“Stanford Scientists Cast Doubt on Advantages of Organic Meat and Produce” (news article, Sept. 4) misses the point.
The first sentence suggests that people eat organic food with the hope of getting more vitamins per serving. I choose organic food because it contains fewer pesticides, and is grown more naturally.
Furthermore, the article contradicts the implications of the headline; it provides evidence that organic food contains fewer chemicals, and cites several examples that validate the reality that organic food is in fact healthier.
The fact that nonorganic food also contains pesticide levels below the standards of the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t indicate that organic and nonorganic foods are actually equally healthy.
Finally, the article acknowledges that this study ignores food’s taste, and doesn’t mention other factors, including support of independent farmers, healthier conditions for workers, biodiversity and reduced environmental degradation.
It is clearly obvious that the scientists did not take taste into account in determining differences between organic and nonorganic produce. There is a world of difference between the delectable, mouthwatering taste of organic tomatoes and strawberries and the practically cardboard taste of the conventional ones.
While I certainly prefer not to be consuming extra pesticides with my fruit (no matter what the amount), it is the extraordinary taste difference that explains my willingness to pay more for the organic produce at the supermarket.
The focus on the healthiness of organic food misses a significant point: Pesticides (and herbicides) used for conventional food are inherently toxic.
Despite a dearth of human studies, available data suggest that pesticides in our food indeed pose a risk. One study, for example, shows that exposure from dietary pesticides is associated with neurobehavioral problems in children. This is not surprising, since pesticides are neurotoxicants, and children and pregnant women are most susceptible to harm from pollutants.
The Environmental Protection Agency uses assumptions, not facts, to formulate safety limits for pesticide residue allowed on our food. Furthermore, history shows that federal safety limits are often erroneous.
Even low levels of pesticides can hurt us, since many environmental pollutants cause harm at levels below government safety thresholds. Organic food has less pesticide, resulting in decreased exposure. Until we have sufficient research to shed light on their safety, reducing the body burden of pesticides and other pollutants is a reasonable goal.
The writers, medical doctors, are, respectively, director of the Occupational and Environmental Medicine Center at North Shore-LIJ Health System and chairwoman of the system’s department of population health.