Truemors
I often contemplate whether or not buying organic is really beneficial. With food prices as high as they are it is hard to spend an extra couple of dollars on an item that looks identical to the norm, other than the 'organic' lable. I feel there is such a prestige factor that comes into play with so many people who swear by organic foods. However, I did read that if you are going to go organic, do so with thin-skinned produce and fruits where the skin is consumed, as these products are more likely to have been affected by pesticides and other chemicals and hormones. With produce that develops a thicker skin, or prouducts where the skin is peeled before eating, it is not as important.
A new research at the University of Copenhagen has shown that there is no evidence to support the view that organic food is better than food grown with the use of pesticides and chemicals.
Shoppers pay more than a third more for organic food in the belief that it has more nutritional content than food grown with pesticides and chemicals.
Researchers looked at the following crops - carrots, kale, mature peas, apples and potatoes - staple ingredients that can be found in most families' shopping list.
The first cultivation method involved growing the vegetables on soil, which had a low input of nutrients using animal manure and no pesticides except for one organically approved product on kale only.
In the second method, researchers applied a low input of nutrients using animal manure, combined with use of pesticides, as much as allowed by regulation.
The third method comprised a combination of a high input of nutrients through mineral fertilisers and pesticides as legally allowed.
The crops were grown on the same or similar soil on adjacent fields at the same time and so experienced the same weather conditions.
All were harvested and treated at the same time. In the case of the organically grown vegetables, all were grown on established organic soil.
After harvest, researchers found that there were no differences in the levels of major and trace contents in the fruit and vegetables grown using the three different methods.
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