Organic versus conventional fruits and vegetables comparison

Organic Fruits & Vegetables vs. Regular Fruits & Vegetables

Organic farming and organic produce sales have been increasing at a dramatic pace over the last decade. Organic foods are those that are grown without the use of pesticides, hormones, or synthetic fertilizers and are grown on farms that develop their growing techniques around soil and water conservation (United States Department of Agriculture). Though the research about organic produce and official guidelines for the organic qualification are still relatively new, new eye-opening research on the topic is published on a frequent basis. Overall organic farming is far more beneficial to our natural resources, and organic food and produce is not only better tasting, but healthier as well.

To grow a better product, you have to start with the soil, and organic farming has been demonstrated to be better on and for the earth. The vegetation in organic fields have deeper roots, and have access to more beneficial bacteria and nutrients than the vegetation on conventional farmland. Not only is the soil healthier but the population of helpful insects like earthworms, spiders and beetles is "twice as abundant and more diverse in organic plots" (Dauncey 1). If the soil alone seems to be healthier and more productive, imagine what the product of that soil can do for the animals that consume it.

It's been shown that organic foods are better for animal reproduction, contain more nutrients, and can help battle some serious health issues like heart disease, stroke and cancer. Dr. Virginia Worthington found that out of 14 studies, all but three showed that the reproductive rate either improved for animals fed organic food, or remained steady while the animals fed on conventional food experienced a decline in fertility over about three generations (Worthington 978-988). Organic farming has also been shown to improve the nutritional value of the produce as well. Basically, if the vegetable doesn't need to do its natural job of resisting insects on its own because of the presence of artificial pesticides, then it will produce less of the valuable nutrient, and therefore pass less of those nutrients on to the consumer. Some of these nutrients are extremely valuable to humans, such as the salicylic acid that can be found in tomatoes and is the same chemical found in aspirin (Worthington 990-991). Considering the benefits identified with aspirin use, who wouldn't rather get the same effects from a natural and pleasant tasting source instead of a bitter pill?

Not only can organic produce provide valuable nutrients better than traditional produce, but the absence of pesticides and other chemicals used on conventional farms is also a boon to the consumer. Synthetic chemical pesticides and herbicides have a notorious history of being dangerous carcinogens. The highest death rates in the United States of certain cancers can be found in the rural farming areas of the country. Migrant workers have also demonstrated abnormally high rates of cancer that have been shown to be linked to herbicide and pesticide use (Steingraber 64). If these substances are causing cancer in the workers who toil on these conventional farmlands, why would it even be questioned whether there is an imminent danger present simply in eating the produce from these farms.