China Organic Agriculture Network Time: 20 15.06. 16 Source: organic agriculture.
Is organic food really healthier and safer? In recent years, many scientists directly use "no" to answer this question. There seems to be little evidence that organic food is more nutritious than ordinary food.
In 2009, the British Food Standards Agency combed 67 research reports on this subject and found that there was no difference in nutrition between organic food and ordinary food. In 20 12, a larger evaluation of 237 research reports published in the American Journal of Internal Medicine also found that organic food seems to be healthier and safer than ordinary food.
But people have always held different views. They think that organic food is definitely good for health. An article published in the British Journal of Nutrition in July 20 14 once again triggered a discussion on this issue. Researchers combed 347 previous research reports and found that some organic fruits and vegetables contain more antioxidants than ordinary fruits and vegetables.
Unfortunately, this evidence is not strong enough. No one knows how much more antioxidants will actually benefit your health. Because antioxidants must be absorbed by the blood and then transported to various organs, but there are not many studies in this area, which cannot prove this. Now, there is no evidence that organic food really brings any benefits.
At the same time, some critics point out that this endless health debate has become a pastime. Marion Nesl of new york University thinks that the best reason to buy organic food is its environmental impact and production value. Any nutritional difference, if it really exists, is "extra happiness".
Another expert pointed out that most Americans don't eat enough fruits and vegetables, which is a more urgent health problem compared with the subtle differences between organic food and ordinary food. "In this discussion, everyone ignores an important fact, that is, what consumers can do is to eat more fruits and vegetables, whether they are organic or not." Carl Winter of the University of California, Davis said. Winter also doubts whether organic food is healthier.
Anyone who tries to compare "ordinary" food with "organic" food will face a major obstacle: these are broad concepts.
In the United States, there is a clear technical boundary between the two: synthetic pesticides, fertilizers or sludge are prohibited from being used in farms certified as "organic" by the US Department of Agriculture, and organic animals cannot be fed antibiotics or growth hormones.
However, the variables are still very large. Some ordinary farms use a lot of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. However, some farms selectively use pesticides or other pest control techniques.
Similarly, some organic farms use natural pesticides that are considered "organic", but they are also very toxic. Some organic farms use mixed fertilizers, which contain more pollutants, such as lead and cadmium, than ordinary fertilizers. It all depends on the specific situation-there is no single "conventional" planting method, and there is no single "organic" planting method.
In addition, there are many variables that can affect the nutritional value of crops, from soil types to climatic conditions to crop varieties. It is extremely difficult to control all these factors to specify "organic" and "conventional" cultivation.