Organic food has quickly become a major part of the U.S. domestic food sales. In 1990 sales were at 1 billion dollars. By 2009 sales had increased to over twenty billion dollars. The reason for this massive increase in sales is due to the fact that consumers believe that these foods are healthier to eat, and safer for the environment to grow. In this article, the author examines organic food to determine the actual health benefits of eating organic foods. Several other factors need to be taken into account, such as the differences in grower tendencies, the yearly weather patterns, and the length of time spent using organic methods to produce the food, as it takes ten years to organically grow tomatoes. A three-year study done at the University of California found significant differences in the levels of phytochmeicals among different varieties, and from year-to-year. Organically grown Burbank tomatoes were discovered to have higher levels of ascorbic acid (26%), quercetin (30%), and kaempferol (17%). Organically grown Ropreco tomatoes showed 20 % more kaempferol, but had a less robust showing overall in growth. Over the span of ten years, UC conducted another study on the flavonoid content of conventionally grown tomatoes versus the organically grown variety. They found that the organic tomatoes had 79% more quercetin and 97% more kaempferol than conventionally grown tomatoes. Additionally, it was found that the flavonoid levels in the organic plots increased over the period of ten years, while the flavonoid levels in the conventional plots stayed constant. With the increase in flavonoid levels, the levels of organic material in the soil also increased, making the soil better for continued use. In regards to vitamin and mineral differences, it was discovered that organic foods have 21% more iron and 29% more magnesium, while on the vitamin side, ascorbic acid was found more frequently in organic fruits and vegetables. Organic foods also were found to have higher levels of carotenoids, flavonoids, and many other polyphenols. Flavonoids are known to be potent antioxidants, while carotenoids such as lycopene have been shown to reduce the risk of cancer. Anthocyanin compounds in berries have been shown to improve neuronal and cognitive brain functions, ocular health, and genomic DNA integrity. While it is true that organic farming methods prohibit the use of pesticides and herbicides, there is still the possibility of farming on land that is not yet free of insecticide residue, such as DDT. A review conducted using data collected by the United States Department of Agriculture, and the California Department of Pesticide Regulation, showed that organically grown foods had one-third the amount of chemical residues found in conventionally grown foods. Additionally, organically grown foods were shown to be far less like to have two or more residues. Only 2.6% of organically grown foods had detectable multiple residues, compared to 26% of conventionally grown foods. 82% of conventionally grown fruits tested positive for insecticide residue, compared to only 23% of organic fruits. 65% of conventionally grown vegetables tested positive for insecticides, while only 23 of organic vegetables were shown to contain insecticides. Organically grown vegetables were also shown to be better at suppressing the mutagenicity of several environmental toxins, including benzo (a)pyrene, the main carcinogen found in cigarette smoke and automobile exhaust. Organic vegetables suppressed 30-57% of the mutagenic action, while conventionally grown vegetables only suppressed this activity by 5-30%. Against the chemical 4-nitroquinoline oxide, organic vegetables suppressed 37-93% of mutagenic activity, while commercial vegetables suppressed this mutagenicity by 11-65%. Also, organic strawberries block the proliferation of HT29 colon cancer cells and MCF-7 breast cancer cells. From all of this information, it seems fairly obvious to me that while organic foods are not better in every single way, they still are far superior to commercially grown foods, and all agriculture companies should be focusing on changing their focus to organic production to make this a healthier nation.
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