Nutritional Quality of Organic Foods

There's been a lot of press lately on the controversy surrounding organic foods. To a lot of people, the term "organic" is synonymous with "healthy" and to them, that means more nutritious. Food companies also play a role in misleading consumers with their sly marketing tactics. So when a recent study came out looking at all the available evidence on organic foods and nutritional quality, and found that there was no substantial difference between organic and conventionally grown food, the media took it an ran. I heard a lot of people's bubbles bursting that day, and more than likely, lots of them went back to conventional foods. It's true, if you were buying organic thinking you're getting more nutrients, you were mistaken. However, it's important to note that there are many other benefits to eating organic that are the reason it caught on in the first place.

What does organic mean?

Organic production standards vary by country. Canadian standards are available here. In general, organic foods include produce, meat, and products that are produced without any pesticides, herbacides, artificial food additives, hormones or genetic modification, and should be certified by an independent organization. The basic principles of organic farming make it less harmful on the environment in a number of ways:

• They don't release synthetic pesticides into the environment which can harm the soil, water and wildlife
  
• Help sustain ecosystems (ie: plants, insects, etc)
  
• Use less energy and produce less waste

Needless to say, some people also choose organic foods because they believe they taste better, and/or as a way to reduce their own exposure to certain chemicals. Scientifically, the research isn't there yet to say yay or nay to this, so when it comes to organic foods, it really comes down to personal choice. There are a number of factors that may help you make a decision as to whether to choose conventional food, or organic, including:

• Cost
  
• Environmental commitment
  
• Where the food is produced
  
• Flavour

And remember, just because a food is organic, does not mean it was produced locally. For instance, think of organic fair trade coffee, which may come from as far away as Guatemala or China. Although the method of production may be more environmentally-friendly, the transportation emissions to get it here may do some damage.

So what's the best type of food to buy?

As I mentioned, the difference in nutritional value is a marginal. However, environmentally speaking, locally produced, organic food is going to have the least impact on the earth. My second choice would be local and conventionally produced. Failing those, non-local, organic foods would be next in line, followed by non-local, conventionally produced foods.

Read the study here.

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