I often get asked what makes organic food special, and is it worth paying extra to buy organic food? I myself have been curious about this in the past, so I thought I’d breakdown what is meant by organic food and maybe dispel a few myths along the way.
What is meant by organic food?Organic foods need to comply with the organic farming standards of the specific country. In the UK, it means that organic food are foods which do not use growth regulators, artificial fertilisers, pesticides and additives to livestock.
Now that we know what organic means, in the UK at least, let’s explore whether organic is necessarily better. There is evidence to suggest that organic foods contain more amounts of ‘good’ nutrients and less of the ‘bad’. This is said to be the case for organically grown crops as they appear to contain greater levels of antioxidants, less toxic metals, and unsurprisingly less pesticides, compared to inorganic crops (Barański et al. 2014). T
his also appears true for dairy products as organic dairy products may also have benefits over inorganic dairy products. This is because they have been found to contain more omega-3 fatty acids, iron, poly-unsaturated fats, vitamin E and linoleic acid (Średnicka-Tober et al. b 2016).
Don’t let the mention of fats fool you though, these poly-unsaturated fats and omega-3 fatty acids are very much needed in the body, hence showing the potential benefits of organic foods . The same study also showed organic dairy products contain less iodine and selenium, but since this study the UK now requires organic milk to be fortified (added) with iodine. As with organic crops and dairy, organic meat has been shown to contain greater amounts of some fats such as: polyunsaturated fats, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 fatty acids, and lower amounts of saturated fats (Średnicka-Tober et al. a 2016).
So, this does suggest that overall organic food may provide greater nutrient content for the body, but it is still not known how much of an impact eating organic food would have on our health. This is supported by evidence which found that people that ate organic foods had less instances of health problems and diseases (Mie et al. 2017). However, it can’t be ignored that people that regularly opt for organic food tend to have a higher quality diet anyway, therefore it may be this which is the driving factor in their health. To fully understand the effect of organic foods on health, further research needs to be done. It also is important to highlight that including any type of fruit and veg in your diet, be that canned, frozen or non-organic, is beneficial, so don’t think you have to buy organic to get nutrients.
The only benefit of organic foods that we can be sure on for now is the environmental benefits associated with farming organically. There is many known benefits of organic farming, or rather disadvantages to farming inorganically. Farming using pesticides and other chemicals can cause soil , water and air contamination which can last for decades or longer. This contamination is a big problem for soil quality in particular, therefore by choosing to farm inorganically it means that soil erosion is more likely, making it harder to farm sustainably in years to come.
The pesticides used also have a direct impact on animals and so by farming organically, it encourages greater biodiversity. There is a lot of petitions circulating at the moment, which you may have seen, regarding a bee-killing pesticide. This pesticide is currently banned in the EU, therefore the UK are now not governed by the same EU law. If the UK does use this it will have catastrophic implications on the UK’s bee population, creatures that are integral to our existence. Therefore, use of this pesticide in the UK is one that would be truly environmentally regressive and hopefully now you know why. So, with this in mind you may be more inclined to make a conscious effort to purchase organically produced foods.
It is easier said than done to buy organically, with organic food being at a premium price. Because of this for many families it is easier and cheaper to reach for the plastic bag of potatoes, rather than its organic neighbour. This shouldn’t be a fault of the consumer though, nor the farmers themselves. Instead we need to focus our attention to policies which control inorganic farming practices, such as the banning of bee-killing pesticides. It has become very apparent to the wider public how important climate change is in recent years, and this should now be a shared responsibility across the world, not just for a small few.
What To Do Next?
So what can we do in the future, I guess it depends on you. If you are someone that likes the idea of buying organically for both the environmental reasons and potential health benefits then by all means go for it, if you can afford it, because let’s face it is more expensive. If like me you are perhaps not in a position to always buy the most expensive produce, maybe you could contribute by signing petitions, which limit the use of pesticides.
I hope whatever you do, this blog has taught you something and hopefully inspired you to think about how our eating practices have a direct impact on the world around us, even if it’s not imported or meat-based. There is a constant responsibility for us as consumers to be conscious of what we are eating and how. Don’t just be passive in that process, everyone has the power to made a difference whether that is small or big.
References
Barański, M., Średnicka-Tober, D., Volakakis, N., Seal, C., Sanderson, R., Stewart, G.B., Benbrook, C., Biavati, B., Markellou, E., Giotis, C. and Gromadzka-Ostrowska, J., 2014. Higher antioxidant and lower cadmium concentrations and lower incidence of pesticide residues in organically grown crops: a systematic literature review and meta-analyses. British Journal of Nutrition, 112(5), pp.794-811.
Mie, A., Andersen, H.R., Gunnarsson, S., Kahl, J., Kesse-Guyot, E., Rembiałkowska, E., Quaglio, G. and Grandjean, P., 2017. Human health implications of organic food and organic agriculture: a comprehensive review. Environmental Health, 16(1), pp.1-22.
Średnicka-Tober, D., Barański, M., Seal, C., Sanderson, R., Benbrook, C., Steinshamn, H., Gromadzka-Ostrowska, J., Rembiałkowska, E., Skwarło-Sońta, K., Eyre, M. and Cozzi, G., a 2016. Composition differences between organic and conventional meat: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. British Journal of Nutrition, 115(6), pp.994-1011.
Średnicka-Tober, D., Barański, M., Seal, C.J., Sanderson, R., Benbrook, C., Steinshamn, H., Gromadzka-Ostrowska, J., Rembiałkowska, E., Skwarło-Sońta, K., Eyre, M. and Cozzi, G., b 2016. Higher PUFA and n-3 PUFA, conjugated linoleic acid, α-tocopherol and iron, but lower iodine and selenium concentrations in organic milk: a systematic literature review and meta-and redundancy analyses. British Journal of Nutrition, 115(6), pp.1043-1060.
