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while switching to organic foods can be good for you insofar as doing so helps you avoid nasty things Not true at all. The list of chemicals and additives tha
by bunderbunder 14y ago
while switching to organic foods can be good for you insofar as doing so helps you avoid nasty things
Not true at all. The list of chemicals and additives that the USDA has approved for use in organic food is enormous.
And there's no reason to believe that the ones that are approved are safer, either. Because the primary criterion for determining whether an agrichemical is suitable for use in organic agriculture is how "natural" it is considered to be. And "natural" is not a good proxy for "safe", on account of the two being orthogonal characteristics.
It's not a good proxy for "green", either. Your local watershed doesn't really care that the excess phosphorus that's being dumped into it comes from certified organic bone meal.
- evanlong 14y agoFrom the Atlantic article: There are the more immediate health benefits of buying organic: you'll avoid the chemicals, preservatives, and hormones that conventional farms often use to treat their foods. In the Stanford study, just 7 percent of organic foods were found to have traces of pesticides, compared to 38 percent of conventionally-farmed produce. Again, that doesn't mean organic foods will supercharge your health -- you'll just be at less risk of exposure to potentially harmful substances, for whatever that's worth to you. Quantifying that benefit is a contentious area and certainly worthy of more research. Listen to what Bruce Ames (professor emeritus of biochemistry at UC Berkeley and senior scientist at Children's Hospital of Oakland Research Institute) had to say on this mornings Forum: http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201209051000 http://www.kqed.org/a/forum/R201209051000 Basically, don't worry about those traces of pesticides. He explains it better than me. Listen.