I was excited to learn that we have local organic farms near where I live. While speaking with the farmer though, I learned that it can be a much harder process, more expensive on less ground to sustain and produce a fully organic farm. Organic farmers also go through a very rigid process of keeping their farm compliant with USDA Organic regulations.
By definition organic farming means the use of fertilizers or pesticides that are strictly of animal or vegetable origin. Things like manure and bees!
Organic farmers do not use synthetic fertilizers, certain pesticides, GMO seeds, antibiotics, hormones or non-organic feed. This is part of what makes organic foods more expensive.
I believe people are more interested in organic food or organic farming because they believe it is healthier. It's the large appeal to buying organic. According to Mayo Clinic, "a growing body of evidence shows some potential health benefits of organic foods when compared with conventionally grown foods. While these studies have shown differences in the food, there is limited information to draw conclusions about how these differences translate into overall health benefits." (Please see their references at the bottom of their page.)
Potential benefits include the following:
- Nutrients. Studies have shown small to moderate increases in some nutrients in organic produce. The best evidence of a significant increase is in certain types of flavonoids, which have antioxidant properties.
- Omega-3 fatty acids. The feeding requirements for organic livestock farming, such as the primary use of grass and alfalfa for cattle, result in generally higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, a kind of fat that is more heart healthy than other fats. These higher omega-3 fatty acids are found in organic meats, dairy and eggs.
- Toxic metal. Cadmium is a toxic chemical naturally found in soils and absorbed by plants. Studies have shown significantly lower cadmium levels in organic grains, but not fruits and vegetables, when compared with conventionally grown crops. The lower cadmium levels in organic grains may be related to the ban on synthetic fertilizers in organic farming.
- Pesticide residue. Compared with conventionally grown produce, organically grown produce has lower detectable levels of pesticide residue. Organic produce may have residue because of pesticides approved for organic farming or because of airborne pesticides from conventional farms. The difference in health outcomes is unclear because of safety regulations for maximum levels of residue allowed on conventional produce.
- Bacteria. Meats produced conventionally may have a higher occurrence of bacteria resistant to antibiotic treatment. The overall risk of bacterial contamination of organic foods is the same as conventional foods.
If cost is a consideration for buying organic versus non-organic here are some helpful guidelines on some fruits and vegetables you can get away with not buying organic and things that you should definitely buy organic.
With hot topics like global warming (which is an actual thing and not made up. Point blank no excuses.) we ask if organic farming might be better for the environment than conventional farming?
The USDA has an on-going research study to help define the impact organic farming is for environmental quality. According to a 2015 Pub Med study organic agriculture, which honestly I had to read a few times because...science words... "the structural variables of product, data source, and sample size were statistically significant. The vegetables and fruits categories exhibited negative statistically significant values, indicating that (energy efficiency) benefits of organic farming were less likely for the categories of vegetables and fruits compared to the category of field crops. Although the values for the dairy, livestock, and mixed crop categories were positive, they were not statistically significant." Basically organic farming was more likely found to be superior for field crops and livestock than vegetables and fruits compared to conventional farming.
"In summary, future studies should employ larger samples from primary sources, and compare the environmental effects of organic farming for different types of products, cropping patterns, and performance measures. This paper exhibits several limitations. First, as most samples are from Europe, the logistic regression could not classify the location variable by country, and could not reflect the meteorological and natural conditions. As studies are increasing recently in regions other than Europe, future research should consider country level comparisons.
Worst Case Scenario: The hit to your pocket book and more research needs to be done on the impact it is having environmentally.
Best Case Scenario: There are no negative side effects to eating organic foods (sans organic food is no more or less likely to have the same risk of bacterial contamination as conventional farming. ((see above in potential benefits)) however more research is needed to see exactly the effect that organic farming is having on the environment long term.
I hope this post breaks down some common things you may have believed or not known about organic farming.
Personally for me, I buy organic when I can, but I don't fret if it's not in the budget.
Alright I'm off for now.
Blessings,
A
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