One of the first pieces of advice I received when I got pregnant was to switch to organic milk, eggs, and chicken.
A friend, who speaks with authority when giving parenting advice, said her pediatrician had given her that guidance. It’s the hormones, he said.
At the time, which was nearly two decades ago, making this switch would dramatically increase our weekly grocery bill. But I was as eager as the middle-class mom-to-be to nurture my developing baby.
I had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right with our food supply. He had seen the reports on synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, bovine growth hormone, steroids, and antibiotics used in commercial agriculture and industrial meat production. The more we disconnect from our food supply, the more sinister these techniques sound. It wasn’t raising or growing any of the food we ate, but we needed it to live. We depended on those with commercial interests in food to make sure our food was safe.
People are also reading…
I was unable to find definitive answers about the benefits of organic food with the research available at the time. However, it seemed safer to err on the side of caution. My husband, more attentive to the weekly grocery bill, was less sold on the idea, especially as I began to expand the list of items he preferred to buy organic. The Environmental Working Group publishes a list of “The Dirty Dozen,” fruits and vegetables with the highest levels of pesticide residues when grown conventionally. They include thin-skinned fruits like strawberries and cherries. Organic strawberries will cost 50% to 100% more than conventional ones. If we made every substitution on that “Dirty Dozen” list, that would make a significant difference to our monthly food costs. Like many others, we pick and choose our organic battles.
In the following decades, the demand for organic products skyrocketed.
Interestingly, many of the major medical information sites, such as the Mayo Clinic, Harvard Health, and Web MD, still take a conservative approach to the question of whether organic food is better for you and worth the premium price. There are fewer pesticide residues and potentially small to moderate increases in some nutrients, but it is not clear if there is a discernible effect on people’s health from this. Everyone agrees that adding more fruits and vegetables to the diet is a healthy option regardless of whether they are conventional or organic. A conventional non-organic apple will always be a better food choice than a candy bar.
They also generally say that organic food is better for the environment due to cleaner and more sustainable farming practices. So even if the jury is still out on the benefits to personal health, we might feel virtuous about doing good for the planet.
Not so fast, says Michael Swanson, an agricultural economist at Wells Fargo. He argues that the way to minimize the impact of agriculture on the environment is to farm fewer acres, which creates less water use and a smaller carbon footprint. Organic farming produces lower yields. The tradeoff is a larger environmental footprint, he said. It also says that there is little conclusive evidence that organic foods are safer or healthier than conventional foods.
Now, there are also studies suggesting that organic farms have healthier soils, use less fertilizer, herbicides, and energy. They point to some notable environmental advantages over conventional systems. The biggest selling points of organic foods are the idea that they are better for you and better for the world.
“That’s a claim you should be able to validate,” Swanson said.
However, when it comes to food, many of our choices are based more on emotion than reason. This is not how an economist prefers to make financial decisions. I asked him if he buys organic food for his family.
“It’s unpredictable,” he said. They shop at Costco, which lists certain items as organic only. They will buy those items, but not specifically because they are organic.
“We get it when we see it as an advantageous purchase,” he said.
.