Organic Processing Vol.6 #3

and/or making poor dietary choices, switching to organic versions of the same foods will do little good in combating overweight and diabetes. People engaging in unhealthy lifestyles may experience some improvements in health from switching to organic food, but major improvements will depend on progress in addressing other negative lifestyle factors like drug use, smoking, or too little sleep.

Nutrient Content

The impacts of organic farming on the nutrient content of food came into sharper focus in the past year. About 15 new studies were published comparing nutrient levels in side-by-side organic and conventional crops. The results are similar to those re-

viewed in the Organic Center’s March 2008 “State of Science Review” entitled “New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Food.” ³⁰That report concluded that across 11 nutrients and 236 matched pairs of organically and conventionally grown food, nutrient content was about 25 percent higher in the organic food. (See OP’s March-April 2008 issue for a full story on this).

Organic red grapes are
shown to have an average
of 30 percent more resvera-
trol, a phytochemical shown
to prevent aging and help
preserve sensitivity to
insulin, a key step in
preventing diabetes.

More evidence has emerged that the nutrient content of conventionally grown fruits and vegetables has declined over the last five decades. In fact, three kinds of evidence now support the conclusion that the nutrient content of fresh produce has been declining since the 1950s. According to a paper published this year in Horticultural Science: “In fruits, vegetables, and grains, usually 80 to 90 percent of the dry weight yield is carbohydrate. Thus, when breeders select for high yield, they are, in effect, selecting for high carbohydrate with no assurance that dozens of other nutrients and thousands of phytochemicals will all increase in proportion to yield. Thus, genetic di-