re: Organic and nutrition

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The request for data supporting the claim that organic foods are
nutritionally superior to conventional comes into our office about once a=
week.
What we tell people requesting this information is that there is no defin=
itive
study or report that nicely sums it up and supports that claim. We have
compiled a bibliography, which I've attached, that came from sanet postin=
gs and
other odds and ends which contains articles and research reports around t=
he
subject.=20

I have also attached (in a subsesquent e-mail) an article that ap=
peared
in OFRF's Fall 1996 Information Bulletin newsletter. It is by Joan Dye Gu=
ssow.
She does an excellent review of the complications around researching this
question as well as the other more social implications of trying to find =
this
answer.=20

She raises two important questions in her article:
"...given the modern opportunities for what I have come to call informati=
on
pollution do you really want to hang your future on putting out comparati=
ve
numbers rather than focusing on the environmental reasons why organic
production is better for people?"=20

and "...why would you want organic consumers to end up focused on numbers=
that
can so readily be modified to reflect nothing about the original produce?=
"

Her concluding statement is:
"If the industry wants to get proof of nutritional superiority, you may b=
e able
to do it. But someone will have to pay for well-designed long-term contro=
lled
studies of a sort that have to my knowledge not yet been done. I'm not
personally convinced that such studies would be worth the money and effor=
t it
would like to do them--not when there are so many other good reasons to s=
upport
organic production."

I think she raises some very provocative questions that have yet to be se=
ttled
by this industry. If anyone would like a reprint of that article, please
contact us at OFRF.

Rebecca King
OFRF Program Associate=20

NUTRITION OF ORGANIC FOODS =20

Contacts:
Elm Farm Research Centre Ecological Agriculture Pr=
oject
Hamstead Marshall Box 191, MacDonald Colleg=
e
Near Newbury 21, 111 Lakeshore
Berkshire RG15 OHR Ste-Anne DeBellevue, Queb=
ec
GREAT BRITAIN CANADA H9X 1CO

Will Newman II William Lockeretz
Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust School of Nutriti=
on
Science & Policy
P.O. Box 1106 Tufts University
Canby, OR 97013-1106 Medford, MA 02155
(503) 263-8392 (617) 627-3222

Bibliography:

Alvarez, C.E., Carracedo, A.E., Iglesias, E. & Martinez M.C. 1993. Pineap=
ples
cultivated by=20
conventional and organic methods in a soil from a banana plantation. A
comparative study =20
of soil fertility, plant nutrition, and yields. Biological Agriculture an=
d
Horticulture. 9:161-171.=20
Anon. 1988. The value of organic food. The Living Earth. July-September.=
p.
16-17.=20
Anon. 1992. Towards a new definition of food quality. NOFA-NY News.
January/February. p.3 &6.
Ausebel, Kenny. 1994. Seeds of Change: The Living Treasure.=20
HarperSanFrancisco, San Francisco,=20
CA 232p.
Beddoe, A. F. 1992. Nourishment Home Grown. Agro-Bio Systems, Grass Vall=
ey, CA
299p.
Blatt, C.R. & McRae, K.B. 1998. Comparison of four organic amendments wit=
h a
chemical=20
fertilizer applied to three vegetables in rotation. Agriculture and Agri-=
Food
Canada.=20
Clancy, Katherine L. 1986. The role of sustainable agriculture in improv=
ing
the safety and quality of=20
the food supply. American Journal of Alternative Agriculture. Winter. P.
11-18.
Comis, Don. 1989. Nitrogen overload may shrivel vitamin content. Agricul=
tural
Research. July.=20
P.10-11
Eggert, F. P. 1983. Effect of soil management practices on yield and fol=
iar
nutrient concentration of=20
dry beans, carrots, and tomatoes. Pl. 247-259 In: Lockeretz, W. (ed.)
Environmentally Sound=20
Agriculture. Praeger Scientific, NY.
Evers, Aino-Maija 1989. Effects of different fertilization practices on t=
he
NO3-N, N, P, K, Ca, Mg, =20
ash and dietary fibre contents of carrot. Journal of Agricultural Science=
in
Finland. 61:99-111. =20
Feenstra, Gail. 1992. Vitamin and mineral contents of carrot and celeria=
c
grown under mineral or=20
organic fertilization. Components. Vol. 3, No. 1 p. 9-10. Review of Lec=
lerc,
J. et al. 1991.=20
Biological Agriculture and Horticulture, Vol. 7 p. 339-348.
Fischer, Ada, and C.H. Richter. 1986. Influence of organic and mineral
fertilizers on yield and=20
quality of potatoes. P. 236-248. In: The Importance of Biological
Agriculture in
a World of=20
Diminishing Resources. Proceeding of the 5th IFOAM International Scientif=
ic
Conference at=20
the University of Kassel (Germany).
Fulton, M.C., Bell, L.C., & Asher, C.J. 1996. Mineral nutrition of cassav=
a
(Manihot esculenta =20
Crantz) grown in replaced soil after bauxite mining at Weipa, Queensland.=
=20
Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture. 36: 905-912.=20
Hildenbrand, Gar 1989. Nutritional superiority of organically grown foods.
Healing Newsletter. =20
5(2):1-8.
Hood, Sam. 1993. Exhausted soil produces exhausted people. Acres, USA. =
June
p.30 &39.
Hornick, Sharon B. 1992. Factors affecting the nutritional quality of c=
rops.=20
American Journal of=20
Alternative Agriculture. Vol.7, No.1-2. P.63-68.
Howard, Sir Albert. 1947. The Soil and Health. The Devin-Adair Co., New=
York.
307 p.
Kenton, Leslie. 1988. Eat organic, and live well. The Secrets of Ecolog=
ical
Agriculture. The Living=20
Earth. July-September. P.17-18.
Knorr, Dietrich. 1982. Natural and organic foods: definitions, quality a=
nd
problems. Cereal Foods=20
World. Vol. 27, No.4. p. 163-168.
Knorr, Dietrich. 1982. Use of a circular chromatographic method for the
distinction of collard plants=20
grown under different fertilizing conditions. Biological Agriculture and
Horticulture. Vol.1.=20
p.29-38.
Knorr, Dietrich, and Harmut Vogtmann. 1983. Quality of and quality
determination of ecologically=20
grown foods. P.352-381. In: Knorr, Dietrich (ed.) Sustainable Food System=
s. The
AVI=20
Publishing Co., Westport, CT.
Lairon, D. et al. 1986. Effects of organic and mineral fertilizations o=
n the
contents of vegetables in=20
minerals, vitamin C, and nitrates. P. 249-260. In: The Importance of Biol=
ogical
Agriculture=20
in a World of Diminishing Resources. Proceeding of the 5th IFOAM Internat=
ional
Scientific=20
Conference at the University of Kassel (Germany).
Lampkin, Nicolas. 1990. Organic Farming. Farming Press, Ipswich, United
Kingdom. p.557-573,=20
and 608-610.
Lockeretz, William. (ed.) 1997. Conference Proceedings: Agricultural Prod=
uction
and Nutrition.=20
Tufts University School of Nutrition Science and Policy, Medford, MA.=20
Maga, Joseph A. 1983. Organically grown foods. P.305-349. In: Knorr, Diet=
rich
(ed.) Sustainable=20
Food Systems. The AVI Publishing Co., Westport, CT.
McSheelhy, T.W. 1977. Nutritive value of wheat grown under organic and
chemical systems of=20
farming. Qualitas Planatarum - Plant Foods for Human Nutrition. Vol. 27.
P.113-123.
Mozafar, A. 1994. Enrichment of some B-vitamins in plants with applicatio=
n of
organic fertilizers.=20
Plant and Soil. 167:305-311.
Nilsson, T. 1979. Yield, storage ability, quality, and chemical compositi=
on of
carrot, cabbage and=20
leek at conventional and organic fertilizing. Acta Horticulturae. 93: 20=
9-223.
Peavy, William S., and Warren Peary. 1993. Super Nutrition Gardening. Ave=
ry
Publishing Co.,=20
Garden City, NY 236p.
Pettersson, B.D., & Wistinghausen, E. v. Effects of organic and inorganic
fertilizers on soils and=20
crops: Results of a long term field experiment in Sweden. Woods End
Agricultural Institute.
Plochberger, K. 1989. Feeding experiments. A criterion for quality estima=
tion
of biologically and=20
conventionally produced foods. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment=
. Vol.
27. P.419-
428.
Reiners, Stephen 1993. Nutritional quality of organically grown vegetable=
s.
HortTechnology. =20
July/Sept. 3(3): 363.
Rowlands, Moses John, & Wilkinson, Barbara 1930. The vitamin B content of=
grass
seeds in=20
relationship to manures. Biochemical Journal. 24:199-204.
Schuphan, Werner 1972. Effects of the application of inorganic and organi=
c
manures on the market =20
quality and on the biological value of agricultural products. Qual. Plan=
t.
Mater. Veg. 21(4): 381-398.=20
Schuphan, Werner 1974. Experimental contributions to the problem of impro=
ving
the nutritional=20
quality of food plants. Qual. Plant. - Pl. Fds. hum. Nutr. 24(1/2):1-18.
Schuphan, Werner 1974. Nutritional value of crops as influenced by organi=
c and
inorganic fertilizer=20
treatments. Qual. Plant. - Pl. Fds. hum. Nutr. 23(4): 333-358.
Schupman, W. 1975. Yield maximisation versus biological value. Qualitas
Planatarum - Plant Food=20
for Human Nutrition. Vol. 27. P.281-310.
Shier, N.W. et al. 1984. A comparison of crude protein, moisture, ash an=
d crop
yield between=20
organic and conventionally grown wheat. Nutrition Reports International.
Vol.30,
No.1.=20
p.71-77.
Smith, Bob L. 1993. Organic foods vs. supermarket foods: Element levels.
Journal
of Applied=20
Nutrition. 45(1).=20
Svec, L.V., Thoroughgood, C.A., & Mok, Hyo Chung S. (1976). Chemical eval=
uation
of vegetables=20
grown with conventional or organic soil amendments. Communications in Soi=
l
Science and =20
Plant Analysis. 7(2):213-228.=20
Velimirov, A. et al. 1992. The influence of biologically and conventional=
ly
cultivated food on the=20
fertility of rats. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture. Vo..8.
p.325-337.
Vogtman, H. (1978). Effects of Agricultural Practices on soil and plant
quality. IFOAM Bulletin.=20
24:1-6.
Wright, D.H. & Coleman, D.C. (1988). Soil faunal vs. fertilization effect=
s on
plant nutrition: results of a biocide experiment. Biol. Fertil. Soils. 7:=
46-52.

NOTE: A familiar citing on the issue of the nutritional content of organi=
cally
versus conventionally produced food is the 1948 Rutgers University report
=93Variation in Mineral Content in Vegetables=94 by Firman E. Bear publis=
hed in the
Proceedings of the Soil Science Society of America. However, this study =
did
not investigate organic versus commercial produce. The tables were mis-p=
rinted
to read as organic versus non-organic and for years it has circulated as =
fact.
The study examined the mineral composition of vegetables grown on differe=
nt
soil types. They found that vegetables grown on heavy soils in the Ohio V=
alley
had a greater mineral content than produce grown on sandy Coastal Plain s=
oils
near the East Coast. These results are important because they show that s=
oil
typeand probably soil organic matter contentaffect the mineral compositio=
n of
foods grown on them. However, there are many environmental and cultural f=
actors
that influence the nutritional composition of produce and these may ultim=
ately
play a greater role in food quality the simple organic versus conventiona=
l
logic.
Source: e-mail from steved@ncatfyv.uark.edu (Steve Diver, Fayetteville, A=
R),
May 1, 1996.

Organic Farming Research Foundation
P.O. Box 440, Santa Cruz, CA 95061
ph: (831) 426-6606 fax: (831) 426-6670
www.ofrf.org=20
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Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

        The request for data supporting the claim that organic foods are nutritionally superior to conventional comes into our office about once a week. What we tell people requesting this information is that there is no definitive study or report that nicely sums it up and supports that claim. We have compiled a bibliography, which I've attached, that came from sanet postings and other odds and ends which contains articles and research reports around the subject.

        I have also attached (in a subsesquent e-mail) an article that appeared in OFRF's Fall 1996 Information Bulletin newsletter. It is by Joan Dye Gussow. She does an excellent review of the complications around researching this question as well as the other more social implications of trying to find this answer.

She raises two important questions in her article:
"...given the modern opportunities for what I have come to call information pollution do you really want to hang your future on putting out comparative numbers rather than focusing on the environmental reasons why organic production is better for people?"

and "...why would you want organic consumers to end up focused on numbers that can so readily be modified to reflect nothing about the original produce?"

Her concluding statement is:
"If the industry wants to get proof of nutritional superiority, you may be able to do it. But someone will have to pay for well-designed long-term controlled studies of a sort that have to my knowledge not yet been done.  I'm not personally convinced that such studies would be worth the money and effort it would like to do them--not when there are so many other good reasons to support organic production."

I think she raises some very provocative questions that have yet to be settled by this industry. If anyone would like a reprint of that article, please contact us at OFRF.

Rebecca King
OFRF Program Associate

NUTRITION OF ORGANIC FOODS      

Contacts:
Elm Farm Research Centre        =           &= nbsp;     Ecological Agriculture Project
Hamstead Marshall       &nbs= p;          = ;          =    Box 191, MacDonald College
Near Newbury        = ;          =           <= /x-tab>        21, 111 Lakeshore
Berkshire RG15 OHR        &nb= sp;         &nbs= p;          = ; Ste-Anne DeBellevue, Quebec
GREAT BRITAIN        = ;          =          CANADA H9X 1CO

Will Newman II        &nbs= p;                 &nb= sp;       William Lockeretz
Oregon Sustainable Agriculture Land Trust        &= nbsp;      School of Nutrition Science & Policy
P.O. Box 1106        &n= bsp;         &nb= sp;                Tufts University
Canby, OR 97013-1106       &n= bsp;         &nb= sp;         &nbs= p;Medford, MA 02155
(503) 263-8392       &nbs= p;          = ;                (617) 627-3222

Bibliography:

Alvarez, C.E., Carracedo, A.E., Iglesias, E. & Martinez M.C. 1993. Pineapples cultivated by
conventional and organic methods in a soil from a banana plantation. A comparative study=20

of soil fertility, plant nutrition, and yields. Biological Agriculture and Horticulture. 9:161-171.