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Re: Is Organic Food Better?



Raymond Weil wrote:
> 
> Is Organically Grown Food Better for You?  I asked that question decades
> ago, and every year students in my soils and sustainable agriculture classes
> ask it anew.  I have made several attempts to get at the truth of the matter
> in the scientific literature. I have served on graduate committees for
> students researching aspect of  the issue.  My conclusion has always been
> the same: Foods grown with organic production methods do not differ
> significantly from conventionally grown foods (neither better or worse) with
> regard to nutritional value. They do not even differ with regard taste (when
> studies are done properly to avoid bias).  Recently a double-blind test
> panel in Israel preferred the taste of organic in some cases and
> conventional in others...again no consistent pattern.
> 
> My  rather "unsatisfying" experience with this question was confirmed by a
> very well written Guest Commentary by Joan Gussow published in the latest
> (Fall 1996) issue of  the Information Bulletin of  the Organic Farming
> Research Foundation (research@ofrf.org).  In fact I felt it was rather
> courageous of the OFRF to publish the piece! But, as the Dr. Gussow stated,
> there may be other good reasons for supporting organic farming.
> 
> The above conclusion is not to say that soil quality does not affect food
> quality or that certain practices cannot improve nutrient content of plant
> tissue. For example, it is well documented that animal manure and other
> decomposable organic amendments can increase iron and zinc content of
> vegetables grown on sandy, alkaline soils. Nor does it suggest that poorly
> managed conventional farms do not sometimes apply excessive nitrogen
> fertilizer which may result in leafy vegetable or fruits that contain
> unhealthy levels of  nitrates. Of course the same can occur with poorly
> managed organic farms that use too much manure or other nitrogen- rich
> amendments.
> 
> In here commentary, Joan Gussow suggested that the main reason to support
> organic farming is its environmental benefits...farming that solves rather
> than creates environmental problems.  To this I would add a concern for the
> social/societal benefits that may accrue from encouraging small-scale,
> entrepreneurial farmers that tend to buy and sell locally.  Of course,
> organic farmers do not have a monopoly on small scale enterprise, nor on
> diversity , nor on local interactions, nor on environmentally beneficial
> farming.  I have seen too much soil erosion on sloping clean-tilled organic
> fields and too many miss-treated farm workers on large scale organic farms
> to believe that organic farming, per se, is a panacea.
> 
> The best I can hope to do is focus my support , teaching and research to
> benefit farmers who are socially responsible on their farms and in their
> communities, who are good stewards of their soils and their land, who are
> efficient and careful managers of  their own our resources.  Whether they
> use an appropriate herbicide to make mulch of their cover crop, or use
> moderate levels of potash to invigorate the alfalfa in their rotation is of
> less concern to me.
> 
> Ray R. Weil
> Professor of Soil Science
> Department of Natural Resource Sciences
> 1103 H.J. Patterson Hall
> University of Maryland
> College Park, MD 20742
> USA
> 
> telephone: 301 405 1314
> FAX:            301 314 9041
> e-mail:  rw17@umail.umd.edu
To whom it concerns:
  Organic farming benefits are plentiful.  You failed to mention the
pesticides that inter the systems of our bodies, especially infants.  It
has been proven that the buildup of these toxins can affect your overall
health.  Would you want your child to be consuming harmful chemicals?
                                         Something to think about,
                                               Anna Linville





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