The true determinant of demand for organic food is not income, as many assume, but awareness. As people become more aware of the issues surrounding food production – the false assurances given regarding the safety of pesticide residues; the growing evidence of health risks associated with exposure to multiple pesticide residues; the declining nutrient content in modern foods; the abuses of animal welfare in industrial farming; the overuse of antibiotics to keep unhealthy farm animals alive; the overuse of food additives to make rubbish food taste like real food; rising cancer incidence and fertility problems; and the better taste and quality of organic produce – they make more conscious choices about the food they feed themselves and their families. They tend to go organic.
NUTRIENTS IN DECLINE
There are important changes occurring in the initial quality of fruits and vegetables as a direct result of modern agrochemical-based farming methods. Many things are finding their way into our food that we don’t want there – but there’s also a growing problem with the things we do want in our food – nutrients.
Trace minerals such as iron, zinc, selenium, manganese and chromium appear to be declining in modern foods. Official food composition tables in the US and UK have shown that fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products contain fewer minerals than they did in the past. A recent FSANZ (Food Standards Australia New Zealand) survey, while denying any such problem existed, actually confirmed that some trace minerals have declined in foods by up to 40% over the last 20 years. One possible reason is chemical fertilisers only contain the few minerals that plants need to grow, but not necessarily the full spectrum of minerals people need. The crops take what they can from the soil and over time, the trace minerals in the soil become depleted. This is why organic farmers focus on creating healthy soil.
Fruits are picked early or green and stored for long periods and therefore contain very little vitamin C, and researchers have confirmed that, on average, organic produce contains more vitamin C than conventional produce.
Apart from the vitamins and minerals plant foods contain thousands of other compounds, many of which are powerful antioxidants in our diet, helping to slow ageing, prevent cancers and more. These ‘phytonutrients’ are 10-50% higher in organic crops.
PESTICIDE RESIDUES
About one in three of all conventional foods tested contain pesticide residues. If that doesn’t alarm you, think of it this way: one in three of everything in your fridge, cupboard, breakfast bowl, lunch, dinner and dessert contains one or more pesticides.
Yes it’s regularly claimed that pesticide residues in foods are known to be safe, this was also said for a long list of pesticides now banned, right up to the day they banned them. Many samples of fresh produce carry multiple pesticide residues, yet safety levels are set for individual pesticides. They do not take into account the ‘cocktail effect’ of combinations of pesticides in and on foods. Research is emerging confirming the potential for synergistic increases in the toxicity of pesticides up to a 100-fold, resulting in reproductive, immune and nervous system effects not expected from the individual compounds acting alone.
Israeli researchers have linked symptoms such as headaches, tremors, lack of energy, depression, anxiety, poor memory, dermatitis, convulsions, nausea, indigestion and diarrhoea with dietary intakes of pesticides. Belgian research has found that women diagnosed with breast cancer are six to nine times more likely to have the pesticides DDT or hexachlorobenzene in their bloodstreams compared to women who did not have breast cancer. Hawaiian researchers following 8000 people for 34 years have found that increasing consumption of fruit and juice (and the pesticide residues they carry) raises the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Research like this, confirming the risks associated with pesticide residues in food, is slowly emerging around the world, and while regulators continue to claim they’re perfectly safe, informed consumers are putting two and two together and demanding organic food. This demand is growing faster than any other food sector – around 30% per year.
FOOD ADDITIVES
More than 500 additives are permitted for use in conventionally produced foods, compared with just 30 or so permitted in organic processing, and only when necessary for the production of the food in question. Additives are present in extraordinary abundance in food today and we each eat up to 5kg of them a year. Organic standards strictly prohibit many specific additives and ingredients that have been linked with health problems including hydrogenated fat (heart disease), phosphoric acid (osteoporosis), MSG (asthma, headaches), aspartame (neurological disturbances), and artificial flavourings and colourings (allergic reactions, hyperactivity in children).
ANTIBIOTICS
While the use of antibiotics is severely restricted in organic farming, they are used extensively in non-organic farming to promote growth and to prevent disease from decimating intensively reared and overcrowded farm animals. The problem with this is that overuse of antibiotics is allowing bacteria to develop resistance, and medical associations around the world are warning that antibiotic resistance is “one of the major public health threats that will be faced in the 21 st century”. In 1997 the World Health Organisation found antibiotic resistant strains of pathogenic Salmonella, Campylobacter, Enterococci, and E.coli had been transmitted from animals to humans, with serious consequences for human health.
There is also concern that antibiotic residues in meat and dairy products could result in the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria that are prevalent in humans, thereby reducing the effectiveness of antibiotics used to treat human disease. The potential results are more serious food poisoning cases, or infections that cannot be treated with antibiotics. Better animal welfare standards in organic farming minimise the need for antibiotics and other veterinary drugs, and they are used only when strictly necessary.
DON’T PANIC, GO ORGANIC
Don’t freak out about all these issues – the stress could kill you a long time before the pesticides would! Rather than worry, make informed and conscious choices. For example, eating organic food is one way to maximise the nutrients in your diet while minimising your exposure to potentially harmful additives and pesticides.
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