The source of our food is a topic that I always care about (rather than the provenance of food, term that has become trendy in the food industry and consequently, in our supermarket aisle; however, this doesn’t equal to quality, but the debate is for another post!). Today, on one of my many walks with my newborn, I listened to a new episode of one of my favourite podcasts, Zoe Science & Nutrition, where the meaning and benefits of organic food to human nutrition is discussed with Professor Tim Spector (have a listen, it makes the 30-minute or so walk even more enjoyable!)
This episode reminded me of an article that I wrote a couple of years ago about the organic & conventional farming practices and that is still very relevant today. The article mentioned that in recent years, we have seen a significant interest of consumers in environmentally sound products and higher quality food, a.k.a. organic food. This has come after years of conventional farming which uses chemical plant protectants (i.e. pesticides), fertilisers and intensive animal farming. These practices developed widely after World War 2, where countries primarily focused on intensive industrial farming on a large scale, in order to respond to a growing worldwide population and a greater demand for safe food at low cost. Extensive use of chemicals, use of genetically engineered seeds, deforestation, factory farms, animals treated as legally and socially accepted commodities, fossil fuel exploitation… all these terms commonly associated with intensive farming became the norm post-war (Foer, 2009). However, with the industrialisation of farming emerged issues such as:
- an over-abundance of food; funding from governing bodies pushed farmers to over-produce for a resulting low cost food, but farmers ended up with vast debts to offset the running cost of their huge farms;
- Intensive farming requires a huge amount of chemicals, water and fossil fuels, all contributing to an increase in pollution of the environment and in an increase of the temperature of our planet.
- Loss of biodiversity by only breeding one species or by practising monoculture, as opposed to the organic farming practice of rotational cultures, which help with the renewal of soil and its nutrients.
On the plus side, the industrial farming succeeded in delivering large quantity of safe food at low prices, giving access to consumers to a vast range of products from across the world. The new technologies allowed farmers to work large areas of land with very few people on a short period of times, making farming a very efficient industry. The surplus of food could also be exported and gave deprived areas access to these products.
But today’s consumers are very conscious of the negative impact of conventional farming, and want to avoid it, even with the recent rise in cost of living. This is where organic farming comes into play and bring products of better quality to our tables. But does it, really?
More studies and peer-reviewed articles have been published recently, demonstrating the higher nutritional values of organically grown food; however there is no such claim and definite conclusion regarding the overall higher nutritional profile of organically farmed food. So is it worth spending our precious earned cash in organic food? Or should we not bother? There are some evidences showing that specific farmed products, in particular some fruits and vegs, are safer for our health, in particular if consumed in big quantity and/or on a regular basis (have a look at the American Environmental Working Group (EWG) website, which publishes every year the ‘clean fifteen’ and the ‘dirty dozen’ – my advice, keep a list handy when you go shopping, on your phone for instance).
Let’s take the seasonal strawberries that are widely available at this time of the year – if you are like me and consume them almost every day, you should definitely consider buying organic strawberries, if affordable, as even washing them will not reduce the amount of chemicals used for their production in conventional farming. This is particularly true if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, since these chemicals can impact the development of your baby. Alternatively, you can reduce your consumption of berries and eat fruits from the ‘clean fifteen’.
However, in my view, beyond the organic vs conventional debate, where our food is produced and most importantly, how far it comes from must be at the top of our concern when it comes to farmed produce. This concept of “food miles” gained traction in recent years, as a critique to the negative social and environmental impact of transporting food over very long distances. For centuries, ship travelled the world in search for the next exotic food; the further afield a product originated, the more it was valued (i.e. the more miles, the better…!). Nowadays consumers are aware of the devastating impact of the food journey and that a short farm to fork journey is preferable for the food carbon footprint and its impact on the environment. Let’s take the example of my favourites: strawberries! If produced on the other side of the planet, they will definitely not retain all their nutritional benefits after their journey to our table – most of the good nutrients will be lost, and as a result, their health benefits. Same for many fruits and vegetables than are produced, organically or not, on the other side of the planet. Organic does not mean nutritional quality in that case.
Buying locally is trendy, farmer markets are gaining tractions and help city dwellers get access to local produces. Even our supermarket chains now source part of their fruits and vegetables on display from local farms. This doesn’t remove the headache for consumers when foods are processed or assembled from many sources (like muesli for instance). Again, in my view, farmer markets are the right opportunity for consumers to buy nutritious local products at a fair price, whilst developing a personal relationship with the farmers. But they are still a long way away from replacing supermarkets, where convenience (in time and location) remains the winning criteria for most shoppers. So where does it leave us with regard to organic food and our health? We know that intensive farming and changes in food production have a negative impact on climate change and on our health. The unsustainable use of our natural resources need an immediate action from farmers, retailers, consumers and governments to look at alternative food productions and consumptions, at an affordable price. Whatever solutions are brought into place will ultimately give a more nutritional answer to our diets.
References:
Foer, J.S., 2009, Eating Animals, Penguin books.