Organic food 'better than ordinary produce'

[nosmokes]

Pretty much common sense, but you hafta spend millions of dollars doing the study to counteract the millions spent corporate Ag spreading their lies and misinformation and lobbying to keep organics in the back corner and relegated to the realm of hippies and health nuts.
--###--

original-telegraph

Organic food 'better than ordinary produce'

By Lucy Cockcroft

Organic food is more nutritious than ordinary produce, and contains higher quantities of antioxidants which help ward off heart disease and cancer, according to an extensive four-year study.

Scientists who led the £12 million project - the biggest ever research programme into organic food - hope their evidence will help persuade the Government to recommend organic produce and stop advising that eating it is merely a "lifestyle choice".

The findings come from Prof Carlo Leifert, whose Newcastle University study was funded by the EU and food companies. It found that organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40 per cent more antioxidants, which could cut the risk of cancer and heart disease.

~snip~
.
.
.
complete article here

[Richard Steele]

1. K&R

[BrklynLib at work]

2. Agribusiness does not want this news to get out...and probably Big Pharma does not want you to know

that you can prevent many diseases with good diet and excercise.

[Orrex]

6. Threefer Madness!

[kimmerspixelated]

14. Hit the nail on the head!

Couldn't agree more!

[GoneOffShore]

27. Actually Agri business is so big they don't give a shit

People in this country expect cheap food. They crave cheap food. And cheap protein.

Most Americans don't care what they eat or drink as long as it's plentiful and cheap.

"This food is awful and there's not enough of it!"

The chances of an organization like CAMRA gaining any traction as it did back in the 70's in Britain are so minimal as to be laughable. We're not willing to pay the price for "real food" because we don't want to pay the people who grow it the money they deserve. Hell, we won't pay teachers what they deserve.

I'm not going to address the "Big Pharma" issue because there are many aspects to it. It is not as black and white as some would paint it. But then, we all have our own windmills to tilt at.

[silverweb]

3. K&R.

Important information.

[peacetalksforall]

4. We need all the studies we can get that are conducted outside the

U.S., because in this country the FDA is 'bought'.

[Orrex]

5. Something a little funny in the wording here

Leaving aside the all but meaningless designator "organic," this article doesn't actually say much of use. For instance:

It found that organic fruit and vegetables contained up to 40 per cent more antioxidants, which could cut the risk of cancer and heart disease.

So these magical organics contain "up to 40 per cent more." That means that they can contain 25%, 10%, or 1% more, which is quite a range. Also, there's no clear indication of what kind of "non-organics" were studied, so it's entirely possible that the worst "non-organics" were stacked against the best "organics."

Also, although antioxidants are hailed as the greatest things in the history of the universe, the article can't resist slipping in the disclaimer "could."

That leaves us with an unspecified range of "organic" foods with an unspecified range of antioxidants which could cut the risk of cancer and heart disease. Well, that's super. We have a statement so couched in qualifiers and disclaimers as to be worthless.

Eating a big stick of salt-crusted lard every day could cut the risk of heart disease. Sure, it almost certainly doesn't, but it could...


Let's see any anticle about a study that makes concrete, definitive assertions, rather than yet another "I love antioxidants" declaration.

[kestrel91316]

7. Your complaint is about the journalism or lack thereof in the article.

That doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the original research.

[Evoman]

23. Is there a link to the original research?

I can't find it.

[OzarkDem]

33. From reading the article

these seem to be some preliminary results, perhaps. Its an important area to study and should be published in a peer reviewed journal if its to gain credibility.

I'm always disappointed when those who advocate for organic foods, vitamins, etc. try to cut corners and not use the same rigorous standards of scientific review as others. Their field of study is worthy, they do it no justice by holding themselves to different standards.

[kestrel91316]

35. That would be MORE "good journalism", lol.

[GoneOffShore]

8. Here's the biggest advantage to organic, sustainable farming.

The damn food TASTES better.

[murray hill farm]

11. U beat me to it.LOL

There is no comparison. Organic, local farm produced produce tastes soooooooo much better that their really is NO comparison. It does NOT cost much more than the poison, guck that the super markets import from who knows where...and it is my pleasure to support those who produce real food, safe food, chemical free food.....AND, food that tastes like real food. I think most of the usa population...under 40 or 50 have never tasted real food. So, they just have accepted that a tomatoe tastes like those red tasteless things that they buy at the super market.

[GoneOffShore]

25. Super market = Poison Central

The only things I buy there are some pastas, paper towels and toilet paper.

We do go to Trader Joe's for cat food, and some prepared stuff, but produce, milk, eggs, cheese(well except for the French and Italian ones) and meat are all local.

Yes, we have no kids.
Yes, it's a little more expensive.

But it does taste like food. And we actually eat less, because we're satisfied sooner.

[Canuckistanian]

44. I've given up tyring to find a tomato with taste at the store

Our own homegrown tomatoes are bursting with the flavor that I remember as a kid in the city.

The "vine" tomatoes used to taste like that several years ago, now they've become as bland as the cheapest "hothouse" types.

[fedupfisherman]

9. Organic produce is too expensive

If organic produce wants to compete with 'regular' produce it must be cheaper

[defendandprotect]

12. What's the cost to your health or the environment . . . ???

Or to your children's health -- ????

Non-organic farming is a danger to health, to soil, to the environment . . .
but it provides larger crops with less nutrition --

which is more costly?

[nosmokes]

13. It's a matter of your priorities. "Conventional poisoned food is cheap

because we subsidise the hell out of it and we're not paying the full tote for what all those petrochemical inputs and poisons are doing to the environment and what that is costing us in health care costs, lost time from work, clean-up costs - the list goes on. If the real cost of corporate food was charged at the register like organic was, organic would be a bargain!

[bvar22]

15. You can grow your own,

...or contribute some time & labor to a community based organic co-op.
Most Organic Gardeners(like myself & Starkraven) are open to barter.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x5729

Health benefits aside, taste alone makes it worth the cost.

I am suspicious of some of the supermarket items bearing the "Organic" label.
I am also suspicious of some of the produce sold at our local Farmers Market.

There is only one way to know for sure.

[JitterbugPerfume]

10. the best reason to eat organics is

the lack of pesticide and herbicide , and other earth friendly growing techniques . I doubt that they are more nourishing , but I could be wrong. One thing is for sure, organics taste better.

[Richard D]

16. How could organic food not be more nourishing?

Just doesn't make any sense to me that people think factory farmed food could in any way be equal to organically grown food.

[karlrschneider]

18. I don't understand how it could be any different.

To mah to or to may to, still the same damn variety of nightshade.

[PaulaFarrell]

47. Organic soils have more minerals

one of the effects of industrial farming is demineralisation of the soil, so less minerals in the things grown on it.

[fedupfisherman]

19. How is an organically grown Early Girl tomato more.........

nutritious than one grown with pesticides and dusts?

[cuke]

48. They affect the soil

and they kill organisms that affect the soil. Change the soil, change the fruit. Wine makers call it "terrior", though they use that word as it relates to taste, but the concept is the same

[karlrschneider]

17. I don't believe it.

Not even a little bit.

[The Straight Story]

21. Do you believe in ghosts though?

:)

[karlrschneider]

30. Nope.

;-)

[The Straight Story]

36. But...but...they got proof organics are better, scienists said so!

:rofl:

[jpgray]

39. Based on... what?

[karlrschneider]

41. My Magic Eight Ball

:P

[bvar22]

20. Tests show true "Free Range" eggs are much healthier!

* A 1998 study in Animal Feed Science and Technology found that pastured eggs had higher omega-3s and vitamin E than eggs from caged hens.

* A 1999 study by Barb Gorski at Pennsylvania State University found that eggs from pastured birds had 10 percent less fat, 34 percent less cholesterol, 40 percent more vitamin A, and four times the omega-3s compared to the standard USDA data. Her study also tested pastured chicken meat, and found it to have 21 percent less fat, 30 percent less saturated fat and 50 percent more vitamin A than the USDA standard.

* In 2003, Heather Karsten at Pennsylvania State University compared eggs from two groups of Hy-Line variety hens, with one kept in standard crowded factory farm conditions and the other on mixed grass and legume pasture. The eggs had similar levels of fat and cholesterol, but the pastured eggs had three times more omega-3s, 220 percent more vitamin E and 62 percent more vitamin A than eggs from caged hens.

* The 2005 study Mother Earth News conducted of four heritage-breed pastured flocks in Kansas found that pastured eggs had roughly half the cholesterol, 50 percent more vitamin E, and three times more beta carotene.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Whole-Foods-and-Cooking/2007-10-01/Tests-Reveal-Healthier-Eggs.aspx

Supermarket eggs are a pale imitation of true "Free Range" eggs in taste AND nutrients.

Our new Chicken House is almost finished, and we expect to have about a dozen "Free Range" chickens soon.

[murray hill farm]

46. I sure would love to see...

some pictures of your finished Chicken House!!!!

[alarimer]

50. However industrial organis "free range" is not truly free range

They give the chickens a small square of outside environment but they are not allowed outside for the first several weeks of life.

Read "The Omnivore's Dilemma". It was a major expose of industrial food, as well as industrial organic. Organic is just a word on a label that actually means very little. Lip service. It is better only in they do not use pesticides (or at least not chemical ones- that is also a gray area) but they (like the other industrial food chain) use an incredible amount of fuel to get those food to your supermarket. Beware the label organic- it might not mean what you think it means. Or what it ought to mean.

[bvar22]

54. There is only one way to know "For Sure"

Grow your own, or deal with a trusted farmer or neighbor.

Our chickens will be true Free Range.
We don't trust the supermarket factory "organic" label.
We don't even trust Farmer's Market "Organic" unless we know the farmer or gardener.

[NorthernSpy]

22. could simply mean that the organic produce contains less water per pound...

"Hotter" synthetic nitrogen sources allow for faster growth and quicker water uptake in conventionally-grown produce. Therefore, the conventionally-grown product will be somewhat younger and more "dilute" compared to the more slowly-grown, older by the time it has reached marketable size, and denser "organic" product.

At least, that would be my guess.

[nosmokes]

45. It's about the soil. The so called conventional method of

corporate Ag where everything is poisoned with tons of petro-chemical additives to replace nutrients that have been wiped out by the monocropping method and the petro-chemical additives in the nature of pesticides that have poisoned the soil have left it sick and unhealthy, devoid or severelylower than normal rates of micro nutrients and healty bacteria in the soil that plants really need to be healthy and complete. Soil scientists are still learning about it. But we used to think we knew everything when we had it had it figured it out N-P-K. But the absolute bottomline is pretty damn simple. Healthy plants grow in healthy soil, and you cannot have healthy soil by dumping tons of poison on it.

[Mike03]

24. Nosmokes, thank you for these posts

Some are dropping like stones in GD as you would expect, but others are garnering the attention and respect they deserve.

K&R

I gave up trying to talk about this topic because there was so much ridicule, and when I cited studies you could hear crickets. I gave up, but people better wise up fast about the threats posed by GMO foods and the seeds that spawn these foods, which ARE contaminating organic fields.

No matter how healthy people think they are eating, it's not as healthy as they think it is. So, control over what we put in our mouths has been removed from our consciousness and lies in the paws of companies like Monstanto.

[Cha]

26. So true and I, personally, don't

need a study because I've been eating only Organic Produce for about 21 years and it tastes way better and I don't have to worry about my liver having to filter out the pesticides which are some of the hardest toxins for the liver to get rid. Saves on Drs. down the line if one thinks "it's too expensive". B-) Not only saves on Drs but you have a better qualilty of life, Sunshine. :D

[JitterbugPerfume]

28. organics are not to expensive

when you consider the true cost of eating pesticides, land use , the environment,and taste.

[Cha]

29. Exactly! Organics are actually

Much Cheaper in the long run(which is the smart run)..it's just a lament I've heard at my job in the co-op but I always give my little spiel about me not having been to a Dr in 30 years(knock on wood)and how we're not only giving ourselves the best ..we are doing a part in helping our home, The Planet Earth!~

[Mike03]

37. I know, but one thing I feel, which may be wrong,

is that being healthy has become a full-time profession.

I mean, exercising four hours a day, shopping at least twice a week, trying to do enough research to figure out the good organics from the fraudulent, and then also figuring out which supplements are healthy, and when and how to take them.

[Cha]

40. I have to work at it but

I exercise(running up and walking down this hill I like about 20 times) 4 times a week and get my food right where I work at the co-op..I've been fortunate in that I always seem to be where the organic farmers are.

I've been in the natural food business for over 20 years so I've run the gamut on trying new things as they come out and we've come a looooong way, but it always goes back to Nature.

Google "New Chapter"..they seem to be the best natural food supplement company I've run across if you need something you can't get from the good nutrition you eat.

As I'm sure you know; in our lives..Balance is Key~ :)

[Mike03]

43. It's great to meet people like you here

Is there any way to keep in touch with your knowledge or your postings on the subject of health and food.

[Cha]

51. Hey Mike..

I love to talk about this stuff but I'm not a regular with this subject on DU(I'm workin' to get fascism annihilated..so you know it's full time).

But, when I see a thread from nosmokes I want to support all the heavy lifting he does for our environment and Thank him(Thank you, nosmokes!~) for doing so..

Just pm me if you want to kibitz about the healthy state of our beings. :)

[Mike03]

31. Just beware of fraudulent or misleading organic products

Sometimes non-organic products wind up in organic sections.

Also, didn't our government recently redefine "organic"?

Just FYI:

Difference in price between "natural almond butter" and "organic almond butter".

Natural: $11.00

Organic: $18.99


For one jar of almond butter.

[Cha]

42. We get Organic Almond Butter

at the co-op for about $11 bucks but our co-op is non profit and it's the cheapest place for consumers I've seen and worked at in my travels across the country.

One way to tell if something is right for you is to use the pendulum(seems to work for me, anyway)..you could google that, too, and see what the info is on the net. Takes a lot of guess work out of something you don't want to spend money on if it doesn't end up working for you.

Get to know the source of Organic Produce and the farmers and learn companies you can trust..The Staff at natural food store could help you with that.

We get local produce that isn't certified organic(cause it's too expensive and too many hoops for the farmers), but I know them and I know they're organic so that's Helpful!

[OzarkDem]

32. One small disagreement

While organic food is good for you in other ways, a couple of studies this past year showed anti-oxidants do not cut the risk of cancer. They have no impact, and a couple of the studies reviewed in meta analysis showed an increased risk of cancer.

[taught_me_patience]

34. I've found organic food to be way too expensive

and does not taste all that much better than traditional produce that is vine ripened. I'm also dubious much of the produce that is claimed to be "organic".


taught.

[MUSTANG_2004]

53. My take as well

I'm suspicious of the organic label (there are a number of loopholes that allow pesticides), and have never noticed much difference in taste.

[Mike03]

38. What I was trying to say, sorry, and it was sloppy, is that

It is a luxury to be healthy nowadays, just like it is a luxury to be educated or totally informed. That's why so many people have no clues about what to eat, or who to vote for, or who attacked us on nine eleven.

Sorry, this is way off topic--(insert shy/smile emoticon here)

[JohnyCanuck]

49. Organic Strawberries Stop Cancer Cells

Organic Strawberries Stop Cancer Cells

Latest evidence on why organic foods are good for health. Prof. Joe Cummins and Dr. Mae-Wan Ho

SNIP

One important thing about organically grown foods is that they are a cornucopia of health-promoting chemical compounds. A new landmark study shows that organic strawberry extracts inhibited the proliferation of cancer cells more effectively than conventional strawberry extracts.

What is it about organically grown plants that make them rich in secondary metabolites off the main track, which are great for fighting diseases like cancer? Many of these compounds are actually part and parcel of the plant’s own defence against pests and disease.

Bengt Lundegardh and Anna Martensson <8> at the University of Agricultural Sciences Uppsala Sweden believe that the benefits of organically grown foods have a lot to with activating the plant’s defence mechanisms to synthesize its own protective agents because synthetic pesticides are excluded. An active soil where plants and microbes interact also facilitates the exchange of metabolic compounds such as vitamins and cofactors. In addition, organically grown foods have a richer mineral content, on account of a more balanced nutrient uptake in the absence of artificial fertilizers, which would have provided excesses of easily available nutrients such as nitrates.

Bioactive compounds in foods, especially the plant phenolic antioxidants, are well known to prevent cancer and cardiovascular disease <9>. Phenolics are present in many crops, particularly fruits, and it has become clear that organic foods are richer in cancer fighting antioxidants <10, 11>.


Strawberries have been studied extensively for their cancer fighting ability and that is where the benefits of organic fruit cultivation shine through. Swedish researchers at Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Alnarp, and Lund University compared extracts of five organic and conventional cultivars for their ability to inhibit the proliferation of human colon and breast cancer cells. They found that extracts from organically grown strawberries inhibited cell proliferation more effectively than extracts from the conventionally grown ones, and in both types of cancer cells <12>.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/OSSCC.php

Many more articles on the benefits of organic agriculture and discussion of practical alternatives to industrialized agriculture and factory farming here: http://www.i-sis.org.uk/susag.php . For example:

Making the World Sustainable

Mae-Wan Ho
Biophysics Group, Dept. of Pharmacy, King’s College, Franklin-Wilkins Bldg.
London SE1 9NN, UK.

Institute of Science in Society, PO Box 32097, London NW1 0XR, UK
E-mail: [e-mail]

Plenary lecture at Food Security in An Energy-Scarce World international conference, 23-25 June 2005, University College, Dublin, Ireland.

SNIP

Environmental engineer meets Chinese peasant farmers

It may sound like a dream, but it is possible to produce a super-abundance of food with no fertilizers or pesticides and with little or no greenhouse gas emission. The key is to treat farm wastes properly to mine the rich nutrients that can be returned to the farm, to support the production of fish, crops, livestock and more; get biogas energy as by-product, and perhaps most importantly, conserve and release pure potable water back to the aquifers.

Professor George Chan has spent years perfecting the system; and refers to it as the Integrated Food and Waste Management System (IFWMS) <53>. I just call it "dream farm" <30>.

Chan was born in Mauritius and educated at Imperial College, London University in the UK, specializing in environmental engineering. He was director of two important US federal programmes funded by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Energy in the US Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands of the North Pacific. On retiring, Chan spent 5 years in China among the Chinese peasants, and confessed he learned just as much there as he did in University.

He learned from the Chinese peasants a system of farming and living that inspired him and many others including Gunter Pauli, the founder and director of the Zero Emissions Research Initiative (ZERI) (www.zeri.org). Chan has worked with ZERI since, which has taken him to nearly 80 countries and territories, and contributed to evolving IFWMS into a compelling alternative to conventional farming.

The integrated farm typically consists of crops, livestock and fishponds. But the nutrients from farm wastes often spill over into supporting extra production of algae, chickens, earthworms, silkworms, mushrooms, and other valuables that bring additional income and benefits for the farmers and the local communities.

http://www.i-sis.org.uk/MTWS.php

[Ediacara]

52. If only they'd lower the prices so people might actually buy organic

[libodem]

55. I was looking at eggs yesterday

at the store with my mom. $1.48 for a dozen large and $4 something for organic. Pretty spendy. I'll fore-go the extra antioxidants for that price.

[arikara]

56. That's so unfortunate, there's way more than anti-oxidants involved...

The poor chicken is the most abused animal in the world. The cheap mass produced eggs come from barns full of thousands of birds crammed into tiny cages with no daylight, no room to move, clipped beaks and feet, fed unnatural diets and pumped up with hormone and antibiotic treatments so that they can live under such cruel disgusting conditions.

Consequently, the eggs produced are not healthy and that is why all the warnings about salmonella etc. I grew up on a farm and we often would make big pitchers of eggnog when we had excess eggs. Nobody ever got sick. You wouldn't dream of doing that with the cheap mass produced battery eggs, it would probably kill you.



http://www.all-creatures.org/articles/egg-battery.html

[orleans]

57. bookmarked. n/t