Im not anti-organic, but Im not buying the overpriced assertion that organic consumption has major health benefits. The potential costs associated with consumption of conventional produce does not outweigh the benefits. In the end, as long as we eat our fruits and vegetables, it doesnt matter if our produce is organic or conventional. Indeed, there is no significant nutritional difference between organic and conventional food, even though levels of pesticide residues may be lower in organic produce (annals.org/article.aspx?articleid=1355685 , ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20463045). Despite the higher risk of pesticide residue exposure that conventional consumers face, the amount of pesticides in all foods are usually present at safe levels (sciencedaily/releases/2012/09/120903221122.htm). Switching to an organic diet with the slight benefit of lower synthetic pesticide levels is unlikely to introduce major benefits. To illustrate this point, Ill quote from a review, Such findings suggest that typical dietary exposure to pesticide residues in foods poses minimal risks to humans. From a practical standpoint, the marginal benefits of reducing human exposure to pesticides in the diet through increased consumption of organic produce appear to be insignificant (onlinelibrary.wiley/doi/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2006.00196.x/full). Its unlikely that pesticides have contributed to cancer rates. To quote from a review, No hard evidence currently exists that toxic hazards such as pesticides have had a major impact on total cancer incidence and mortality... (tandfonline/doi/full/10.1080/10408690490911846#.U0q31_ldX2w). Decreasing synthetic pesticide use on produce would increase prices, which would probably lead to a decrease in consumption of fruits and vegetables that would be followed by an elevation in cancer rates (toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cpdb/pdfs/NCPA.pdf - Executive Summary). Findings based on a meta-analysis highlight that eating more conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables would prevent far more cancers than cause them (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22981907). Actually, women who are organic consumers are just as likely to develop cancer, overall, compared to women who are conventional consumers, according to a prospective study (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24675385). In the end, the rates of cancer are declining, despite widespread use of pesticides (jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2013/01/03/jnci.djs491.full?sid=ccafd244-6199-4658-b24d-f139a96187c5). Basically, the benefits of eating conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables outweigh the costs associated with pesticides, as concluded by the Environmental Working Group (ewg.org/foodnews/summary.php). So really, it doesnt matter if its organic or conventional. You just need to eat your fruits and vegetables! Look, there are pesticides all around you. You will have a hard time escaping it all. There are pesticides in paint and cleaning products. Of course, exterminators use pesticides that can linger for months (tandfonline/doi/abs/10.1080/00039896.1992.10118767#.U0sowfldX2w). And yes, pesticides often exist in our walls and carpets (link.springer/chapter/10.1007/b94832). If people are truly concerned about pesticide exposure, they should look beyond what they eat.
Posted on: Fri, 27 Jun 2014 17:18:13 +0000
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