Flutterby™! : Another reason to go organic

Next unread comment / Catchup all unread comments User Account Info | Logout | XML/Pilot/etc versions | Long version (with comments) | Weblog archives | Site Map | | Browse Topics

Another reason to go organic

2006-08-02 20:19:04.08404+00 by Dan Lyke 1 comments

Rebecca Blood had to an article asking if organic fruit and veggies were worth the cost, which mentioned a study that found that:

Children eating non-organic foods were switched for five days to an organic diet and pesticide levels were measured in their urine before and after the change. The study -- published this past fall -- found that some pesticides disappeared from the children's urine after going organic.

The study is Organophosphorus Pesticide Exposure of Urban and Suburban Preschool Children with Organic and Conventional Diets, and sure enough that's exactly what it says. I'd always thought that organic was good because there was less issue with the secondary effects, overspray, pesticides in the water supplies, that sort of thing, but while there's no evidence that the pesticides and associated compounds that are making it through to the urine are having an impact on the humans, the fact that detectable levels are making it that far through the food chain suggests that it may not just be secondary exposures that we should be concerned about.

Very interesting.

[ related topics: Children and growing up Food ]

comments in ascending chronological order (reverse):

#Comment Re: made: 2006-08-02 21:43:44.392746+00 by: ebradway

There is another side to the Organic Argument as well. Organically grown fruits and veggies contain higher amounts of nutrients than non-Organically grown. Further, organic fruits and vegetables don't need to be washed or peeled to the same degree as pesticide-laden conventional fruits and vegetables. Pesticides have their highest concentration in the skins of vegetables but so do minerals.

And a third argument is that organic produce just tastes better.

As I've heard many people say, "Organic produce isn't expensive, in fact, it's not expensive enough for what you are getting".