Ten Reasons Why Organic Food is Better

[Guest guest]

Ten Reasons Why Organic Food is Better

By Guy Dauncey

_http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/ten-reasons-why-organic-food-is

-better_

(http://nourishedmagazine.com.au/blog/articles/ten-reasons-why-organic-food-is-b\

etter)

 

1. Organic farming is better for wildlife

A report by Britain’s Soil Association shows that wildlife is substantially

richer and more varied on organic than on conventional farms. A typical

organic field has five times as many wild plants, 57% more species, and 44%

more

birds in cultivated areas than a regular farm..1. Two 1996 studies show that

organic farms have twice as many skylarks, and twice as many butterflies..2.

Every time we eat an organic lettuce or tomato, we help restore wildlife.

 

2. Organic farming is better for the soil

Studies show that organic fields have deeper vegetation, more weed cover,

and contain 88% more ‘epigeal arthropods’ (squiggly soil creatures)..3. A

new

Swiss study demonstrates that organic soils have more soil microbes, more

mycorrhizae – the fungi that attach themselves to the tips of plant roots and

help plants absorb nutrients - and more earthworms..4. It found that soil

insects are twice as abundant and more diverse in organic plots, including

pest-eating spiders and beetles.

 

3. Organic food is better for animal reproduction

Out of 14 animal studies, ten showed that animals fare better when fed

organic food. Three showed no difference, and one showed an improvement with

conventional food. We are all mammals, so we share a lot in common. Female

rabbits

fed on organic food have twice the level of ovum production; chickens fed on

organic food have a 28% higher rate of egg production. Rabbits that were fed

conventional food saw a decline in fertility over three generations,

compared to no decline for organically fed rabbits..5. Meanwhile, many human

couples

find it hard to have a baby….

 

4. Organic food helps fight cancer, stroke and heart problems

In a recent study, Scottish scientists found that organic vegetable soups

contain almost six times as much salicylic acid as non-organic vegetable soups.

Eleven brands of organic soup had 117 nanograms per gram, versus just 20

nanograms in 24 types of non-organic soup..6. Salicylic acid is the main

ingredient in aspirin; it helps fight hardening of the arteries and bowel

cancer,

and is produced naturally in plants as a defence against stress and disease.

[Organic Wine is a great source of these compounds - Ed] If plants don’t have

to resist bugs because of pesticide-use, they generate less salicylic acid,

and pass less on to us. The same scientists found significantly higher

concentrations of salicylic acid in the blood of vegetarian Buddhist monks,

compared

with meat-eaters.

 

5. Organic food contains more nutrients

According to a recent study by the Globe and Mail and CTV News of the

nutrient quality of fruit and vegetables, compared to 50 years ago, today’s

regular

fruit and vegetables contain dramatically less vitamins and

mineralsdramatically less vitamins and minerals..7. The average potato has lost

100% of its

[beta carotene], 57% of its vitamin C and iron, 28% of its calcium, 50% of its

riboflavin, and 18% of its thiamin. Out of seven key nutrients studied, only

niacin levels increased. Similar results applied to 24 other fruits and

vegetables. For broccoli, all seven nutrients fell, including a 63% decrease in

calcium and a 34% decrease in iron. No wonder we are gulping down the

supplements.

 

In April 2001, however, a US study examined 41 comparisons of the nutrient

levels in organic and regular foods. In every case, the organic crops had

higher nutrient levels - 27% more vitamin C, 29% more iron, 14% more

phosphorus..8. At the June 2001 meeting of the American Chemical Society, a

chemistry

professor reported that organic oranges contained up to 30% more vitamin C than

regular oranges, even though they are half the size..9. (Conventional orange

trees are fed nitrogen fertilizer, causing the fruit to absorb more water,

which makes them bigger.) In a French study, a cancer specialist studying the

nutrient qualities of food grown in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France

showed that for the twelve foods where his study is complete, the organic

foods showed increased quantities of vitamins A, C, E, and the B group,

increased elements such as zinc, increased minerals such as calcium, and

increased

fibre..10.

 

6. Organic apples are …. just better!

From 1994 to 1999, a soil scientist at Washington State University ran a

series of tests comparing apple orchards. The organic orchard had the best

soil,

held water better, and resisted soil damage better. It was more energy

efficient, and required less labour and less water per apple. The organic

apples

were firmer, tasted sweeter and were less tart to a non-expert panel. The

organic orchard also made more money, since the apples sold for a higher

price..11. (The Salt Spring Apple Festival is on Sunday September 30th, with 14

orchards open to the public, and 350 varieties of organic apple. Contact Harry

Burton, 250-653-2007).

 

7. Organic farming can feed the world

In a 2002 Greenpeace report, the authors found that organic and

agro-ecological methods of growing in the Southern hemisphere produced a

dramatic

increase in yields, as well as reduced pests and diseases, greater crop

diversity,

and improved nutritional content. In the Tigray, Ethiopia, organic crops

raised 3-5 times more food than chemically treated plots; in Brazil, maize

yields

increased by 20 – 250%; in Peru, uplands crop yields increased by 150%..12.

 

In 1998, the Rodale Institute in Kutztown, Pennsylvania, published the

results of a 15-year study that compared 3 ways of growing maize and soybeans

– a

conventional chemical rotation method, an organic system involving crop

rotation and legume crops, and an organic system using cow manure. The yields

were

similar for all three systems, debunking the myth that organic methods

cannot feed the world..13. In Britain, an experiment run at Broadbalk by the

Rothamsted Experimental Station for 150 years has shown that wheat yields on

manured plots average 3.45 tonnes per hectare, compared to 3.40 tonnes on the

chemically fertilized plots..14.

 

A recently completed 21-year Swiss study, on the other hand, showed that

organic yields were 20% smaller than conventional yields. The organic plots

required 34% to 53% less fertilizer and energy and 97% less pesticide, however,

and produced more food per unit of energy and fertilizer. The soil microbes,

flora, fauna and soil fertility also increased, leading the study’s authors

to

conclude that the eco-logical benefits of organic farming make up for the

reduced harvest..15.

 

8. Organic farming protects the climate

Organic soil is full of living creatures, which carry carbon. In the Rodale

experiment, the organically managed plot stored much more carbon than the

conventional plot. In the Broadbalk experiment, soil fertility increased by

120%

in the manured plots, versus 20% in the chemical plots. The same results

occurred in the Swiss experiment. A study in California’s Central Valley

showed

that as well as producing similar yields and suffering similar pest damage,

organically managed fields produced 28% more organic carbon. By storing more

carbon in the soil, organic farmers help to stop global climate change.

 

9. Organic farming produces higher yields in drought conditions

In a review of comparative studies of grain and soybean production in the US

Midwest, organic growers produced higher yields in drier climates and during

droughts (and similar yields in regular conditions)..16. The same results

were found in the Rodale experiment. Organic matter makes the soil less compact

and more moisture retentive, allowing the roots to penetrate more deeply to

find water.

 

10. Organic food is safer

Organic farming generates more jobs, produces more profits, and doesn’t

pollute groundwater with nitrogen run-off. It also avoids all the risks

associated with GM crops. But let’s finish with the reason why many people

start

eating organic food – because they believe it is safer. Farmers in Canada,

Kansas

and Nebraska who use the pesticide 2,4-D suffer a higher rate of non-Hodgkin’

s lymphoma (a cancer). The same applies to dogs which play on lawns that have

been sprayed. In Sweden, exposure to phenoxy herbicides has been shown to

increase the risk of contracting lymphomas six-fold..17. In the US, the death

rates from myeloma (a cancer) are highest in rural farming areas..18. And so it

goes on.

 

Migrant farmworkers suffer an abnormally high rate of multiple myeloma,

stomach, prostate and testicular cancer..19. Organic farming carries none of

these risks. There is a strong association between breast cancer and exposure

to

chemical pesticides. Atrazine, a common ingredient in pesticides, causes

breast cancer in rats, chromosomal breakdown in the ovaries of hamsters..20,

and

hind-limb deformities in frogs. A Finnish study showed that women whose

breasts stored the highest levels of a lindane-like residue were ten times more

likely to have breast cancer than women with lower levels..21. (Lindane is a

pesticide).

 

We can end all this by shifting to organic food. We can be healthier. Our

children can be healthier. Our farmers and farm workers can be healthier.

Frogs, worms, butterflies, skylarks and the soil itself can be healthier. All

that

it takes is to turn away from chemically grown food, and embrace organic

food.

 

Resources

 

1. New Scientist, June 3, 2000. _www.soilassociation.org_

(http://www.soilassociation.org)

 

2. Ecology and Farming Magazine, IFOAM, Sept/Dec 1996

 

3. Ecology and Farming Magazine, IFOAM, Sept/Dec 1996

 

4. BBC News, May 30th 2002. Study by Paul Mader

 

5. *Effect of Agricultural Methods on Nutritional Quality* by Dr. Virginia

Worthington, Alternative Therapies, 1998:4.

 

6. New Scientist, March 14th, 2002

 

7. Globe and Mail, July 6th, 2002

 

8. Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables and

Grains. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, by Dr. Virginia

Worthington. Vol 7, No 2, 2001.

 

9. Research by Professor Theo Clark, Truman State University, Kirksville,

Mo. American Chemical Society, June 2, 2002

 

10. Reported in the newspaper ‘Ouest-France’, August 16th 2001

 

11. New Scientist, April 18th 2001

 

12. The Real Green Revolution’ by N. Parrott and T. Marsden. Greenpeace,

2002. _www.farmingsolutions.org_ (http://www.farmingsolutions.org)

 

13. Drinkwater, Wagoner and Sarronio, Nature 396, (1998).

_www.rodaleinstitute.org/science/fst1.html_

(http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/science/fst1.html)

 

14. **Can Organic Farming Feed the World?** by Christos Vasilikiotis, Ph.D.

_www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~christos/articles/cv_organic_farming.html_

(http://www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~christos/articles/cv_organic_farming.html)

 

15. See Note 5

 

16. See Note 13

 

17. *Living Downstream*, by Sandra Steingraber, page 52.

 

18. Steingraber, page 64.

 

18. Steingraber, page 65.

 

19. Steingraber, page 162.

 

20. Steingraber, page 11.

 

About the Author...

 

Guy Dauncey is a speaker, author, and organizer who works to develop a

positive vision of a sustainable future, and to translate that vision into

action.

He is author of the award-winning book Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions to

Global Climate Change; Cancer: 101 Solutions to a Preventable Epidemic, and 9

other titles. He is President of the BC Sustainable Energy Association;

Executive Director of The Solutions Project; board member of Prevent Cancer Now

and

Publisher of EcoNews, a monthly newsletter that promotes the vision of a

sustainable Vancouver Island. His home page is _www.earthfuture.com_

(http://www.earthfuture.com)

 

(http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm)