A Chicago Tribune personal health blog written by Julie Deardorff seeks the cost-benefit analysis for organic food.
“Ms. Deardorff writes that the crux of the matter usually comes down to nutrition,” says Dr. Ross. “Unfortunately, however, that’s not true. The crux usually comes down to everything but nutrition; it comes down to being against agribusiness, being ‘Earth-friendly,’ and so forth. She goes through a very long list of nutritional studies that show very clearly that there’s no evidence that organic food is nutritionally superior in any way.
“Then she gets into pesticides, quoting Dr. Landrigan and the Environmental Working Group, notorious anti-chemical activists, so this issue is dealt with in a way that is completely slanted towards unfounded consumer concerns about the safety of pesticides. To her credit, she does quote ACSH Advisor Dr. Carl Winter of UC Davis about the safety of processed foods such as baby food. It is appropriate to find an actual scientist to quote every once in a while.”
For more information, see ACSH’s publication on organic food.