I hope you all are studying hard and getting ready for finals. In case you missed it, check out my Avenue story about eating healthy on campus, particularly when you're swamped with work.
For this week's post, I'll discuss organic foods: What are they, how are they made and are they healthier than regularly produced food?
Pack your bags, we're going on a guilt trip
Whenever I'm in the grocery store, I can't help but notice tons of labels that boast how this carton of milk or that patch of lettuce is "100 percent organic" or "organically grown."
Often times I feel guilt tripped by the advertising with organic foods as they make me believe that if I don't eat organic foods, I am not eating healthy and will probably die from hormones, pesticides and whatever else is used to produce regular foods and milk.
So what is organic food anyway?
According to TLC cooking, the USDA's National Organic Standards Board coined the national standard for "organic" foods in December 2000.
The USDA defines organic food as food that cannot be produced with "sewer-sludge fertilizers, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, genetic engineering, growth hormones, irradiation and antibiotics."
Basically, organic foods are defined by what they cannot be made with instead of how they are made.
Organic foods can include, but are not limited to: produce, grains, meat, dairy, eggs and other processed food products.
A common misconception is that the terms "organic" and "natural" are one in the same. According to TLC cooking, there is no legal definition as to what constitutes a "natural" food, but the food industry uses the word "natural" to indicate that a food has been minimally processed and is preservative-free. So natural foods can include organic foods, but not all natural foods are organic.
Organic foods must be certified as organic, and must come from farms and processing plants that are certified as organic and are inspected by government officials to make sure the organic farms are up to USDA organic standards. The certified government officials make sure that the organic foods are not contaminated with any of the above mentioned banned substances.
How is organic food made compared with regular foods?
Conventional methods of farming incorporate many different chemicals that either help the soil grow crops (chemical fertilizers), protect crops from pests and diseases (insecticides), and control weed growth (synthetic herbicides).
While all of these chemicals are intended to help protect crops and help produce more of them, many people fear that these chemicals, especially pesticides like DDT, are hazardous to your health and are not worth the risk. This is why organic foods have become more popular in the past 10 years.
Among many other methods, organic farming is noticeably different from conventional farming in that it does not use any chemicals at all to help with the protection and production of crops. For more information on the difference between conventional and organic farming, check out TLC's Web site.
Grocery store terms
Below are a descriptions of the labels you often see in the grocery store about organic foods provided by about.com.
Term: "100% Organic"
Definition: Foods identified as 100 percent organic must contain all organically grown ingredients with the exception of added water and salt.
Term: "Organic"
Definition: Foods that have the "organic" label must contain at least 95 percent organic ingredients, except added water and salt, and must not have added preservatives such as sulfite, which has been linked to provoke allergies and asthma in some people. Up to five percent of the ingredients can be non-organically grown.
Term: "Made with Organic Ingredients"
Definition: Foods that have at least 70 percent organic ingredients, except for added water and salt. They must not contain added sulfites and up to 30 percent can be non-organically grown. Foods with this type of label can state which ingredients are organic, but cannot claim to be organic foods.
Controversy with organic food
There are some notable cons with organic foods. A list of them are provided below by TLC cooking and How Stuff Works.
Cons:
- Organic foods are more expensive than regularly processed foods and there is debate over whether or not they are more nutritious.
- Because of the restricted use of antibiotics and pesticides, eating organic foods increases your exposure to biological contaminants such as manure, mycotoxins from molds and E. coli bacteria, which can lead to greater risk for foodborne illness.
- Without genetic engineering, not enough food will be made in poorer countries where organic farming is not economically or socially viable. Genetic engineering has helped create a higher crop yield.
Is it worth it?
A couple of weeks ago when I spoke with Janis Mena, registered dietitian and nutritionist for UF's Student Health Care Center, I asked her about organic foods and if they are healthier than regular foods.
She told me that as of right now, there is no long-term data or studies that show that someone who eats organic foods will live longer than someone who does not. When it comes to buying fresh foods, supporting your local farmers market is the best way to get locally grown, fresh food, regardless of how it is made.
Next week check out my Avenue story about how to properly manage your time and how to survive the madness that is exam week.
Stay healthy, Gators!
