WHAT BENEFITS DO ORGANIC FOOD PROVIDE?
Zhiming Chen (Timmy)
AEIS 112
Rachel Drummond Sardell
03/14/2014
“Food is the paramount necessity of people.” This is an old saying in China that has been following since ancient times. Human being cannot live without food. With the improvement of life quality, people have attached more importance to food quality. In recent years, the concept of organic food has come to people’s views. Much food such as vegetable and meat sells in supermarket have labelled the word “organic”. Organic food is the food that grown or made without using artificial chemicals. The demand of food is increasing with the increase in population. Therefore, people start using chemicals to catalyze the growth of food. Organic food becomes popular because people are concerning their health by eating conventional food which incorporate chemicals. Although organic food seems to be more expensive than conventional food, it is worth the expense because organic food contains fewer chemicals and safer, has more nutrients and healthier, and tastes better.
First of all, organic food contains fewer chemicals than conventional food. The chemicals in the conventional food people eat cause diseases. Some evidences prove that chemicals in conventional food increase lots of disease. According to the research Campbell who is a professional medical director (2012) did and mentioned in his article,
The dairy industry has been injecting recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) into dairy cows since the 1990s. This hormone causes an increased production of 15% – 17% more milk by dairy cows and causes them to produce insulin-like Growth Factor 1 (IGF-1), which has been associated with premenopausal breast, colon, and prostate cancers.
Campbell also reported Dr Crystal Smith-Spangler’s words that “This study showed that detectable pesticide residues were five times more likely to be found on conventional food versus organic food.” Campbell expresses the idea that organic food is much safer than conventional food. Safety is generally valued as an essential prerequisite for people who care and pursue for fulfilling and productive life. Organic food is safer than conventional food because it contains less pesticides and it grows in the soil that does not have artificial fertilizers. The artificial pesticides can help food grow faster or produces higher volumes. However, they destroy people’s health and cause diseases. The more conventional food people eat, the more chemicals will be ingested. Those pesticides may not affect human’s body immediately, but they lurk and erode health system gradually and they are almost imperceptible. Sooner or later, diseases will show up because the negative influence of chemicals. Many people argue that fresh organic food may spoil faster than conventional one. However, the reason why conventional food can keep longer than organic food is because it has chemical preservatives which is definitely not good for people’s health. Also, most families have refrigerator in their houses which keep food longer. Hence, the spoilage of food is not a concern. To avoid chemicals and eat safer, organic food is a better option for people who want to be healthy.
Moreover, organic food provides higher levels of nutrients. Organic food is grown in the better soil that was treated in organic methods, it produces more nutrients with the time it works in organic ways. According to the study reported by Dr. Crinnion (2010) who has devoted himself in the field of Environmental Medicine for the last 30 years, UC-Davis made a comparison. The flavonoid in tomatoes from organic plots kept increasing every year while conventional plots remained relatively constant over 10 years. Flavonoid is compound in plants that reduces risk of variety of diseases such as cancer. Another study done by Lairon (2009) reported that “regarding minerals, organic foods have 21-percent more iron and 9-percent more magnesium than non-organic foods. When vitamins were studied in organic food, ascorbic acid was the most common vitamin found in higher quantities in many organic fruits and vegetables tested.” The study of UC-Davis indicates that the produce of nutrients is proportional to the time that works on the organic soil. People eat food not only for filling their hungry stomach but also for absorbing the nutrients in the food. Nutrition can keep organisms and cells staying alive.
In Larion’s study, it shows that organic food have higher minerals and vitamins. Minerals and vitamins are both nutrients. Iron is crucial for life, it plays a dominating role in producing and releasing energy in the body. Vitamin C, which creates collagen in the body in order to make the skin, joints and bones strong, is essential for health as well. In short, nutrients make people healthy. Organic food incorporate more nutrients than non-organic food. Thus, organic food makes people healthier. Some people argue and complain that organic food is way too expensive to incorporate into diet. Organically grown food costs more than conventionally one. However, for the health’s sake, if the lifestyle is not healthy, the medical bills for people who take too much harmful chemicals in conventional food costs much more than the cost of buying organic food. In addition, the organic food is getting more and more affordable to ordinary people. In fact, healthy is crucial than money. Thus, people should always consider organic food as the first choice.
Furthermore, organic food tastes better. Organically grown food does not have artificial preservatives, so it is fresher and has better flavor. In the taste of strawberry test, the professor of agrostology Reganld and his colleague (2010) analysis that
When susceptibility to fungal post-harvest rots was evaluated, organic strawberries had significantly longer survival times (less gray mold incidence) than conventional strawberries (Figure 1).
When strawberries were exposed to a two-day shelf-life interval, the percent loss in fresh weight was significantly less for the organic berries than for the conventional berries.
Reganld also concluded that organic berries taste sweeter. The test pointed out that organic strawberries have superior flavor and appearance compared to conventional strawberries. Organic foods are grown naturally and at its own pace in healthier soil that is not full of pesticides, fungicides and other chemical fertilizers. Without the interference of those artificial chemicals, fruits and vegetables are under attack of many kinds of bacteria and bugs since they are not protected by chemicals. When they are under attack, they will manufacture some substances in order to stronger defenses and counteract the damaging. The substances fruits and vegetables produce make the bug feel distasteful. Those naturally substances produced themselves are great flavor to us. In addition, antioxidants, one of the substance can help them have longer shelf life. Hence, the organic strawberries tasters fresher and sweeter. In addition, based on the research from The Organic Center, 43 percent of consumers think the reason drives them purchase organic products is not for the health or other factors, they just think organic food has better tastes. Some opposite views consider that conventional foods have better tastes. Nevertheless, a lot of restaurants chefs and food experts actually start using organically grown foods to cook and believe they taste better. The fact is that conventional foods may contain chemical faker flavors, the preservatives also keep them stay fresh. Organic food has true and original taste.
Organic food has many advantages and it is worth the additional expense. Compared to conventional food, it grows with fewer artificial chemicals and people have fewer chances to contract diseases. It also offers higher level of nutrients that provides people health benefits. Then, the substances produced by organic food itself give more flavors and has better tasting. Food is the basic substance that provide nutrients to support for the body. People focus on food safety. No one wants to get sick due to the food eats. Government should pay more attention on researching and developing organic food and reduce to a reasonable price so that poor people can afford. People should buy organic food since it has more advantages. If organic food gets increasingly popular and replaces conventional food, the whole world may get healthier and has less disease and death due to the food.
Reference
Campbell, A. W. (2012).
Organic vs conventional. Alternative Therapies In Health &Medicine, 18(6), 8-9.
Crinnion, W. J. (2010).
Organic foods contain higher levels of certain nutrients, lower levels of pesticides, and may provide health benefits for the consumer. Alternative Medicine Review, 15(1), 4-12
Lairon D. Nutritional quality and safety of organic food. A review. Agron Sustain Dev
2009. Retrieved from: &I temid= 12 9&url=/articles/agro/abs/first/ a8202/a8202.html [Accessed January 20,2010]
Reganold, J. P., Andrews, P. K., Reeve, J. R., Carpenter-Boggs, L., Schadt, C. W., Alldredge, J., & … Jizhong, Z. (2010).
Fruit and soil quality of organic and conventional strawberry agroecosystems. Plos ONE, 5(9), 1-14. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0012346
Smith-Spangler C, Brandeau ML, Hunter GE, et al. Are organic foods safer or healthier than conventional alternatives?:a systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2012;157(5):348-365.