Higher Nutritional Value of Organics?
I came across this interesting show on NPR's Science Fridays show:
NPR Show
Based on this paper:
Paper
In short it discusses a study where conventional vs. organic strawberries were compared for nutritional value and soil diversity. The finding was that the organic berries had about 10% more vitamin C and other anti-oxidants per unit of measure (pound or whatever) of produce and that the organic fields' soils had greater "healthiness" as measured by their bio-diversity and bio-activity. Finally, they were also able to show that the organic berries stayed fresh longer and had less phosphorus in them.
Here is what the study didn't talk about:
1) What was the yield difference of the conventional farms vs. the organic farms - this is important because in a sense we should be considering vitamin content per acre of strawberries, not just per pound. In other words if it is so much lower yield to grow organic strawberries than the amount of berries CONSUMED by the consumer will likely be lower due to the high cost. Consumers will CONSUME more vitamins because they will and can buy more. Furthermore, without a study of yield there is no consideration of the reality that a lower yielding agricultural method like organic will require a greater number of farm fields or an over farming of existing fields and that affect needs to be considered.
2) Another point of discussion about yield is that with few plants or fewer berries per plant in an organic field, it is not that the organic process yields more nutrition, it could just be that the over density of conventional methods leads to lower nutrition. If the conventional fields were planted at lower (equivalent) density, than the results would be different. Likewise about the soil health. Perhaps it is just the higher farming densities that are creating the soil health issues, not the methods. This is a HUGE point that is not mentioned. Maybe any nutritional or "taste" differences are based on lower plant densities.
3) Pesticide Residue Public Policy Considerations - If there are pesticide residues in the crops but the crops are much cheaper, the policy question comes down to whether we want people eating more produce that might have a bit of residue or possible risk, or whether we prefer that people eat less (because it is more expensive and we don't have the farm land) of organic produce with no residue.
4) Berry Size - In the discussion of that there were higher vitamin levels in the organic strawberries pound for pound there is no discussion of vitamin levels berry to berry. The likelihood that the conventional berries are larger (don't we all see this at the supermarket?) do to the intensity of the conventional fertilizer may mean that the berries have the same vitamin content but since the conventional ones are larger, the conventional berries have less vitamin content per pound.
5) There is nothing to suggest that any findings regarding strawberries in California are generalizable to other crops or even the strawberries in other significantly different climates.
