Debunking the debunkers of organic food
"No more nutritious" sounds powerful but offers little insight into the overall value of organics or its impact on our health.
By Michael Yudell
The study weighs in on whether organically farmed products are safer or healthier than their conventionally farmed cousins.
Despite all the hoopla, the Stanford study uncovers no new science. No experiments were done in its making. Instead, the authors collected and analyzed a slice of the broader literature on the subject of organic and conventional farming to draw their conclusions.
But the hype isn't the alleged elitism or indulgence of organics. It's coming from those who have used this one, narrow study to try to undermine the public's perception of organic farming.
The truth is that belief in the nutritional value of organics is just one of many reasons motivating consumers to buy them. Even if organics are, in fact, no more nutritious, there remain compelling reasons to foster organic farming and to make it less expensive and better able to meet the needs of a growing world population.
It goes without saying that much of the media coverage and the study itself miss the larger point about organics. Yes, organic food is for now a largely over-priced indulgence. As the Stanford study itself notes, organic food sales in the U.S. have grown from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $26.7 billion in 2010, and consumers sometimes pay more than double for an organic product compared to a conventional one. Yes, Roger Cohen is right that organics, as currently constituted, may not be an answer to the world's growing food problems. And, yes, the public may erroneously believe that organic products are something that they are not (in this case, according to this study, more nutritious).
Organics has risen largely as a response to these failures. Though it may be no more nutritious and may or may not be the answer to our long-term food needs, organics does demonstrate how farming methods can help feed us without the awful impacts that industrialized agriculture has on our environment and on the public's health. We must find ways to do better for our sake, and for the sake of our planet.
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