Organic Food Is Healthier and Safer, Four-Year EU Investigation Shows

With the rhapsodizing of moms who want healthy children and the battle cries of right-wing skeptics, it can be difficult to depoliticize the debate about organically grown foods and root out scientific information about how they compare to conventionally grown counterparts. The European Union funded a four-year long study comparing the nutritional value of organic and conventional produce. The results suggest that organically raised food contains significantly higher concentrations of desirable compounds – including antioxidants, vitamin C, vitamin E and important fatty acids – and significantly lower concentrations of unhealthy ones. The challenge, now is, not to convince consumers of the benefits of organic food – a focus on health and glamour will accomplish that task – but rather to ensure that the word "organic" is rigorously defined and certified so that only foods truly free of toxic chemicals and rich with nutritional benefits are allowed to invoke that glamour. – YaleGlobal