Birds select conventional over organic wheat when given free choice

[FarCenter]

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Global demand for organic produce is increasing by 4 billion annually. One key reason why consumers buy organic food is because they consider it to be better for human and animal health. Reviews comparing organic and conventional food have stated that organic food is preferred by birds and mammals in choice tests.

RESULTS: This study shows the opposite result - that captive birds in the laboratory and wild garden birds both consumed more conventional than organic wheat when given free choice. There was a lag in preference formation during which time birds learnt to distinguish between the two food types, which is likely to explain why the present results differ from those of previous studies. A further experiment confirmed that, of 16 potential causal factors, detection by birds of consistently higher levels of protein in conventional seeds (a common difference between many organic and conventional foodstuffs) is the likely mechanism behind this pattern.

CONCLUSION: The results of this study suggest that the current dogma that organic food is preferred to conventional food may not always be true, which is of considerable importance for consumer perceptions of organically grown food.

http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/123446916/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

[Oregone]

1. This study is for the birds

[Catherina]

2. So now Monsanto is calling its garbage "conventional" food?

too fool the public? Sad.

I'm glad these people aren't doing studies on teenagers, water and cola. I can see their abstract now, "teenagers in home and external environments both consumed more Coke Cola than natural water when given free choice."

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

5. Pfff. Probably genetically engineered Monsanto birds.

:crazy:

[Catherina]

6. Which drank too much Hi Fructose Corn Syrup

We all know how that Hi Fructose Corn Syrup adles the brain.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

8. Could have been the fluoride.

Or the vaccines.

[Catherina]

9. Nope. It's the Hi Fructose Corn Syrup. Mercury-tainted. Kills brain cells

Terrible news. And to think the FDA sat on that news for years without alerting the public about the dangers of Hi Fructose Corn Syrup.

http://www.grist.org/article/Some-heavy-metal-with-that-sweet-roll-/


My favorite part is how manufacturing that poison hurts the environment. Have you ever been to Onondaga Lake to admire the handiwork of your moniker? Allied Chemical, now known as Honeywell International, dumped the byproducts of the HFCS process (caustic soda, Hydrochloric acid, mercury, chlorinated benzenes, BTEX compounds, PCBs, and PAHs) into the lake and along the lakeshore.

In 1994, Onondaga Lake was added as a Superfund site because of the severity of the toxicity.

High fructose corn syrup is destroying our earth, our children and our health. The worst thing is that its advocates don't care and dismiss people's legitimate concerns by saying they're anti science or some such garbage.

Terrible isn't it?

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

10. Not as bad as the fluoride that's sapping our precious bodily fluids.

[Pisces]

3. I guess I will start feeding toxic, pesticide ridden fruit to my children based on bird preference.

What was you objective with this post? People who eat organic foods do not do so because they were under the impression that wild animals would choose to eat it before conventionally grown items???? Why not post the recent article which attributes pesticides to ADD in children.

http://www.latimes.com/features/health/sns-ap-us-med-children-pesticides,0,761642.story

Scientist vs. birds hmmmm.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. Humans select fatty, sugary snacks over healthier food when given free choice

What's their point?

[petronius]

7. "Dogma" and "preferred" are strange word choices

Is there any discussion in the article about the relative health of the birds between the two diets? Otherwise, it pretty much boils down to 'birds like candy.'