples. We can also offer our own taste tests. (Have

you ever eaten an organic carrot next to a conventional one? Organic

wins every time.)

 

If challenged to prove that organic food is better economically for

growers we can point to the above mentioned Washington State

University study which concluded that organic methods of apple

growing yield better profits for growers than commercial apple

growing methods. (24) We can also point to the Rodale Institute's 15

year Farming Systems Trial (25) which showed that organic growing

methods produce at least the same yields and better withstand

draught thus producing greater yields in years of low rainfall

compared to conventional growing methods. And we can

show what we pay growers for their organic production.

 

Eden Foods and our suppliers; those of us who grow, produce, and eat

authentically organic food, know this food is safer, more

nutritious, better tasting, and superior in every way to

commercially grown and produced food. As the Organic Consumers

Association explains, " Of course organic food is safer and more

nutritious than chemical intensive and genetically engineered

agriculture's `industrial food.' Not only does organic food contain

more trace minerals and other valuable nutrients, but of course it's

not laced with pesticide and drug residues, nor is it genetically

engineered. And of course it's not riddled with eColi 0157,

salmonella, listeria, campylobachter, or any of the other filth and

pathogens which are routinely found in factory farm meat and animal

products. Health and safety considerations are the major reason why

10 million consumers are buying organic food. (26)

 

If we are growing and processing organic food correctly, then it is

superior in every way. We should never hesitate to say it.

 

 

(1) " Anti Organic, and Flawed, " by Marian Burros. New York Times, 17

February 1999.

(2) " Connecting the Dots: John Stossel, ABC News, and

Agribusiness. " Natural Foods Merchandiser, November 2001.

(3) Consumers Union Press Release, 15 December 1997.

(4) " U.K. Report: Organic Foods Safer, " Natural Foods Merchandiser,

September 2001.

(5) Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial - The First 15 Years.

(6) Pesticide Action Network press release, " Why Organic Food is

Safer for Children, " 9 August 2001.

(7) " Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits,

Vegetables, and Grains, " Journal of Alternative and Complementary

Therapies, Volume 7, Number 2, 2001, pp.161-173.

(8) " Washington Apple Study Finds that Organic Growing is Best, " 20

April 2001.

(9) " Biotech Foods not `Organic' Under New Rules, " cnn.com, 7 March

2000.

(10) " Can Organics Avoid Supplements' Slip? " Natural Foods

Merchandiser, September 2001.

(11) " ASA Tackles Organic Food Claims, " The Guardian, 23 July 2001.

(12) Advertising Standards Authority.

(13) NFPA

(14) Hudson Institute, New York.

(15) National Center for Public Policy Research.

(16) edenfoods.com

(17) American Institute of Baking, USDA Hazard Analysis at Critical

Control Points.

(18) Pesticide Action Network press release, " Why Organic Food is

Safer for Children, " 9 August 2001.

(19) Consumers Union Press Release, 15 December 1997.

(20) " Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits,

Vegetables, and Grains, " Journal of Alternative and Complementary

Therapies, Volume 7, Number 2, 2001, pp.161-173.

(21) Eden Foods online store.

(22) USDA Nutrient Database for Standard Reference.

(23) " Washington Apple Study Finds that Organic Growing is Best, " 20

April 2001.

(24) ibid.

(25) Rodale Institute's Farming Systems Trial - The First 15 Years.

(26) Organic Consumers Association press release, " Moving Beyond the

Niche Market of USDA Organic, " 22 December 2000.

 

 

 

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