Why produce or buy organic products?

There is rising concern over the evidence of pesticide and herbicide residues in the food we eat as well as concern over the effects of genetically engineered foods on our personal health, the health of our family and the health of our planet.

At the same time, the negative impact of pesticides, herbicides and chemical fertilizers on the planet’s ecosystems is a frequent subject of discussion at national and international environmental forums. As environmental and health concerns increase, so will the demand and market for organic products.

• Reporting on its study examining pesticide residues in foods bought around the country, Consumer Reports, January 1998, noted: "Our side-by-side tests of organic, green-labeled and conventional unlabeled produce found that organic foods had consistently minimal or nonexistent pesticide residue."
  Source: "Greener Greens? The Truth about Organic Foods," Consumer Reports, January 1998, page 13.

• Reviewing 41 published studies comparing the nutritional value of organically grown and conventionally grown fruits, vegetables, and grains, certified nutrition specialist Virginia Worthington has concluded there are significantly more of several nutrients in organic crops. These include: 27% more vitamin C, 21.1% more iron, 29.3% more magnesium, and 13.6% more phosphorus. In addition, organic products had 15.1% less nitrates than their conventional counterparts. She also noted that five servings of organic vegetables (lettuce, spinach, carrots, potatoes and cabbage) provided the recommended daily intake of vitamin C for men and women, while their conventional counterparts did not. Worthington said the results are consistent with known soil dynamics and plant physiology.
  Source: "Nutritional Quality of Organic Versus Conventional Fruits, Vegetables, and Grains," by Virginia Worthington, published in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, 2001 (pp. 161-173), available at: www.foodisyourbestmedicine.com/organic.pdf.

• "Pesticides pose special concerns to children because of their high metabolisms and low body weights. More than 1 million children between the ages of 1 and 5 ingest at least 15 pesticides every day from fruits and vegetables. More than 600,000 of these children eat a dose of organophosphate insecticides that the federal government considers unsafe, and 61,000 eat doses that exceed benchmark levels by a factor of 10 or more."
  Source: Food for Thought: The Case for Reforming Farm Programs to Preserve the Environment and Help Family Farmers, Ranchers and Foresters, pages 12-13, Original source: Environmental Working Group, "Overexposed: Organophosphate Insecticides in Children’s Food," 1998, pp. 1-3.

• "Exposure to pesticides can cause a range of ill effects in humans, from relatively mild effects such as headaches, fatigue, and nausea, to more serious effects such as cancer and neurological disorders. In 1999, the EPA estimated that nationwide there were at least 10,000 to 20,000 physician-diagnosed pesticide illnesses and injuries per year in farm work. Environmental effects are evident in the findings of the U.S. Geological Survey, which reported in 1999 that more than 90 percent of water and fish samples from streams and about 50 percent of all sampled wells contained one or more pesticides. The concern about pesticides in water is especially acute in agricultural areas, where most pesticides are used."
  Source: Agricultural Pesticides: Management Improvements Needed to Further Promote Integrated Pest Management, General Accounting Office [GAO-01-815, Page 4, August 2001].