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Ten Reasons Why Organic Food Is Better
By Guy Dauncey
1. Organic farming is better for wildlife
A report by Britain’s Soil Association shows that wildlife is substantially
richer and more varied on organic than on conventional farms. A typical
organic field has five times as many wild plants, 57% more species, and 44% more
birds in cultivated areas than a regular farm1. Two 1996 studies show that organic farms have twice as many skylarks,
and twice as many butterflies2. Every
time we eat an organic lettuce or tomato, we help restore wildlife.
2. Organic farming is better for the soil
Studies show that organic fields have deeper vegetation, more weed
cover, and contain 88% more ‘epigeal arthropods’ (squiggly soil creatures)3. A new Swiss study demonstrates that organic soils
have more soil microbes, more mycorrhizae – the fungi that attach themselves
to the tips of plant roots and help plants absorb nutrients - and more earthworms4. It found that soil insects are twice as abundant
and more diverse in organic plots, including pest-eating spiders and beetles.
3. Organic food is better for animal reproduction
Out of 14 animal studies, ten showed that animals fare better when fed
organic food. Three showed no difference, and one showed an improvement with
conventional food. We are all mammals, so
we share a lot in common. Female rabbits fed on organic food have twice
the level of ovum production; chickens fed on organic food have a 28% higher
rate of egg production. Rabbits that were fed conventional food saw a decline
in fertility over three generations, compared to no decline for organically
fed rabbits5. Meanwhile,
many human couples find it hard to have a baby….
4. Organic food helps fight cancer, stroke and heart problems
In a recent study, Scottish scientists found that organic vegetable soups
contain almost six times as much salicylic acid as non-organic vegetable
soups. Eleven brands of organic soup had 117
nanograms per gram, versus just 20 nanograms in 24 types of non-organic
soup6. Salicylic acid is the main
ingredient in aspirin; it helps fight hardening of the arteries and bowel
cancer, and is produced naturally in plants as a defence against stress and disease.
If plants don’t have to resist bugs because of pesticide use, they generate
less salicylic acid, and pass less on to us. The same scientists found
significantly higher concentrations of salicylic acid in the blood of
vegetarian Buddhist monks, compared with meat-eaters.
5. Organic food contains more nutrients
According to a recent study by the Globe and Mail and CTV News of the
nutrient quality of fruit and vegetables, compared to 50 years ago, today’s
regular fruit and vegetables contain
dramatically less vitamins and minerals7. The average potato has lost 100% of its vitamin A, 57% of its
vitamin C and iron, 28% of its calcium, 50% of its riboflavin, and 18% of its
thiamin. Out of
seven key nutrients studied, only niacin levels increased. Similar results
applied to 24 other fruits
and vegetables. For broccoli, all seven nutrients fell, including a
63% decrease in calcium and
a 34% decrease in iron. No wonder we are gulping down the supplements.
In April 2001, however, a US study examined 41 comparisons of the nutrient
levels in organic and regular foods. In every case, the organic crops had
higher nutrient levels - 27% more vitamin C, 29% more iron, 14%
more phosphorus8. At
the June 2001 meeting of the American Chemical Society, a chemistry professor
reported that organic oranges contained up to 30% more vitamin C than regular
oranges, even though they are half the size9. (Conventional orange trees are fed nitrogen fertilizer, causing the
fruit to absorb more water, which makes them bigger.) In a French study, a
cancer specialist
studying the nutrient qualities of food grown in the
Languedoc-Roussillon region of France showed that for the twelve foods where
his study is complete, the organic foods showed increased quantities of
vitamins A, C, E, and the B group, increased elements such as zinc, increased
minerals
such as calcium, and increased fibre10.
6. Organic apples are …. just better!
From 1994 to 1999, a soil scientist at Washington State University ran
a series of tests comparing apple orchards. The organic orchard had the best
soil, held water better, and resisted
soil damage better. It was more energy efficient, and required less labour
and less water per apple. The organic apples were firmer, tasted sweeter and
were less tart to a non-expert panel. The organic orchard also made more
money, since the apples sold for a higher price11. (The Salt Spring Apple Festival is on Sunday September 30th, with 14 orchards open to the public, and 350
varieties of organic apple. Contact Harry Burton, 250-653-2007).
7. Organic farming can feed the world
In a 2002 Greenpeace report, the authors found that organic and agro-ecological
methods of growing in the Southern hemisphere produced a dramatic increase in
yields, as well as reduced pests and diseases, greater crop diversity, and
improved nutritional content. In the Tigray, Ethiopia, organic crops raised
3-5 times more food than chemically treated plots; in Brazil, maize yields
increased by 20 – 250%; in Peru, uplands crop yields increased by 150%12. In 1998, the Rodale Institute in Kutztown,
Pennsylvania, published the results of a 15-year study that compared 3 ways
of growing maize and soybeans – a conventional chemical rotation method, an
organic system involving crop rotation and legume crops, and an organic
system using cow manure. The yields were similar for all three systems,
debunking the myth that organic methods cannot feed the world13. In Britain, an experiment run at Broadbalk by the Rothamsted
Experimental Station for 150 years has shown that wheat yields on manured
plots average 3.45 tonnes per hectare, compared to 3.40 tonnes on the chemically
fertilized plots14. A
recently completed 21-year Swiss study, on the other hand, showed that
organic yields were 20% smaller than conventional yields. The organic plots
required 34% to 53% less fertilizer and energy and 97% less pesticide,
however, and produced more food per unit of energy and fertilizer. The soil
microbes, flora, fauna and soil fertility also increased, leading the study’s
authors to conclude that the ecological benefits of organic farming make up
for the reduced harvest15.
8. Organic farming protects the climate
Organic soil is full of living creatures, which carry carbon. In the Rodale
experiment, the organically managed plot stored much more carbon than the
conventional plot. In the Broadbalk experiment, soil fertility increased by
120% in the manured plots, versus 20% in the chemical plots. The same results
occurred in the Swiss experiment. A study in California’s Central Valley
showed that as well as producing similar yields and suffering similar pest damage,
organically managed fields produced 28% more organic carbon. By storing more
carbon in the soil, organic farmers help to stop global climate change.
9. Organic farming produces higher yields in drought conditions
In a review of comparative studies of grain and soybean production in
the US Midwest, organic growers produced higher yields in drier climates and
during droughts (and similar yields in regular conditions)16. The same results were found in the Rodale
experiment. Organic matter makes the soil less compact and more moisture
retentive, allowing the roots to penetrate more deeply to find water.
10. Organic food is safer
Organic farming generates more jobs, produces more profits, and doesn’t
pollute groundwater with nitrogen run-off. It also avoids all the risks
associated with GM crops. But let’s finish with the
reason why many people start eating organic food – because they believe
it is safer. Farmers in Canada, Kansas and Nebraska who use the pesticide
2,4-D suffer a higher rate of non-Hodgkin’s
lymphoma (a cancer). The same applies to dogs which play on lawns that
have been sprayed. In Sweden, exposure to phenoxy herbicides has been shown
to increase the risk of contracting
lymphomas six-fold17. In
the US, the death rates from myeloma (a cancer) are highest in rural farming
areas18. And so it goes on. Migrant
farmworkers suffer an abnormally high rate of multiple
myeloma, stomach, prostate and testicular cancer19. Organic farming carries none of these risks.
There is a strong association between breast cancer and exposure to
chemical pesticides. Atrazine, a common ingredient in pesticides, causes
breast cancer in rats, chromosomal breakdown in the ovaries of hamsters20, and hind-limb deformities in frogs. A Finnish
study showed that women whose breasts stored the highest levels of a
lindane-like residue were ten times more likely to have breast cancer than
women with lower levels21.
(Lindane is a pesticide). We can end all this by shifting to organic food. We
can be healthier. Our children can be healthier. Our farmers and farm workers
can be healthier. Frogs, worms, butterflies, skylarks and the soil itself can
be healthier. All that it takes is to turn away from chemically grown food,
and embrace organic food.
_________________________________________________________________________
Guy Dauncey is the author of Earthfuture: Stories from a
Sustainable World (ecotopian short stories) and Stormy Weather: 101 Solutions
to Global Climate Change, winner of a Nautilus Award at the New York Book
Expo (New Society Publishers). He lives in Victoria.
www.earthfuture.com
This article originally appeared in Common Ground Magazine,
August 2002. Please feel free
to photocopy and distribute.
Organic Food Resources
Blue Moon Organics (Port Moody, Pitt Meadows):
www.bluemoonorganics.com
Canadian Organic Growers: www.cog.ca
City Farmer (Vancouver): www.cityfarmer.org
FarmFolk/CityFolk: www.ffcf.bc.ca
Greater Victoria Organic Food Guide:
www.lifecyclesproject.ca/pubs.htm
Organics@Home (Vancouver): www.OrganicsAtHome.com
Rodale Institute: www.rodaleinstitute.org
Small Potatoes Urban Delivery (SPUD) (Vancouver): www.spud.ca
South Island Organic Growers Association: www.siopa.org
Willing Workers on Organic Farms: www.wwoofusa.com/canada
Footnotes
1 New Scientist, June 3, 2000. www.soilassociation.org
2 Ecology and Farming Magazine, IFOAM, Sept/Dec 1996
3 Ecology and Farming Magazine, IFOAM, Sept/Dec 1996
4 BBC News, May 30th 2002. Study by Paul Mader
5 ‘Effect of Agricultural Methods on Nutritional
Quality’ by Dr.
Virginia Worthington, Alternative Therapies, 1998:4.
6 New Scientist, March 14th, 2002
7 Globe and Mail, July 6th, 2002
8 Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional
Fruits,
Vegetables and Grains. Journal of Alternative and Complementary
Medicine, by Dr. Virginia Worthington. Vol 7, No 2, 2001.
9 Research by Professor Theo Clark, Truman State
University,
Kirksville, Mo. American Chemical Society, June 2, 2002
10 Reported in the newspaper ‘Ouest-France’, August 16th 2001
11 New Scientist, April 18th 2001
12 The Real Green Revolution’ by N. Parrott and T.
Marsden.
Greenpeace, 2002. www.farmingsolutions.org
13 Drinkwater, Wagoner and Sarronio, Nature 396,
(1998).
www.rodaleinstitute.org/science/fst1.html
14 “Can Organic Farming Feed the World?” by Christos
Vasilikiotis, Ph.D.
www.cnr.berkeley.edu/~christos/articles/cv_organic_farming.htm
15 See Note 5
16 See Note 13
17 ‘Living Downstream’, by Sandra Steingraber, page 52.
18 Steingraber, page 64.
19 Steingraber, page 65.
20 Steingraber, page 162.
21 Steingraber,
page 11.
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