Is organic food really worth the extra cost?

[S.Annadana]

Is organic food really worth the extra cost?
by Lisa Watson
Jun 04, 2008

Courtesy of the USDA

Only growers that have been certified by an independent certifying body may carry the USDA organic seal, shown here. Growers must refrain from using chemicals for at least three years and supply thorough documentation of their organic practices.
Chart by Lisa Watson. Data from “New evidence confirms the nutritional superiority of plant-based organic foods,” by Charles Benbrook, et. al. The Organic Center, March 2008.

Studies show that organic fruits and vegetables are more likely to have higher levels of nutrients than their conventionally grown counterparts.
Sales of organic products have skyrocketed in recent years, and it’s easy to see why. People associate organic food with better health, local growers, lower pesticide levels, humane treatment of animals and sounder environmental practices.

But the National Organic Program, which regulates the process of growing organic food, is actually a marketing program within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The government stops short of making any scientific claims that organic food is safer or more nutritious than conventional foods. So with the price of food continuing to increase in recent months, shoppers are wondering if organics are really worth the extra cost.

Experts confirm that organic fruits and vegetables probably are better for the environment, and they’re often a good way of ensuring you get fresh fruit. But although a recent meta-study on organic nutrition levels showed a higher level of some vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, experts are divided on whether that translates to better health.



What makes it organic?

Farmers raise organic crops without using chemical pesticides, petroleum-based fertilizers, or sewage sludge-based fertilizers. They operate using the USDA’s list of accepted products. Organic certification is a three-year process, which requires growers to prove that the ground has not been chemically treated and all their growing practices meet organic standards.

For meat, poultry, cheese and dairy products to be considered organic, animals must be fed organic feed and given access to the outdoors. They are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Animals produced by cloning or genetic engineering are not considered organic.

Strict rules also determine how organic food is labeled. Packaged products made with at least 95 percent organic ingredients can use the USDA organic seal. If a product is made entirely with organic materials it may also be labeled “100 percent organic.” This would include all organically grown fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as a processed food, such as cereal, whose ingredients are all organic.

If at least 70 percent of the ingredients are organic, the product can use the phrase “made with organic ingredients,” but not may not carry the USDA organic seal. If less than 70 percent of the ingredients are organic, the term “organic” may be used only to identify specific ingredients. If the only organic ingredient in a chocolate bar is milk, for example, the label cannot use the USDA seal. It can only list “organic milk” as one of the ingredients on the side panel.

Growers or sellers who intentionally mislabel products face fines of up to $11,000 for each offense. But any vendor can tell consumers their farms are in the process of becoming organic, and those claims are unregulated, according to Colleen Lammel-Harmon, spokeswoman for the Illinois Dietetic Association. This often happens at farmers markets. She says if market goers want to be sure they’re getting organics, they should ask vendors some questions to tease out whether farmers actually are involved in the process.

The Heritage Prairie Market, one of the vendors at the Green City Market, uses sustainable, organic growing methods, but has not been certified. The farm has been producing crops for less than a year, said employee Sarah Harmon. They probably will eventually get certified, but the process takes about three years and can be expensive, she said. Employees at Heritage Prairie, like those at many other organic farms, are more than willing to explain the process to interested customers.



Is it healthier?

There is much debate, even among scientists studying organic food, about whether it is actually any healthier than conventionally grown food. Many people believe that organic foods are healthier because they have higher levels of antioxidants and other nutrients, and lower levels of pesticides.

A meta-study – a scientific study that compares the results of many studies – published in March by The Organic Center, a nonprofit, showed that organic fruits and vegetables typically do have higher levels of nutrients such as vitamin C and antioxidants than conventionally grown food.

“If a person just substituted the conventional produce that they eat for organic, there would be a 25 percent increase,” said Charles Benbrook, the nonprofit’s chief scientist. “But if a person increases from three servings to six, then it will have a much bigger impact.”

Antioxidants are beneficial because they neutralize free radicals – unstable molecules that are created in the body by normal chemical reactions – by adding an electron to stabilize them, said Lammel-Harmon. Having too many free radicals is toxic, and research suggests that they are a major contributor to heart disease and cancer, she said.

But with all sorts of vitamins, minerals and other chemicals acting as antioxidants, scientists haven’t sorted out which elements are most important to cancer prevention, said Carol A. Rosenberg, MD, the director of the preventative health initiative and the Living in the Future Cancer Survivorship Program at Evanston Northwestern Healthcare. “No research shows that organic food is better in terms of cancer prevention than similar foods produced by other farming methods,” she said.

Though The Organic Center’s study has isolated various vitamins, minerals and antioxidants that organic fruits and vegetables contain in higher levels than average foods, you can’t automatically make the jump that the difference leads to higher levels of protection against cancer, Rosenberg said. “If you give individual supplements that contain a single element from a fruit or vegetable it doesn’t prevent cancer the way the studies have shown that eating a combination of foods will prevent cancer,” she said. “We don’t know the singular agent in a fruit or vegetable.”

All the elements of a diet including a variety of fruits and vegetables work in harmony to create health benefits, she said.

“We are telling pretty much everybody to eat lots of fruits and vegetables,” she said. “It’s the bastion of cancer protection.” Both organic and conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables have antioxidants, she said, and going organic may be more expensive.

Carl Winter, Ph.D., a food toxicologist at the University of California, Davis, agreed that there is not enough proof to say organics are healthier. “The burden to actually determine that is extremely high,” he said. “I’d be really surprised if at the levels we’re consuming, you’re going to be able to find a health benefit or any deleterious effects.”

Dietitians recommend at least five servings of fruits and vegetables per day to get an adequate amount of antioxidants – but the more you have in your system, the better, Lammel-Harmon said. The best sources are fruits and vegetables that are rich in color. That includes blackberries, blueberries, raspberries, papaya, strawberries cantaloupe, watermelon, mangos, prunes, oranges, red grapes, cherries, sweet potatoes, spinach, broccoli, red pepper, egg plant and garlic, she said.

“I think people need to increase their fruits and vegetables, whether it’s organic or not,” Lammel-Harmon added. “That’s the bottom line.”