Healthy or Hoax: Organic vs Commercial Food Produce

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Recommended: Benefits of organic food in human health

Recently there has been a debate on whether organic and natural produce are healthier alternatives to commercial produce. Since this debate began, there are now grocery stores dedicated to providing products that are all essentially all natural or organic. Various examples of these grocery stores include Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Safeway, and Super Target. Skeptics of this argument suggest natural and organic food industries are all marketing ploys targeted toward consumers in search of healthier food choices. The final question we must ask ourselves to get to the bottom of this debate is: Are organic and natural foods actually more beneficial or are they just a marketing hoax?
Firstly we need to define in detail what organic produce, natural produce, are and how they differ. In order for a product or produce to be classified organic it must abide by USDA requirements for organic food. To meet these requirements for the USDA, organic crops must be produced without conventional pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, sewage sludge, bioengineering, and ionizing radiation. (Organic Production and Organic Food Information) Organically raised farm animals must have access to the outdoors for grazing. If a food has a "USDA organic" label, it contains at least 95 percent organic ingredients, and a government-approved expert has inspected the farm where it was produced to make sure the farmer follows USDA requirements. (Organic Production and Organic Food Information)
The natural food guidelines are much more lenient where regulations are concerned especially when compared to the organic regulations. All foods containing natural flavors, sweeteners, or other plant-derived substances can be labeled natural. (Stated by American Society for Nut...

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...fact from USA Today, "no significant differences in the vitamin content of organic and conventional fruits and vegetables, when looking at vitamins A, C and E. Even worse, both types of foods were similar. Cowen’s analysis that organic produce and commercial produce are not different nutritionally was correct. He was wrong to say the organic is just a marketing poly. Organic produce ensures consumers of the methods used to produce the product, it consumer fell comfortable paying more for that information then so be it.

Works Cited

"American Society For Nutrition." American Society for Nutrition. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
"Organic Production and Organic Food: Information Access Tools." Organic Production and Organic Food: Information Access Tools. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
WebMD. "Is Organic Food Better for You?" WebMD. WebMD, n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.

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