Organic Food

This has been a crazy week, especially since E is cutting her last 2 molars and the word brat can't begin to describe her. But, I just read a story on Focus Organic, which made me remember a topic I wanted to talk about. I was watching our local news this week when I heard the headline, "Organic Study Shows Organic isn't any Healthier." I got a bit hacked off by the headline and did some research online. Not any better.
First of all, the "major" study that was done by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine didn't even look at pesticides in the products they tested or look at the environmental impact of organic farming practices! HELLO!!! That would be the main reason we switched to organic foods. A peach is a peach. Whether it's grown with or without pesticides. I didn't think there would be any nutritional difference between the two. The study said, "What it shows is that there is little, if any, nutritional difference between organic and conventionally produced food and that there is no evidence of additional health benefits from eating organic food."
No additional health benefits? But, the study also added, "Also, there is not sufficient research on the long-term effects of pesticides on human health." Well, maybe they should have done research on that before they make headlines informing people that it's not healthier to eat organic foods!
I didn't eat organic foods until my daughter started eating table food. No, I wasn't a super mom that made her own baby food. I did buy her organic purees and felt confident in that choice. But after I started eating organic, I started to lose weight. In the past year I've lost almost 30 pounds! No, I haven't done anything different other than that. But what made me decide on going organic was the thought of eating chemicals. Think of it this way- would you spray bleach on your veggies before eating them every day and think it's safe?
I looked up cancer on an internet search and this is what I found, "Nearly all cancers are caused by abnormalities in the genetic material of the transformed cells.^[4] These abnormalities may be due to the effects of carcinogens, such as tobacco smoke, radiation, chemicals, or infectious agents." Notice the word chemicals! Aren't pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, growth promoters and PCBs all chemicals? 7.6 million people worldwide died of cancer in 2007. Is anyone else thinking it might have something to do with the chemicals in our food?
Until numerous studies are done saying that chemicals used in growing food is safe, I will still be buying organic. I advise anyone who wants to make a important choice, do their research and not rely on headlines. I have found the Harris Teeter line of organic foods are the same price as name brands and taste much better.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!