Why Do You Buy Organic?

Photo: Harrison Eastwood/ Istock

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Perhaps you choose organic goods to reduce your family's pesticide intake, to prevent harsh chemicals from being used on crops and damaging the environment or to promote a healthier atmosphere for farm workers.

Some suggest they buy organic because organics are better for you, but new research shows that there is no evidence to support that argument.

A study in the latest issue of the Society of Chemical Industry's (SCI) Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture suggests that there is no evidence to support the argument that organic food is better than food grown with the use of pesticides and chemicals.

The research, which was conducted by Dr. Susanne Bugel and colleagues from the University of Copenhagen, found that many people pay more than a third more for organic food believing that it has more nutritional content than food grown with pesticides and chemicals.

But the research shows there is no clear evidence to back this up, according to a press release.

To determine the retention of minerals and trace elements, animals were fed a diet consisting of crops grown using three different cultivation methods in two seasons. The study looked at carrots, kale, mature peas, apples and potatoes.

After harvest, results showed that there were no differences in the levels of major and trace contents in the fruit and vegetables grown using the three different methods.

As a reminder, there are myriad reasons to buy organic.

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