Organic Food vs. Conventional Food

Organic Food vs. Conventional Food

Summary

Conventional Food

References

• Conventional foods are more land efficient
• They have higher yields and can be grown off season
• The additional nutrients haven't been proven to have an actual impact on our bodies
• More conclusive evidence is needed to prove the benefits of organic foods
• Cost more and take more

time to produce

• Conventional food is produced with the use of pesticides, GMO's and antibiotics
• The use of such materials lead to:
• higher yields
• greater resistance
• greater longevity
• out of season growth

• Bradbury, K. E., A. Balkwill, E. A. Spencer, A. W. Roddam, G. K. Reeves, J. Green, T. J. Key, V. Beral, K. Pirie, Emily Banks, Valerie Beral, Ruth English, Jane Green, Julietta Patnick, Richard Peto, Gillian Reeves, Martin Vessey, Matthew Wallis, Hayley Abbiss, Simon Abbott, Miranda Armstrong, Angela Balkwill, Emily Banks, Vicky Benson, Valerie Beral, Judith Black, Kathryn Bradbury, Anna Brown, Benjamin Cairns, Karen Canfell, Dexter Canoy, Barbara Crossley, Francesca Crowe, Dave Ewart, Sarah Ewart, Lee Fletcher, Sarah Floud, Toral Gathani, Laura Gerrard, Adrian Goodill, Jane Green, Lynden Guiver, Isobel Lingard, Sau Wan Kan, Oksana Kirichek, Mary Kroll, Nicky Langston, Bette Liu, Maria-Jose Luque, Kath Moser, Lynn Pank, Kirstin Pirie, Gillian Reeves, Keith Shaw, Emma Sherman, Evie Sherry-Starmer, Helena Strange, Sian Sweetland, Alison Timadjer, Sarah Tipper, Ruth Travis, Lucy Wright, Owen Yang, and Heather Young. "Organic Food Consumption and the Incidence of Cancer in a Large Prospective Study of Women in the United Kingdom." Br J Cancer British Journal of Cancer 110.9 (2014): 2321-326. Web.
• Curl, Cynthia L., Shirley A. A. Beresford, Richard A. Fenske, Annette L. Fitzpatrick, Chensheng Lu, Jennifer A. Nettleton, and Joel D. Kaufman. "Estimating Pesticide Exposure from Dietary Intake and Organic Food Choices: The Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA)." Environ Health Perspect Environmental Health Perspectives (2015): n. pag. Web.
• Fruits. Digital image. TrueHairGrowth. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
• Lairon, Denis. "Nutritional Quality and Safety of Organic Food. A Review." Agronomy for Sustainable Development Agron. Sustain. Dev. 30.1 (2010): 33-41. Web.
• "Organic Agriculture." U.S. Department of Agriculture. N.p., 02 June 2016. Web. 23 June 2016.
• Organic farming. Digital image. BioDiversita. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
• Sign. Digital image. EcoWatch. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
• Sows and their piglets. Digital image. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 June 2016.
• Tractor spraying pesticide. Digital image. Only Organic. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.
• USDA Organic logo. Digital image. www.usda.gov. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 June 2016.

What are organic foods?

Study #1

Study #1: Nutritional Quality and Safety of Organic Food

• Conducted by the Cancer Epidemiology Department and the Department of Primary Care and Health Sciences at the University of Oxford
• They looked at the relationship between organic food consumption and chances of getting breast cancer, non-hodgkin lymphoma and other common cancers
• Found that there was no association between organic food and the cancers listed except for non-hodgkin lymphoma

• Conducted by the French Agency for Food Safety (AFSSA)
• They reviewed hundreds of studies and concluded that organic food has:
• higher levels of nutrients
• higher levels of healthy fats
• lower levels of nitrates
• compounds that help prevent

cancer

• Organic food is made from processes that preserve the environment and avoid using substances such as pesticides and antibiotics
• Organic farms also:
• Supports animal health and welfare
• Do not use GMO's (genetically modified organisms) and only use USDA approved materials
• Provide access to the outdoors so that animals can exercise their natural behaviors

Summary

Study #2: Organic Foods: Health and Environmental Advantages and Disadvantages

Study #2: Estimating Pesticide Exposure from Dietary Intake and Organic Food Choices

• The consumption of organic foods come with several benefits:
• lower exposure to pesticide residue
• higher levels of:
• antioxidants (reduces chances of getting cancer)
• several vitamins
• healthy fats
• lesser occurrence of antibiotic

resistant bacteria

• Conducted by several departments from Harvard University, University of Texas Health Science Center, and University of Washington, Seattle.
• Studied how dietary intake related to OP pesticide residue exposure
• OP pesticides can cause coma's, vomiting, paralysis and much more
• Concluded that the more frequent organic foods were consumed, the lower your exposure to OP pesticide residue

• Conducted by American Academy of Pediatrics with the goal of informing pediatricians about the production, nutritional value and consumption of organic foods
• The found that:
• the higher levels of nutrients in organic foods don't have a significant impact on our bodies
• organic foods use more land and cost more relative to conventional foods