Wherefore "Organic"

While the argument for so-called organic foods (an unfortunate evolution of the word, really) can often devolve into either a pseudo-intellectual scene in the isles of a Whole Foods or downright elitist vegan fascism, studies by no-so-radical scientific organizations (e.g. the USDA) continue to demonstrate empirical health advantages to eating organically. From the New York Times last month (via Lance, and the entire article is the next post):

A study sponsored by the Department of Agriculture in 1999, for example, found that pastured [not factory-farmed] chickens have 21 percent less fat, 30 percent less saturated fat, 50 percent more vitamin A and 400 percent more omega-3 fatty acids than factory-raised birds. They also have 34 percent less cholesterol.

The pasture principle isn't limited to fowl. Compared to most American beef, which is raised on a grain-intensive diet, pasture-fed beef offers 400 percent more vitamin A and E. It is also much richer in beta-carotene and conjugated linoleic acids, all of which inhibit cancer. It's also higher in omega-3 fatty acids, which are a major inhibitor of heart disease. These benefits don't exist at these levels in animal that are fed an unvaried and unnatural diet.

Pasture-fed fowl and beef, and their plant kingdom equivalent, cost significantly more. Is it worth it, week in and week out, to spend an extra 10-20% of your grocery bill on an "organic premium?"

Another way to look at is that current food prices are in fact artifically low; they don't reflect long term true costs, which would include externalized costs associated with health problems to both the consumer and the fieldworker, and ecological damage from unsustainable farming practices. Consequently, prices for organics reflect the up-front expense of not incurring those long-term costs.

And that's to say nothing of the "Beyond Organic" concept of local, self-reliant agriculture systems, where the farmland and the farmer's community benefit directly, on top of reduced transportation costs.