Healthier or not?

When Stanford researchers decided to find out if organic food really is healthier, they found measurable differences in pesticides. (AP Photo/file)

When Stanford researchers decided to find out if organic food really is healthier, they found measurable differences in pesticides.

“We did find that organic produce was at 30 percent lower risk of contamination of any detectable pesticide residues compared with conventional produce,” said Dr. Crystal Smith-Spangler.

But, she said, there’s no evidence the lower pesticide level left organic food eaters any healthier. As for bacteria, the study found that bacteria on non-organic meat tended to be more resistant to antibiotics, but if the meat’s properly cooked, that’s not a problem either.

“The most frequent cause of antibiotic resistance in humans, is human use of antibiotics,” said Smith-Spangler.

So there it is. Organics have fewer pesticides, and the microbes are different, but in most cases, your body doesn’t know and doesn’t care.
Leading to the next question, if you pay more for organic food are you wasting your money?

Well, if the organic label eases your mind because pesticides aren’t used, and it keeps local farms going, and the animals are treated better, even if there’s no difference in the actual nutrition — and you want to pay more for that — what’s the harm?

The REAL impact of this study will be on the people who go around telling you that because THEY eat organic, YOU should eat organic. Which is as it should be. Our family gets weekly organic deliveries, and we feel good about it; it supports a nearby farm; it forces us to find ways to prepare chard and kale, but we don’t tell anyone else what to eat, because, frankly, we want people to invite us for dinner — which they won’t do if they think we’re judging the Stroganoff.

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