Recently in Organic Research Category

The Organic Center has researched a new method to quickly and cost-effectively track changes in soil quality brought about by the transition to organic farming.

Alan Franzluebbers, Ph.D. and Richard Haney, Ph.D., two leading soil scientists working for the Agricultural Research Service, the research arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, wrote The Organic Center's Critical Issue Report (CIR 2006.2), "Assessing Soil Quality in Organic Agriculture." The full report is available for free at: http://www.organic-center.org/science.environment.php.

The report explains why better tools are needed to manage the transition of soils when farming methods change from chemical-based to organic.

"How we manage soil and how the soil responds to this management are critical issues facing the long-term success of our society," says Alan Franzluebbers, ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Watkinsville, Georgia and co-author of the report. The proposed minimum-data-set (MDS) approach for assessing soil quality is composed of routine chemical and biological assays that can be carried out in most soil testing laboratories for a collective cost of less than $100 per sample.

In 2007, The Organic Center plans to begin a national survey of soil quality on conventional, transitional and organic acreage. The Center's project will apply, test and refine the MDS approach, and integrate the measures into an index of soil quality.

"Farmers and scientists have recognized for decades that well-managed organic systems improve soil quality," says Chuck Benbrook, Ph.D., and chief scientist of The Organic Center. "But better tools and solid data are needed to quantify these benefits and identify the best strategies to maximize them."

The degradation of soil quality continues in the United States as a result of erosion, the compaction of soils, leaching of nutrients, and loss of soil structure and biodiversity.

Organic farming methods have great potential to reverse these losses by increasing soil organic matter content, building the pools of nutrients cycling within soils, and enhancing soil microbial communities. The Organic Center's work on soil quality seeks to accomplish two goals.

First, development of practical tools for farmers, crop consultants, extension specialists, and agronomists to use in the field in mapping the course for cost-effective transitions from conventional production to organic management. New tools are needed to determine how quickly a soil can be transitioned, how resilient the soil is likely to be during the transition process, and how soils and crop yields are likely to respond to key organic farming practices and inputs. Soil microbial activity, in particular, can offer a benchmark for transitioning from conventional to organic farming systems.

"There is a need to provide farmers with a soil test tool to guide a cost-effective transition," says Richard Haney, soil chemist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service in Temple, Texas. "Microorganisms are very sensitive to changes in the soil and we can take advantage of this fact by tracking the impact our management practices have on soil microbes."


The Organic Center's second goal is to develop methods to quantify the benefits to farmers, rural communities, and the nation from improvements in soil quality possible through organic management. Key benefits that will follow expansion of organic production, and which need to be quantified, include: increased efficiency of nitrogen use; less reliance on purchased sources of nutrients; reduced runoff and leaching of nutrients and pesticides, and hence improved water quality; more stable crop yields; and higher returns to farm labor and management.

The Organic Center's next Critical Issue Report focusing on soil quality will be released in the spring, 2007. It will address the potential of organic farming systems to increase the efficiency of nitrogen use in corn production in the Midwest.

The Organic Center is a 501 (c) (3) organization founded in 2002 to present and provide peer-reviewed scientific evidence on how organic products benefit human and environmental health. The Organic Center's research and educational efforts are funded through individuals, foundations, businesses and government programs.

For information about The Organic Center, its current programs and scientific reports visit www.organic-center.org.

Science is showing that organic fruits and vegetables not only taste better, but they are better for you. Nutrient content in organic fruits and vegetables is, on average, higher than in conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. In many cases, the amount of antioxidants found in organic fruits and vegetables is 30-percent higher compared to conventionally grown produce.

Taste plays a huge factor in converting consumers to try new foods and according to a Minnesota Opinion Research Inc. poll, 43 percent of consumers say taste is a major reason why they purchase organic fruits and vegetables. So what are the other 57 percent waiting for?

"People have a lot of misconceptions about what an organic meal tastes like," says celebrity chef Akasha Richmond. Eighty-five to 90 percent of the ingredients she uses in her A-list recipes are organic. "Because organic is associated with something that is good for you, people think it will be too healthy and have no taste. But after they try it, most people are shocked at how much more flavor some of their favorite foods have."

And while chefs like Richmond have known instinctively for years that organic produce can add flavor to their menus, a new state of science review, published by The Organic Center, shows why organic fruits and vegetables often taste better.

Published studies have analyzed the sensory appeal of organic fruits and vegetables compared to their conventional counterparts.

Organic fruits and vegetables tend to score higher in taste because they are sweeter than conventionally grown foods. Scientists say this is because of the nutrient density of organic produce and their smaller size. Conventional farming methods are designed to produce bigger fruits and vegetables, but increasing cells size adds more water, diluting the concentrations of both vitamins and natural flavors.

Organic apples, strawberries and tomatoes showed some of the most significant differences in taste, according to the report.

The report also dispels another misconception about freshness. Contrary to what most people believe, organic fruits and vegetables often have a longer shelf life than conventionally grown foods. The higher levels of antioxidants, considered a natural preservative, are actually part of what enables some organic fruits and vegetables to store longer. The other contributing factor is the lower levels of nitrates that come from synthetic fertilizers, which aren't used in organic farming.

Science is showing that organic fruits and vegetables not only taste better, but they are better for you. Nutrient content in organic fruits and vegetables is, on average, higher than in conventionally grown fruits and vegetables. In many cases, the amount of antioxidants found in organic fruits and vegetables is 30-percent higher compared to conventionally grown produce.

To get a copy of the taste state of science review, go to http://www.organic-center.org and visit http://www.MO2010.org to find out how you can make a difference by just eating 10-percent organic.

Organic Plant-Based Foods ARE More Nutritious, and Provide on Average a 25% Nutrition Premium

BOULDER, Colo. - March 18, 2008 - A comprehensive review of 97 published studies comparing the nutritional quality of organic and conventional foods shows that organic plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) contain higher levels of eight of 11 nutrients studied, including significantly greater concentrations of the health-promoting polyphenols and antioxidants.

In this first comprehensive review of the scientific literature comparing nutrient levels in organic and conventional food completed since 2003, a team of scientists conclude that organically grown plant-based foods are 25% more nutrient dense, on average, and hence deliver more essential nutrients per serving or calorie consumed.

Magnitude of Differences Heavily Favors Organic Foods

Several methods were used to place the magnitude of the differences in nutrient levels between organic and conventional foods into perspective. In two-thirds of the matched pairs favoring the conventional food, the differences in favor of conventional were under 10%, compared to 26% of the matched pairs in which the organic food was more nutrient dense by a margin under 10%.

The premium in favor of the conventional food was 21% or greater in just 15% of the matched pairs in which the conventional food was more nutrient dense, whereas in the more nutrient dense organic food matched pairs, 41% favored organic by 21% or more, and 24% of the pairs were 31% or more nutrient dense.

The largest differences were in the case of the flavonoid quercetin, where the organic foods were 2.4-times more nutrient dense on average, and nitrates, where levels were 1.8-fold lower in organic foods (a desirable nutritional feature).

The consistency of the differences observed, the relative importance of the nutrients for which the organic samples tended to be markedly higher, and the sizable advantage in many of the organic foods within matched pairs lead the team to conclude -
"Yes, organic plant-based foods are, on average, more nutritious in terms of their nutrient density for compounds validated by this study's rigorous methodology."

Commenting on the results, Dr. Neal Davies, a professor in the School of Pharmacology at Washington State University, and a study co-author, said "We have carried out many careful comparisons of both nutrient levels and biological activity of antioxidant polyphenols in organic and conventional foods over the last five years. Not only are we seeing a general trend in favor of the nutrient density of organic food, but also evidence that nutrients are often present in organic foods in a more biologically active form."

 

For More Information Contact:

Dr. Charles Benbrook, The Organic Center: cbenbrook@organic-center.org, 541-828-7918

SOURCE: The Organic Center

Forty New Studies Published in Last Six Years Provide a Firm Foundation for Some Clear-cut Answers: Yes, Organic Plant-Based Foods ARE More Nutritious, and Provide on Average a 25% Nutrition Premium

BOULDER, Colo. - March 18, 2008 - A comprehensive review of 97 published studies comparing the nutritional quality of organic and conventional foods shows that organic plant-based foods (fruits, vegetables, grains) contain higher levels of eight of 11 nutrients studied, including significantly greater concentrations of the health-promoting polyphenols and antioxidants.

In this first comprehensive review of the scientific literature comparing nutrient levels in organic and conventional food completed since 2003, a team of scientists conclude that organically grown plant-based foods are 25% more nutrient dense, on average, and hence deliver more essential nutrients per serving or calorie consumed.

Nutrient levels were studied in 236 matched pairs of foods with scientifically valid results on the levels of 10 nutrients, plus nitrates (high levels are undesirable because of food safety risks). Each matched pair contains, for example, an apple crop grown organically and another apple crop from a nearby conventional farm with similar soils, climate, plant genetics, irrigation systems, nitrogen levels, and harvest practices.

The new report is published as a "State of Science Review" by The Organic Center and is entitled "New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-based Organic Foods." The co-authors are Charles Benbrook, the Center's Chief Scientist, Xin Zhao of the University of Florida, and three Washington State University (WSU) scientists Jaime Yanez, Neal Davies, and Preston Andrews. Dr. Andrew Weil, a Center board member, wrote the "Foreword."

The full report and its executive summary are freely accessible on the Center's website (http://www.organic-center.org/science.nutri.php?action=view&report_id=126).

Driving pesticide risks downward is important because, according to pediatrician Alan Greene, M.D., chairman of The Organic Center's board of directors, "Recent science has established strong links between exposure to pesticides at critical stages of prenatal development and throughout childhood, and heightened risk of pre-term, underweight babies, developmental abnormalities impacting the brain and nervous system, as well as diabetes and cancer."

"Yes, with surprising frequency, all Americans, including infants and children, are exposed to pesticides via their diet and drinking water," added Dr. Benbrook.

In fact, Dr. Benbrook noted, recent USDA pesticide residue and food consumption surveys show that most people consume three to four residues daily just through fruits and vegetables.

"Accounting for residues in conventional milk, tap water and other foods, the average American exposes him or herself to ten to 13 pesticide residues daily," Dr. Benbrook added.

The frequency of multiple pesticide residues in conventional produce contributes significantly to each person's daily dose. Multiple residues are eight-times more likely in conventional produce than in organic produce. Reasons why include:

• A conventional spinach sample in 2006 testing was found to have nine residues, a kale sample had 10, and a raisin sample contained 11;
• Almost half the conventional peach samples in 2006 contained five or more residues;
• Conventional sweet bell peppers top the multiple-residue chart, with two samples containing 12 pesticides in 2003 testing; and,
• More than one-third of conventional fruit and vegetable samples in 2006 contained multiple residues.

Converting Nation's Produce Farms to Organic, Coupled with Buying Organic Imported Produce, Would Reduce Pesticide Risks by 97%

The Organic Center bases its 97 percent risk reduction estimate upon a "Dietary Risk Index" (DRI), developed by the EPA's Office of Inspector General (OIG). The EPA-OIG used the index in a 2006 appraisal of the impacts of the 1996 Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) on pesticide dietary risks.

The Organic Center applied the same DRI to estimate the changes that would occur in risk levels if all produce were grown using organic methods. The Organic Center concluded that a 100 percent reduction in risk is unattainable because of the widespread use of pesticides on conventional farms, and the movement of pesticides in the air and water onto organic farm fields.

"While it will take years to convert most American fruit and vegetable farms to organic methods, the process is well underway and accelerating fast, especially in the Western U.S.," Dr. Benbrook noted. Already, organic produce accounts for nearly ten percent of retail sales of fresh fruits and vegetables. Several major fresh produce grower-shippers have recently announced aggressive timetables to convert all or most of their fruit and vegetable acreage to organic, assuming consumer demand continues to grow.

The report points out that a substantial reduction in pesticide exposure will remove, or markedly lesson, an important risk factor for several serious public health problems.

SOURCE: www.organic-center.org

Converting the nation's eight million acres of produce farms to organic
would reduce pesticide dietary risks by about 97 percent, according to
research from The Organic Center

The Organic Center provides the first-ever quantitative estimate of the degree to which pesticide risks from food can be eliminated through adoption of organic farming methods in "Simplifying the Pesticide Risk Equation: The Organic Option," a new State of Science Review by Dr. Charles Benbrook, the Organic Center's chief scientist.

Less than three percent of the nation's cropland produces fruits and vegetables. Yet, according to The Organic Center, these crops account for most of the pesticide risks from dietary exposure in domestically produced foods. The 97 percent risk reduction can only be achieved if converting domestic cropland of organic is coupled with consumers choosing only imported produce that is certified organic.

The estimates are based on up-to-date pesticide residue data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Environmental Protection Agency's current methods for estimating pesticide dietary risks.

Founded in 2002, The Organic Center is a non-profit devoted to presenting and providing peer-reviewed scientific evidence on how organic products benefit human health and environmental quality.

Other findings and information shared in the report include:

• An analysis of the significantly greater pesticide risks linked to consumption of imported conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables, as compared to domestically-grown produce.
• Rankings of dietary risk levels in select conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables, arranged to help guide consumers seeking to minimize pesticide risks.
• Suggestions on how to meet dietary guidelines for fruit and vegetable intake in the winter, while also reducing pesticide exposures.
• An overview of pesticide residues found in milk.

The Organic Center offers a free download of its report from their website. 

Dallas-based Dean Foods Co., the parent company of WhiteWave Foods, opened a 23,000-sq.-ft. research and development center in Broomfield, CO.

WhiteWave, maker of the Silk and Horizon Organic brands, is also located in Broomfield.