Choosing Organic

http://www.healthsentinel.com/org_ne...st_item&id=076

Meryl Barr, "Choosing Organic", Health Sentinel, January 29, 2006,

An article in the February 2006 issue of Consumer Reports magazine
reports that nearly two thirds of consumers purchased organic products
in the past year despite having to pay higher prices for organic
products. New studies show that by eating organic food you can greatly
reduce your exposure to chemicals found in conventionally produced
food. If you are a wise shopper you can save money by comparing prices
and checking out supermarkets that now carry a large selection of
organic foods and produce.

There are many critics that argue that we are wasting our money because
there is no proof conventionally produced foods pose significant health
risks. However, there are many reasons to buy organic. A growing body
of research shows that pesticides and other contaminants are more
prevalent in foods we eat, in our bodies, and in the environment than
we previously thought.

As more consumers are turning to organic products, they should also be
aware that some of the country's largest food producers are trying to
chip away at what organic labels promise to deliver. While the organic
label indicates that a product meets certain government standards,
those standards are coming under pressure as big companies cash in on
the growing demand for organic foods.

H. Lee Scott Jr., chief executive of Wal-Mart stores, has described
organic as "one of the fastest-growing categories in all off food and
in Wal-Mart." During the past decade, U.S. organic sales have grown
20 percent or more annually. Organic food and beverage sales are
estimated to have toped $15 billion in 2004, up from $3.5 billion in
1997. Sales are projected to double by 2009.

"Consumer spending on organic has grown so much we've attracted big
players who want to bend the rules so that they can brand their
products as organic without incurring the expenses involved in truly
living up to organic standards," says Ronnie Cummins, national
director of the Organic Consumers Association, an advocacy group based
in Finland, Minnesota. Many of the large food companies lobbied to
weaken organic rules that started when the U.S. Department of
Agriculture fully implemented organic labeling standards in October
2002.

Food producers immediately fought the new rules. A chicken producer in
Georgia was ultimately able to persuade one of his state's
congressional representatives to slip through a federal legislative
amendment in a 2003 appropriations bill to cut its costs. The amendment
stated that if the price of organic feed was more than twice the cost
of regular feed, which can contain heavy metals, pesticides, and animal
by-products, then livestock producers could feed their animals less
costly, non-organic feed but still label their products organic.

That change of standards was repealed in April 2003 after consumers and
organic producers protested, but the fight to maintain the integrity of
organic labeling continues. In October 2005, Congress weakened the
organic-labeling law despite protests from more than 325,000 consumers
and 250 organic-food companies. The law recently overturned a court
ruling that barred the use of synthetic ingredients in "organic"
foods. It mostly affects processed products such as canned soups and
frozen pizza.

If you decide that you'd prefer fewer chemicals and other additives
in your food, the choice is up to you. New evidence shows that contrary
to previous scientific belief, pesticides in a woman's bloodstream
can be passed to a fetus in the womb. A study released in 2005 in which
the Red Cross collected umbilical-cord blood of 10 children and test
for pollutants showed that 21 pesticides crossed the placenta.

Eating an organic diet can limit chemical exposure. A 2005 study
supported by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) measured
pesticide levels in the urine of 23 children in Washington State before
and after a switch to an organic diet. Researchers found that after
just five consecutive days on the new diet, specific markers for
commonly used pesticides decreased to undetectable levels and remained
that way until conventional diets were reintroduced. The study's
conclusion, "An organic diet provides a dramatic and immediate
protective effect" against pesticide exposure.

My health and well being are my first priority and for me there is no
question that organic foods are the way to go. I'll never forget
those infamous words in the 1960's hit "Big Yellow Taxi" -
"Hey farmer put away the DDT now, give me spots on my apples but
leave me the birds and the bees, please!"

SOURCE: Consumer Reports, February 2006