Day 62 – Are Organic Foods Really That Much Better?

“People are more opposed to fur than leather because rich ladies are easier to harass than bikers.”

~ Bumper sticker

193.9 lbs.

Weight loss from starvation, check. Muscle atrophy, check. Social isolation, check.

Oy.

I can’t emphasize enough that the reason I’m starving myself is to raise awareness of how we should eat, and why. I don’t condone it; in fact quite the opposite. If you’re overweight, it’ll take time to lose it safely. If you’re anorexic or bulimic and in recovery, your body needs time to restore its basal metabolic rate back to normal levels as you slowly reintroduce larger amounts of calories to hit the 2,000 (for women) or 2,500 (for men) average recommended caloric intake. It’ll be about 2 years before my body recovers from this 100 day self imposed starvation.

Too much of our diet – specific foods, specific ingredients, or portions and proportions – is just plain wrong for the creatures we’re designed to be. One response is organic foods; the belief that eating ‘natural’ foods ‘without all those chemicals’ is better for you. First, organic things have chemicals in them. Ever hear of organic chemistry? Second, ‘natural’ doesn’t always mean better. Horse poop is natural, and flies seem to like it, but I wouldn’t eat it.Third, when people say ‘natural’ they usually (often unknowingly) mean ‘bio-engineered, but not in a lab’.

Most of the wholesome foods (grain, fruits, etc.) have been so carefully cultivated for certain characteristics over hundreds or even thousands of years, they no longer resemble the original plant. Apples, 10,000 years ago, were small, hard things that were so bitter they’d make modern crab apples seem like candy. By cross-breeding as many as 25 different types humans created the plump sweet apples that became extremely popular. So popular that it’s widely presumed that the ‘fruit of knowledge’ in the garden of Eden was an apple (even though the Bible just says ‘fruit’).

Fast forward to now, and apples are pretty delicious and available in a wide variety of types. Some are sold as ‘natural’ and ‘organic’ (implying the rest are unnatural and made of… oh, let’s just say circuit boards or something)

But setting aside the hyperbole, are the ones called ‘organic’ really that much better?

In some cases, yes.

Here’s why: most apples you can get in the store are covered in so much wax and pesticide you’re getting a high dose of toxins and inedible substances from a seemingly healthy food choice. The ones called ‘organic’ are usually pesticide free (though watch for worm holes – the kind caused by fruit eating worms, not the Star Trek kind).

The Environmental Working Group generates a list of the ‘dirty dozen’ – foods that contain high amounts of pesticides – at their website foodnews.org. Apples, along with strawberries, peaches, celery, bell peppers, spinach, cherries, imported grapes, and potatoes seem to appear on the list year after year with a frequency that would make Oscar nominees envious.

There are a few that get added to the list, displacing others, from time to time. This year it’s blueberries and kale.

I can’t say I’ve ever knowingly eaten kale. I’ve heard of it as an undesirable ingredient in a drink that Dr. Frasier Crane invested in on the show Cheers, before that character got his own spinoff show. Kale is related to broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and Brussels sprouts and is the first of this brassica family of veggies to make the ‘dirty dozen’ list. Most of the rest are considered ‘least toxic’

What about blueberries? The EWG list is based on the USDA Pesticide Data Program, and it turns out the most recent study (published December 2009 based on 2008 food production) was the first year the USDA included blueberries – so they may have been pesticide heavy all along or this could be recent.

The problem with most foods in the grocery store labelled ‘organic’ is there are no guidelines as to what can be called organic and what can’t, and they cost a hell of a lot more. It makes sense to me to buy the ‘organic’ labeled foods when buying one of the 12 types that are usually pesticide heavy, and buy the regular versions of everything else. Why pay more for little or no benefit?

The other option is to buy regular apples, strawberries, celery, and so on and just be sure to wash them thoroughly before eating them. After all, good eating shouldn’t be only for those who can afford it.