Eating Organic: A public health necessity?Yana Puckett, MD

Introduction○ Regulations○ Politics○ Cost-effectiveness: Safe at any Price?○ Health benefits?○ Pesticides○ Organic: Hype?○ Genetically Modified○ Labels○ Future of Organic?

What is organic?○ According to the United States

Environmental Protection Agency:

○ “"Organically grown" food is food grown and processed using no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides. Pesticides derived from natural sources (e.g., biological pesticides) may also be used in producing organically grown food. Increasingly, some consumers are purchasing organically grown and processed foods as a way to reduce their exposure to synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.”

A Profitable Business

Regulation of Organic○ To be certified as 100% organic

○ Land usage

○ Management practices

○ Crop rotation practices

○ Pest control policies

○ Livestock origin, feed, healthcare, and living conditions

○ Prevent commingling of product

Certified Organic

Cost Effectiveness○ Must pay certification costs up to $2000 annually

○ Cost between 50-100% more than traditional farm products

○ EWG determined produce worth vs those not worth spending the extra money on.

○ 2012 – $35 billion industry

○ Stanford study

○ Mandatory labeling

Health Benefits of Organic Foods

○ More nutritional value

○ Claim: Pesticides may limit nutrition absorption properties of produce

○ Benefits of no pesticides

What are phenols?○ Cancer chemopreventive – flavonoids!

○ Capture free radicals before DNA damage can occur.

○ Free-radical theory of aging

  Data from “New evidence confirms the nutritional superiority of plant-based organic foods,” by Charles Benbrook, et. al. The Organic Center, March 2008.

Factors that Affect Nutritional Content○ Vitamins and phytochemicals○ Weather (affecting crops year-to-year)○ Specific environmental conditions from

one farm to the next(microclimates)○ Soil condition○ Length of time the specific plots of land

had been worked using organic methods

Soil Quality and Style of Farming○ ~Six recent studies of nutrient content

of organic tomatoes, only one showed no significant differences between organic and conventional farms (3).

Weather○ Burbank tomato study.

○ Quercetin?

○ Kaempferol?

Pesticides○ World pesticide use exceeded 5.0 billion

lbs in both 2000 and 2001. (5).

○ Both the amount of pesticide residue on foodstuff and the amount released into the atmosphere are factors that should be considered when purchase organically raised food.

Pesticides○ Organic foods were much less likely

than non-organic produce (by a factor of 10) to have two or more residues. (1)

○ Only 2.6% of organic foods had detectable multiple residues compared to 26% of conventionally grown foods. (6)

Pesticides○ Organically raised foods had one-third

the amount of chemical residues found in conventionally raised foods (1).

○ Compared to produce grown with integrated pest management techniques, the organic produce had one-half the amount of residue (1),

Pesticide Residues○ Highest percentages of insecticide residue

findings(6):

-celery (96%)-pears (95%)-apples (94%)-peaches (93%) -strawberries (91%)-oranges (85%)-spinach (84%) -potatoes (81%)-grapes (78%)-cucumbers (74%)

Organic Farming ○ Cruelty Free farming○ Organic chicken○ The Happy Egg company○ http://youtu.be/AHsvetb6nXU○ http://youtu.be/tloxthQu7vQ

Natural Phenomenon○ Terms like “all natural,”  “non-toxic,”

“earth-friendly,” or containing “natural botanicals,” but the ingredients list chemical after chemical.

○ No regulating agency to verify whether any of the claims are true.

○ Marketing claims can be misleading.

Labeling: Beware!

Genetically Modified, Foods

○ Antibiotic and virus resistance

○ Herbicide resistance

○ Scientific studies: no greater adverse health risk than conventional food (8-10).

○ Long term studies needed.

○ Regulation is questioned.

Future of Organic Food○ Community gardens○ Healthy Living City Designs: Space for

community gardens and farmer’s markets, especially low income areas.

○ Vertical farming

Community Gardens

Vertical Farming

Vertical Farming○ Glass space, vertical + artificial lighting.○ Ken Yeang and Dickson D. Despommier○ Feeding the world in the 21st century○ Eliminate world hunger

Proponents for Vertical Farming○ Preparation for future○ Crop production year round○ Protection of crops from pests and

weather○ Animal extinction stopped○ Methane energy production○ Organic crops! Easier regulation!

Impact human health.

Criticism of Vertical Farming○ Questionable profitability

○ Greenhouse gases

○ Water source depleted

Conclusion○ Growing business, surpassed $13.8

billion in 2005 (Organic Trade Assn. 2006).

○ Health benefits exist

○ If you can afford, buy! If not, no big deal!

○ Vertical farming

References○ 1 Baker BP, Benbrook CM, Groth E 3rd,Lutz Benbrook K. Pesticide residues in conventional, integrated

pest management (IPM)-grown and organic foods: insights from three US data sets. Food Addit Contam 2002;19:427-446.

○ 2 Chassy AW, Bui L, Renaud EN, et al. Three-year comparison of the content of antioxidant microconstituents and several quality characteristics in organic and conventionally managed tomatoes and bell peppers. J Agric Food Chem 2006;54:8244-8252.

○ 3 Juroszek P, Lumpkin HM, Yang RY, et al. Fruit quality and bioactive compounds with antioxidant activity of tomatoes grown on-farm: comparison of organic and conventional management systems. J Agric Food Chem 2009;57:1188-1194.

○ 4 Mitchell AE, Hong YJ, Hoh E, et al. Ten-year comparison of the influence of organic and conventional crop management practices on the content of flavonoids in tomatoes. J Agric Food Chem 2007;55:6154-6159.

○ 5 Pesticides industry sales and usage. 2000 and 2001 market estimates. http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/pestsales/01pestsales/market_estimates2001.pdf [Accessed October 23, 2014]

○ 6 U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Pesticide residue monitoring program 2000. http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/Pesticides/ucm125171.htm [Accessed October 23, 2014]

○ 7 American Medical Association (2012). Report 2 of the Council on Science and Public Health: Labeling of Bioengineered Foods

○ 8 United States Institute of Medicine and National Research Council (2004). Safety of Genetically Engineered Foods: Approaches to Assessing Unintended Health Effects. National Academies Press. Free full-text. National Academies Press. See pp11ff on need for better standards and tools to evaluate GM food.

○ 9  Key S, Ma JK, Drake PM (June 2008). "Genetically modified plants and human health". J R Soc Med 101 (6): 290–8. doi:10.1258/jrsm.2008.070372. PMC 2408621. PMID 18515776.