Health
Benefits of Organic Agriculture
The whole picture
Organic food contributes to better health through reduced pesticide
exposure for all and increased nutritional quality. In order to understand
the importance of eating organic food from the perspective of toxic pesticide
contamination, we need to look at the whole picture—from the farmworkers
who do the valuable work of growing food, to the waterways from which
we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat. Organic food can feed
us and keep us healthy without producing the toxic effects of chemical
agriculture.
Who benefits?
Farmworkers-
reduced pesticide exposure in organic agriculture
Consumers- increased nutrition
and reduced pesticide contamination in organic agriculture
Children- why organic food
is important for all kids
Farmworker health
The population groups most affected by pesticide use are farmworkers and
their families. These people live in communities near the application
of toxic pesticides, where pesticide drift and water contamination are
common. Farmworkers, both pesticide applicators and fieldworkers who tend
to and harvest the crops, come into frequent contact with pesticides.
Their families and children are then exposed to these pesticides through
contact with them and their clothing. Pregnant women working in the fields
unwittingly expose their unborn babies to toxic pesticides. Organic agriculture
does not utilize these toxic chemicals and thus eliminates this enormous
health hazard to workers, their families, and their communities.
There is no national
reporting system for farmworker pesticide poisonings. In California, one
of the few states to require reporting pesticide poisonings, there was
a yearly average of 475 reported farmworker poisonings from pesticides
in the years 1997-2000 according to the report Fields
of Poison 2002: California Farmworkers and Pesticides. As discussed
in the paper, this probably drastically underestimates the true number
of poisonings, since many cases are never reported for myriad reasons
including rising health care costs that have heightened reluctance to
seek medical attention, misdiagnosis from medical professionals, and the
failure of insurance companies to forward reports to proper authorities.
Acute pesticide poisonings
for farmworkers are only one aspect of the health consequences of pesticide
exposure. Many farmworkers spend years in the field exposed to toxic chemicals,
and some studies have reported increased risks of certain types of cancers
among farmworkers. The emerging science on endocrine disrupting pesticides
reveals another chronic health effect of pesticide exposure (for more
on endocrine disrupting pesticides, read the spring 2008 article
in Pesticides and You).
Children living in
areas with high pesticide use are at great risk of health effects because
of their high susceptibility to pesticides. In 1998, a groundbreaking
study by Elizabeth Guillette published in Environmental Health Perspectives
showed the severe developmental effects of pesticides on children in an
agricultural area of Mexico. The full text of this study including the
innovative methodology used is available here.
Pesticide exposure
for pregnant women working in the fields can have devastating effects
on their babies. One study compares three case studies of birth
defects caused by probable pesticide poisoning. In one case that was
brought to court and decided in favor of the plaintiffs, a mother exposed
illegally to pesticides gave birth to a child without arms or legs. For
the full story in Beyond Pesticides' Daily News Blog, read here.
Looking only at pesticide
residues in food as a measure of pesticide exposure ignores the fact that
many foods that do not end up with high pesticide residues nonetheless
involve toxic chemicals in production that put workers' health at risk.
Pesticide use in production and farmworker exposure is a necessary consideration
in looking at the whole pesticide problem. A shift to organic agriculture
is the only way to eliminate toxic pesticide exposure for everyone.
For more on the health
risks that farmers face, read Baldemar Velasquez's article in Pesticides
and You titled
Oppression
and Farmworker Health in a Global Economy as well as our page on buying
organic and labor considerations.
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Consumer health
Nutrition
Not only is the production
of organic food better for human health and the environment than conventional
production, emerging science reveals what organic advocates have been
saying for a long time—in addition to lacking the toxic residues
of conventional foods, organic food is more nutritious.
A study published
by The Organic
Center reveals that organic food is higher in certain key areas such
as total antioxidant capacity, total polyphenols, and two key flavonoids,
quercetin and kaempferol, all of which are nutritionally significant (read
entire study
or a summary
in the Beyond Pesticides Daily News Blog). Another study published in
the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry looked specifically at the
total
phenolic content of marionberries, strawberries, and corn, and found
that organically grown products contained higher total phenolics. Phenolics
are important for plant health (defense against insects and diseases),
and human health for their “potent antioxidant activity and wide
range of pharmacologic properties including anticancer, antioxidant, and
platelet aggregation inhibition activity.”
Studies have also
shown that dairy products from organically raised animals are healthier
than conventionally produced dairy products. In one study, the content
of the healthy Omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants were significantly
higher in organically produced milk (see the Beyond Pesticides Daily News
Blog story
for summary and study citation). Animals raised organically are not given
antibiotics and are required to be grazed on organically managed pastureland
or fed organically grown feed. Some organic milk producers have been cited
for violations
in the organic standard, making it all that much more important to chose
a local, organic dairy farm where operations are transparent. For more
on maintaining organic dairy integrity, visit the Cornucopia
Institute’s page on organic
milk.
Pesticide
Contamination
Pesticide residues in food are regulated by the Food
Quality Protection Act (FQPA), but the tolerance levels assigned for
certain pesticides, though determined “allowable”, still pose
potential health risks. The only way to avoid pesticide residues is to
switch to organic foods. Some foods tend to have lower pesticide residues
either because fewer pesticides are used in their production or because
they have thicker skins and, when peeled, contain smaller amounts of pesticides
than more thin-skinned products.
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Children and pesticides
Children
are particularly susceptible to the effects of pesticide exposure because
they have developing organ systems that are more vulnerable and less able
to detoxify toxic chemicals. Beyond Pesticides has produced a factsheet
entitled Children
and Lawn Chemicals Don’t Mix, that outlines the need to eliminate
children’s exposure to toxic lawn chemicals. Pesticide exposure
also occurs through food, and switching to an organic diet is an important
step in reducing this exposure.
Research has shown
that switching children to an organic diet drastically reduces their exposure
to organophosphates, a class of pesticides that includes the common and
toxic malathion
and chlorpyrifos.
Two studies (2006
and 2003)
compared the urine concentrations of organophosphorus pesticides and their
metabolites in children eating conventional vs. organic diets. The results
indicate that for certain types of pesticides, such as organophosphates,
diet is the primary route of exposure and switching to an organic diet
decreases exposure substantially. The most important organic food products
to purchase for children are not only those that contain high residues
in conventional form, but those that they consume in great quantity. For
example, if children drink a lot of juice, purchasing organic juice is
particularly important to reduce their pesticide exposure.
While dietary contamination
is a source for pesticide exposure and organic agriculture is critical
to reducing this, it is paramount that we also consider all sources of
pesticide exposure for children.
We must also advocate for pesticide free schools, parks, buildings, and
private lawns. For more information on these issues, please visit Beyond
Pesticides program pages for schools,
lawns and lawncare,
and alternatives
factsheets.
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