ods to measure the impacts of prenatal exposures to organophosphate (OP) insecticides on the neurological development and IQ of children. All three studies
reported decrements in full-scale IQ, working memory and perceptual reasoning.
Researchers from Université de Montréal in Quebec, University of California–
Berkeley and Emory University in Georgia found that children born to mothers
with the highest urinary levels of OP metabolites showed a 7-point decrease in IQ
compared with children of mothers with the lowest OP levels. One of the researchers told CNN.com that impacts on intelligence found in the study were
similar in magnitude to the adverse impacts associated with high lead exposures,
and were comparable to a child performing six months behind average in a
school population.* 9
In another study published in 2010 in Pediatrics, researchers at Harvard University analyzed of over 1,000 children exposed to levels of pesticides common
among U.S. children. Based on reports
from parents, the study found that children with higher urinary levels of OPs
are at least two times as likely to have
symptoms of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) than children with
levels below the mean.* 10
Furthermore, a study that followed
more than 300 children in Salinas Valley,
California, from in utero to 5 years of age
found that a child’s prenatal exposures
to OP had even a greater association
with ADHD than exposures after birth. A
tenfold increase in levels of urinary OP
metabolites in the mother’s urine during pregnancy was associated with a 500
percent increase in the diagnosis of attention disorders in 5-year-olds, according
to the study published in Environmental Health Perspectives in 2010.11
age 79 and 97 percent higher, respectively. The gap between flavonoid levels in organic versus nonorganic
tomatoes increased over time—the
longer the fields were managed organically, the more flavonoids. 15
Most recently, a report in September 2011 in Critical Reviews in Plant Sciences analyzed the findings of the
majority of U.S. and European studies
on nutrient content and found that
the level of secondary metabolites such
as vitamins, antioxidants and minerals
in organic produce is on average 12
percent higher than in nonorganic
samples.* 16
While many studies show organic
foods are richer in nutrients, researchers generally agree there is a
need for more studies, especially regarding the specific factors that influence the uptake of nutrients.
According to USDA’s 2008 census, organic farmers, on average, report approximately $20,249 more net income than nonorganic farms. Organic growers also employ an average of 61 year-round employees, while nonorganic farms hire only an average of 28 year-round employees, according to a 2010 survey.
Organic Can Provide More Key Nutrients
Besides reducing exposure to toxins, a number of respected studies have
shown that organic foods can also contain higher amounts of key nutrients. Scientists have suggested that the challenges organic plants face, such as fighting off
pests without the help of pesticides and scavenging the soil to access nutrients
rather than having synthetic nutrients instantly available, lead organic plants to
build up antioxidant and nutrient stores to protect and strengthen themselves.
The answer may also reside in the typically higher soil quality found on organic farms. The linkage between improved soil quality/stronger plants and
more nutrient-dense food supports a basic principle of organic farming—feed
the soil to better feed the plant.
Several studies have shown that many crops when grown organically—such as
apples, tomatoes, strawberries and blueberries—have significantly higher levels of
certain minerals and phytonutrients than their nonorganic counterparts. 12, 13
Studies also show that cows grazed on pasture, which is required in organic farming,
produce milk with markedly higher conjugated linoleic acid content. 14
One of the groundbreaking U.S. studies on nutrient density was on tomatoes.
After over a decade of farm trials comparing nonorganic and organic tomatoes,
in 2007 University of California–Davis scientists reported in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry that organic tomatoes contained much higher levels of
health-promoting flavonoids, with quercetin and kaempferol found to be on aver-
Organic Farming Is Good for the
Economy
The organic farming industry has
been the one bright light during the
current recession. While many industries have shed employees, organic
farming has been hiring workers,
adding farmers and increasing revenue. The organic industry has grown
from $3.6 billion in 1997 to $29 billion
in 2010, according to the Organic
Trade Association’s 2011 industry survey. The association also reported that
the organic agriculture sector enjoyed
an annual growth rate of 19 percent
