Last week, the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture reported that organic food is not more nutritional than conventionally raised foods. The Society of Chemical Industry, the sponsor of the journal, proudly declares on their website “No evidence to support ‘organic is best’” The researchers found that the nutritional content of carrots, kale, mature peas, apples and potatoes were comparable between organic and conventionally grown foods. This is actually good news from a certain perspective, but as in any industry, when we hear ‘breaking news’, it is important to take a step back and look at the big picture. Many of you are aware that this news was not quite as ground-breaking as the coverage made it out to be. Picture this scenario: you step out into your backyard and pick two ripe home-grown tomatoes. The nutritional content is exactly the same. Now spray one with bleach & pesticide and leave the other alone. Which would you rather eat?
The article makes no mention of potential risk of pesticides. In fairness, the article was simply looking at nutritional content of foods. But for practical purposes to the average consumer, this study does very little to dissuade one from choosing organic when possible.
