Organic consumers expect their certified food to be more nutritious (nutrient dense). Can organic farming practices really lead to nutrient dense food? Here are the facts:
— The Dieticians of Canada are not sure about organic food.
In various papers starting in 2004 up to 2013 they say this:
organic has higher vitamin C and phytochemicals;
lower nitrates and pesticide residues;
organic farmers use practices that improves soil fertility and
this may result in food with a higher nutritional value
http://dieticians.ca search their site for organic food
The dieticians do bring up a good point which is expressed below:
SOIL HEALTH = CROP HEALTH = HUMAN HEALTH
— Remember that the nutrient content of industrial food
has collapsed over the last 50 years of intensive use of
chemicals 1.
— The selection of varieties that yield well when chemical
fertilizer is used has reduced lab measured
nutritional content of supermarket food 2.
— Canadian research also shows that animals respond better to crops
grown with the farming practices that are recommended by
organic certification standards 3.
— Tufts University, in Boston, hosted an international conference 4
excerpts from some papers presented appear below:
-”… The higher protein quality of the organically grown crops was confirmed…”-
Long Term Experiment in Sweden Granstedt and Kjellenberg
-”… soil humus content increased 16% in the organic treatment but decreased 7% in the conventional treatment … Organically grown carrots and potatoes were lower in undesirable substances such as nitrates and higher in desirable substances…”-
Farming in Lithuania Rutkoviene et al.
Research shows that organic farming practices can produce food with a higher nutritional density. These practices work because they support the beneficial soil life which makes minerals available to crops. This leads to nutrient dense foods.
The use of manure and compost; crop rotations that include legumes; materials that do not kill soil life, gentle tillage practices and, avoiding GMO crops; these are some of the key practices of organic agriculture all over the world.
Industrial farming practices can produce food that makes people sick because it lacks nutrient content or contains toxic materials like nitrates and active residue levels.
Conventional food is produced with the use of harsh chemicals like fertilizers and pesticides; GMO crops and excessive tillage. Eating this food, we see obesity amongst Canadian children and youth has tripled over the last 30 years. 4.
Over half of Canadian children age 2-17 (59%) do not eat 5 a day combined vegetable and fruit servings. These daily servings are needed to prevent chronic diseases like obesity and diabetes.5. Maybe if the food was good tasting organic local vegetables and fruits, they would feel like eating more of it!
Petroleum based chemical fertilizers came from the war industries that used nitrogen to make explosives . The first insecticides were organo-phosphates,. Still in use today, they are based on the nerve gas SARIN, developed by the Nazi regime for killing people. Agriculture turned it into a weapon against insects . Is it killing us slowly as well? Eat organic local vegetables and fruits to build the health of your family and the local environment and your regional economy.
REFERENCES
1. Declining Fruit and Vegetables Nutrient Composition: What Is the Evidence?
Donald R. Davis 2009 Horticultural Science
http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/content/44/1/15.full
2. Taste, nutrients decline as size of crops grow Andrew Schneider
seattlepi.com september 2007
http://www.seattlepi.com/lifestyle/food/article/Taste-nutrient-
decline-as-size-of-crops-grows-1249451.php
3. Grey Wooded Soils and Their Management ,University of Alberta,
Soil Science Department 1962 – “ Nutritionally, the grain grown
after legumes was, for rats, definitely superior to grain
grown after fallow.” pg.58 Toogood et. al
4. http://canada.ca/en/public-health/services/childhood-obesity.html
5. http://authoritynutrition.com/27 Healthy Healthy Habits Evidenced Based
We check links but if they are broken please just google the articles title and author; also try key words as government pages slip-and-slide around… 2018 copyright rob dixon dba. OK.O.S