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  • Over the last few years,

  • organic food has spread like wildfire.

  • Despite higher prices,

  • buying organic is turning from an alternative

  • into a moral and social responsibility.

  • Organic food is supposedly healthier

  • more natural and more ethical.

  • But what do we even mean when we say organic?

  • There's no global consensus,

  • so different regions have different definitions and rules.

  • In general,

  • organic food is farmed without GMO seeds,

  • synthetic fertilizers,

  • or synthetic pesticides.

  • Instead,

  • organic farmers use more traditional ways of producing food,

  • like crop rotation,

  • and use organic fertilizers

  • such as compost or manure.

  • While the motivation to buy organic food is clearly noble,

  • is it actually effective

  • or just another costly trend we can skip

  • without feeling guilty?

  • [Music]

  • Is organic food healthier?

  • One idea associated with organic crops

  • is that their natural cultivation

  • is supposed to make them more nutritious and healthier.

  • Indeed,

  • several studies found that organic foods contain more antioxidants.

  • Plants produce them as a sort of homemade pesticide.

  • Organic plants seem to have to work a little harder,

  • while regular plants have plenty of help from humans.

  • Antioxidants are believed to have some health benefits,

  • although scientists are still on the fence about them in general.

  • We have no idea if and how exactly they help us,

  • or how much produce you'd have to eat to absorb a certain amount.

  • What about organic being more nutritious?

  • Well, the evidence is mixed.

  • Some studies found

  • that organic food can have slightly higher concentrations of vitamin C,

  • and omega-3 fatty acids,

  • while others did not find significant differences.

  • Overall, the mixed evidence

  • suggests that there are only small differences in nutritional value.

  • So, from the science available so far,

  • it doesn't look like organic food has significant health benefits.

  • What we do know,

  • is that eating fruit and veggies in general is good for you,

  • and most of us don't do that enough.

  • Eating veggies is more important for your health

  • than how they were produced.

  • Is organic food more natural?

  • People don't only buy organic to get extra vitamins,

  • but to avoid something toxic;

  • artificial pesticides and fertilizers.

  • And indeed several studies show

  • that there actually is less pesticide residue on organic produce.

  • But here's where things get complicated.

  • Less pesticide does not mean none at all.

  • While pesticides are supposed to be a last resort in organic farming,

  • they're not forbidden.

  • Most organic pesticides are natural toxins,

  • like vegetable oils,

  • hot ash soap,

  • sulfur or copper sulfates.

  • But there are synthetic substances as well.

  • What's the difference between organic and regular pesticides?

  • Not a lot actually.

  • Organic pesticides

  • are not necessarily safer than conventional ones.

  • Toxic is toxic.

  • No matter if the substance is manufactured,

  • or derived from nature.

  • In fact,

  • in the case of copper sulfate,

  • often used on organic apples,

  • the organic pesticide of choice

  • is actually more harmful to humans.

  • The toxicity of any substance

  • depends on its concentration

  • and your exposure to it --

  • not if it's natural or not.

  • There are a few recent studies

  • about how our current level of pesticide exposure

  • affects our long-term health.

  • The 2018 study from France

  • associated never eating organic food

  • with a higher risk of certain cancers.

  • The study was criticized a lot though.

  • The participants reported their dietary habits themselves,

  • while no actual tests of pesticide levels in their bodies were done.

  • Complicating things even more,

  • a Danish study from 2018

  • found that the danger from pesticides for an adult

  • was similar to drinking a glass of wine every three months.

  • The pesticides on your vegetables

  • are nothing to lose sleep over.

  • Despite this,

  • we should continue to demand strict standards for our food.

  • All pesticides are regulated and tested very strictly

  • in the EU and the US.

  • Every year,

  • thousands of food samples are screened for pesticides.

  • The majority of samples have no residues

  • or just a fraction of the tolerance level.

  • Right now,

  • contamination from bacteria and fungi

  • is much more dangerous.

  • And, on this front,

  • the risk is the same --

  • be it organic or regular food.

  • Is organic food better for the environment?

  • In 2017, a meta-analysis

  • looked at organic farming in detail

  • and analyzed organic and regular foods

  • from over 700 production sources,

  • and their impact on categories like greenhouse gas emissions,

  • energy consumption,

  • and land needs.

  • The result?

  • No production method is clearly better for the environment.

  • Organic systems use less energy than conventional ones,

  • but have similar greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Organic farms use less pesticide,

  • but need much more land to produce the same amount of crop.

  • These mixed results were also confirmed

  • by a report from the Swedish food agency.

  • Organic and regular were equal in most regards.

  • The biggest difference was land use.

  • And here conventional farming clearly won,

  • and ecotoxicity

  • where organic farming has a clear advantage.

  • So, according to these results,

  • conventional farming

  • actually has a little bit less impact on the environment

  • compared to organic.

  • The bottom line is

  • organic food isn't superior to regular produce

  • as far as we know.

  • But, organic agriculture also has an impact at a broader level.

  • Demand is rising constantly,

  • and the struggle to supply the market

  • can lead to production methods that are less sustainable in other ways.

  • Spain, for example,

  • grows tons of regular and organic vegetables

  • destined for export

  • in vast greenhouse areas which use a lot of energy.

  • And have other environmental impacts,

  • such as significantly higher greenhouse gas emissions.

  • And, because growing demand can't be covered by domestic production,

  • the global trade and organic foods is also increasing.

  • As supply chains get more and more complex,

  • to make all kinds of foods available in organic quality,

  • ensuring organic quality standards

  • and regulations gets ever more difficult.

  • This has led to incidences of fraud

  • where conventional food was labeled and sold

  • as expensive organic produce.

  • But, organic versus conventional food

  • isn't even an objective discussion.

  • Organic is not simply a production method.

  • For many, it's an ideology.

  • Buying organic feels right.

  • People want to do the correct thing for the health of their children,

  • and the well-being of the planet.

  • But, our instinct to think of organic as good,

  • and conventional as bad,

  • can get in the way of making the most reasonable decision.

  • The solution could be to stop seeing organic

  • and conventional farming as irreconcilable.

  • They both have pros and cons,

  • and the best way to produce healthy food efficiently

  • would be a combination of their best features.

  • And,

  • as for your personal shopping,