What Do You Know About the Organic Debate?

The great debate over the value of organic foods continues as advocates of organic try to show those opposed that it really does matter that you eat organic food. A few major points being that you will be healthier, that you will have a stronger immune system and that you may even live longer. Those against organic claim that it is faddish and overrated, expensive and not in any way life saving. What do you think?

A group of researchers from Southern Methodist University in Dallas wanted to test the value of organic food to see if there really was such a difference between conventional foods and those grown organically. They used fruit flies for their study to see just how great, if at all, organic food really is.

One group of fruit flies was fed a traditional diet and one group was fed an organic diet. The group that ate the organic diet benefited tremendously from a health perspective. There were especially noted differences in the areas of longevity and fertility. Researchers are unclear as to exactly why the fruit flies on the organic diet lived longer, had higher fertility rates, or more energy,  however they do note that this is an interesting finding and one that deserves more attention. Perhaps there is some truth to the nutritional health value of organic foods?

We Know These Things to be True

Although there is still room for debate and discussion around many things organic, there are several things that we know to be true. We know that Certified Organic Foods cannot contain genetically modified ingredients, this is true. We know that early testing on genetically modified foods points to some scary health consequences.  We know that Certified Organic Foods can not be grown with pesticides, herbicides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers, this is true. We know that toxic chemicals have far-reaching health implications that can substantially affect our quality and duration of life. Organic farming is more labor intensive than conventional farming, this is true. However, the indirect costs of conventional farming such as cleaning up polluted water and the replacement of eroded soils, along with the high costs of health care for farmers and workers may make the price difference a wash.

So, whether you are yet to be sold on the nutritional value of organic foods, perhaps you should base your decision, for now on what we know to be true.

– The Alternative Daily