From: Huffingtonpost.com
By: Robyn O'Brien, Analyst, Author
Yesterday's
report out of Stanford that organic foods may not be much healthier or more nutritious than their conventional counterparts has caused quite a stir.
A deeper investigation into the study reveals a few things that the researchers failed to report.
While the scientists analyzed vitamins and minerals, food isn't
simply a delivery device for these things alone. We are quickly
learning in this industrialized food era that our food can be full of a
lot of other things. It has become a delivery device for artificial
colors, additives, preservatives, added growth hormones, antibiotics,
pesticides, insecticides and so much more.
The term "organic" actually refers to the way agricultural products
are grown and processed and legally details the permitted use (or not)
of certain ingredients in these foods.
The details are that the U.S. Congress adopted the Organic Foods
Production Act (OFPA) in 1990 as part of the 1990 Farm Bill which was
then followed with the National Organic Program final rule published by
the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
The standards include a national list of approved synthetic and
prohibited non-synthetic substances for organic production, which means
that organically produced foods also must be produced without the use
of:
- antibiotics
- artificial growth hormones
- high fructose corn syrup
- artificial dyes (made from coal tar and petrochemicals)
- artificial sweeteners derived from chemicals
- synthetically created chemical pesticide and fertilizers
- genetically engineered proteins and ingredients
- sewage sludge
- irradiation
According to the United States Department of Agriculture, these added
ingredients are actually what differentiate organic foods from their
conventional counterparts. Yet nowhere in that Stanford study,
comparing organic food to conventional, are these things measured.
There is no measure of the insecticidal toxins produced by a genetically
engineered corn plant, no measure of the added growth hormones used in
conventional dairy, no measure of the fact that
80 percent of the antibiotics used today are used on the chicken, pork, beef and animals that we eat.
Food is not just a delivery device for vitamins and minerals, as
measured in the study, but it is also used as a delivery device for
these substances that drive profitability for the food industry. To
fail to measure these added ingredients, while suggesting that there is
essentially no difference, is incomplete at best. Some might even go so
far as to suggest that it is irresponsible in light of the fact that we
are seeing such a dramatic increase in diet-related disease.
Additionally, anyone who knowingly sells or mislabels as organic a
product that was not produced and handled in accordance with the
regulations can be subject to a civil penalty of up to $10,000 per
violation. In other words, if an organic producer were to add any one
of the ingredients listed above, they would be fined.
WHY ORGANICS COST MORE
Admittedly, the high price of organic food can irritate anyone. But
the scrutiny that these foods undergo is enormous and expensive, driving
prices at the cash register and for those producing them on the farm.
Why the costs? Because the cost structure on our food supply offers
taxpayer-funded resources called subsidies to the farmers using
genetically engineered seeds and saturating crops in insecticides and
weed killers, while charging the organic farmers fees to prove that
their crops are safe.
That's like getting fined to wear your seat belt.
So while conventional food production allows for the addition of
cheap, synthetic and often controversial ingredients that have been
disallowed, banned or never permitted for use in developed countries
around the world, organic food carries the burden of having to prove
that its products are safe -- products produced without the use of added
non-food ingredients that other countries have found controversial or
removed from their food supply.
In other words, it's an un-level playing field right now. And if we
were all sitting down as a national family at our national dinner table,
I don't think that any of us would want to be using our resources this
way. Wouldn't we rather have the organic food be the one that we fund,
making it cheaper, more affordable and more accessible to all Americans?
Or if given the choice, would we rather eat food hopped up on growth
hormones, antibiotics and chemical pesticides? You can answer that.
And while correlation is not causation, in light of the growing rates
of cancer, diabetes and other conditions affecting our families, the
answer would appear to be "eat less chemicals."
But right now, the majority of the population does not have that
choice. Food, clean from antibiotics, added growth hormones and
excessive pesticide residue, should be a basic human right, afforded to
all Americans, regardless of socioeconomic status.
WHERE TO START?
But since the high price of organic produce and a flawed food system
that continues to charge organic farmers more to prove that their
products, produced without ingredients that mounting scientific evidence
has shown to cause harm, is still an insurmountable hurdle to the
majority of the population, especially the growing number of unemployed,
where can an American who wants to avoid these ingredients start?
Start with baby steps. None of us can do everything, but all of us
can do something. And thankfully, foods without these controversial
additives and ingredients are increasingly sold in grocery stores like
Wal-Mart, Costco, Kroger and Safeway, which represent the largest single
distribution channel, accounting for
38 percent
of organic food sales in 2006. Look for milk labeled "RbGH-free" or
look for products without high fructose corn syrup or artificial colors.
A growing number of companies, from Kraft to Nestle, are producing
them, because their employees have kids battling conditions like asthma,
allergies, diabetes and cancer, too.
So maybe you rolled your eyes at this whole thing a few years ago,
dismissing it as an expensive food fad. The Stanford study goes a long
way towards reinforcing that. But read between the lines. You are
smarter than you realize and braver than you think. And the love that
you have for your family and your country can propel you to do things
you could never imagine. So navigate the grocery store a bit
differently, get involved with a food kitchen, a community garden, a
child's school. And reach out to your legislators. They have families,
too.
Because as the science continues to mount, from the Presidents Cancer
Panel to the American Academy of Pediatrics, we are learning just how
much the food we eat-- and the artificial ingredients being added to it
-- can affect the health of our loved ones.
