“Organic Food
is not healthier than conventional” says a Stanford University research is
currently grabbing all the headlines internationally.
The
study was undertaken by Stanford University’s Center for Health Policy. The group
of physicians who embarked on this study had anticipated that organic foods would
be superior were surprised to discover that there was no real measurable
difference.
They conducted
17 human studies and 223 studies of nutrient and contaminant levels in
unprocessed foods, such as fruits, vegetables, grains, milk, eggs, chicken,
pork and meat. They compared health, nutritional and safety characteristics of
organic and conventional foods. The results of the study were published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The study concluded
that the studies showed a lack of strong evidence that organic foods are
significantly more nutritious than conventional foods. Consumption of organic
foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant
bacteria, but not by much. Foods with pesticide residue were still under the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
standards, and that risk could be eliminated by simple washing the produce before
consuming, which consumers should do whether eating organic or conventional.
And this (Standford University) remains one of the several hundred researches
that arrived at similar conclusions. The organic food lobby globally and India
are fighting back questioning these studies.
Instead
of getting drawn into the battle over research methodology, let’s get to brass
tacks.
What makes organic farming different? It’s not the use of pesticides,
it’s the origin of the pesticides used. What the implications are, Christie Wilcox's in her excellent post:
Mythbusting 101: Organic Farming vs Conventional Agriculture summarizes:
"Organic pesticides are those that are derived from natural sources and
processed lightly if at all before use. This is different than the current
pesticides used by conventional agriculture, which are generally synthetic.
It has been assumed for years that pesticides that occur naturally (in certain
plants, for example) are somehow better for us and the environment than those
that have been created by man.
But as more research is done into their toxicity, however, this simply isn’t
true, either. Many natural pesticides have been found to be potential – or
serious – health risks. Leave alone supposedly eco friendliness, even if the
organic food you’re eating is from a farm which uses little to no pesticides at
all, there is another problem: getting rid of pesticides doesn’t mean your food
is free from harmful things. Between 1990 and 2001, tens of thousands fell ill
due to foods contaminated with pathogens like E. coli, and many have organic
foods to blame. That’s because organic foods tend to have higher levels of
potential pathogens."
The claim that organic food being safe is fraudulent is backed by not only by
research but the fact that life expectancy almost doubled in India after the
Green Revolution.
It is fraudulent because such claims manipulate you into thinking you are
buying of something of added value when there is nothing to justify such a
value. Consumers are accordingly ripped off paying a premium for value addition
that simply does not exist. Such claims are deceitful as it leads to consumers
acquiring false information, forming mis-perceptions. It exploits and fans
gullibility. By endorsing organic as healthy food you are only advertising your
scientific illiteracy. It becomes an outright scam when you make such claims
aiming to profit by marketing organic food.
To redress grievances, you can do the following:
a. Complain to ASCI - Advertising Standards Council of India
b. Lodge complain and sue such retailers in Consumer Courts
very nice and informative blog which describe advantage of organic farming over conventional agriculture.demand of organic food goes on increasing day by day due to the health awareness among people.But it is more expensive than conventional food,because farmers getting lower yield per acre due to non use of pesticides and fertilizers.. But according to recent study,researcher found that organic food is not healthier than conventional food.I appreciate for your great writing..Lot of things I able to learn from this post.Thanks for sharing
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