{"id":32200,"date":"2013-05-21T16:39:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-21T16:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/?p=32200"},"modified":"2017-04-27T08:13:33","modified_gmt":"2017-04-27T13:13:33","slug":"does-eating-organic-really-matter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/food\/does-eating-organic-really-matter\/","title":{"rendered":"Does Eating Organic Really Matter?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Root<\/a>The organic food industry is huge. In 2011 sales of organic foods exceeded the $30 billion mark in the United States alone. What was once a small sub-section of America\u2019s food culture has grown nearly 20% over the past 10 years and outpaces the sale of non-organic food by 2%-3% each year. These numbers are also echoed in most western countries around the world. The general consensus seems to be that eating organic food is good for you but is this sentiment true? Is eating organic food REALLY better for you than eating non-organic food? Also, what exactly makes a food \u201corganic\u201d?<\/p>\n

For starters, to get the USDA organic seal, foods need to have been grown, handled and processed by certified organic facilities. Meat, poultry, eggs and dairy products need to be produced from animals that have never been given antibiotics or hormones and who have been fed organic crop. Organic crops must be grown free of conventional pesticides, free of fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge, and without bioengineering or use of ionizing radiation.<\/p>\n

The USDA is careful to note than an organic seal does not mean that a food is healthier or safer than its conventionally grown equivalent. In fact, a 2010 review looking at studies of organic foods and health benefits over the past 50 years determined that there\u2019s not enough good data to say one way or the other if organic foods are healthier. Of the studies that had been done, the only one that found a health difference showed that the risk of eczema was decreased in infants who ate strictly organic dairy products. Overall, there just isn\u2019t enough good information to determine the benefits.<\/p>\n

That being said, there is some tangential data that does seem to support the benefits of organic food. A study of preschool children in Seattle found that kids who ate conventional diets had significantly higher levels of urine pesticides than the kids who ate organic. Truthfully, Higher urine pesticides haven\u2019t been connected to real health outcomes but it seems like a good idea to minimize consumption of toxic chemicals.<\/p>\n

Even though we don\u2019t have any conclusive proof that eating organic is better for you, when it comes to fruits and vegetables, we know which fruits and vegetables use more pesticides and which use less. Here is a list of fruits and vegetables, which according to the Environmental Working Group have more pesticides<\/p>\n