Six encouraging conclusions on the impacts of organic farming on soil quality and the nutritional content of food were reached by a panel of scientists participating in a February 13, 2009, symposium at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The symposium was entitled “Living Soil, Food Quality, and the Future of Food” and was held as part of the largest scientific meeting of the year that spans all disciplines. The AAAS meeting was held this year in Chicago, IL.
The panel of scientists included Dr. Preston Andrews, Washington State University, Dr. Jerry Glover, The Land Institute, and Dr. Alyson Mitchell, University of California-Davis. The “Living Soil, Food Quality, and the Future of Food” symposium was organized and sponsored by Washington State University and The Organic Center, based in Boulder, CO. The presentations made by the three panelists and other symposium information are posted on The Organic Center website (http://www.organic-center.org/science.events.php?action=view&report_id=148).
3. Organic farming can, under some circumstances, delay the onset of the “dilution effect.” In hundreds of studies, scientists have shown that incrementally higher levels of fertilizer negatively impact the density of certain nutrients in harvested foodstuffs, hence the name, the “dilution [of nutrients] effect.” Specifically, tomatoes grown with organic fertilizers maintain constant concentrations of beneficial phenolic secondary plant metabolites and antioxidants, even as fruit grow larger, whereas concentrations of these same beneficial compounds decline with increasing fruit size when the same tomato cultivar is grown using conventional methods and fertilizer.
The three presentations made at the AAAS symposium are accessible on The Organic Center’s website (http://www.organic-center.org/science.events.php?action=view&report_id=148).
For further details on the work of Dr. Preston Andrews, visit http://www.hortla.wsu.edu/people/andrews.html.
The research program of Dr. Alyson Mitchell is described on her website at http://mitchell.ucdavis.edu/.
Dr. Jerry Glover’s research at the Land Institute is accessible at http://www.landinstitute.org/vnews/display.v.
The Organic Center’s website contains a section on “Nutritional Quality” at http://www.organic-center.org/science.nutri.php. Reports and presentations posted include the Center’s March 2008 comparison of nutrient density in organic and conventional foods, and the “State of Science Review” entitled “Still No Free Lunch: Nutrient Levels in U.S. food supply eroded by pursuit of high yields.” This September 2007 report describes in detail the genetic and physiological basis of the dilution effect.
The Organic Center is a 501c3 non-profit organization founded in 2002. The Organic Center helps consumers, policy makers, researchers and the media understand the benefits that organic products provide to society. The Center highlights credible, peer-reviewed scientific research about the human health and environmental benefits of organic farming. Through our work, we hope to promote the conversion of more farmland to organic methods, thereby bringing the benefits of organic food and farming to a growing number of people and a greater share of the American agricultural landscape. For more information visit www.organic-center.org, tel 303.499.1840.