Organic food comes with a lot of claims — that it’s healthier, more nutritious, and overall better for you and the environment. Organic foods don’t make up a large percentage of all food sales at just 5.5 percent, but there are still widespread beliefs that organic food is better than conventional food.
Let’s dig into the claim that organic is more nutritious than conventionally grown food and find out if there really is a difference.
To be certified organic, a farm or handling facility needs to comply with federal organic regulations. Organic farms use natural practices, materials, and processes on their farms and ranches. With only a few allowable exceptions, organic farms may only use organic approved pesticides, use practices like crop rotation, can’t use genetically engineered plants, seeds, or animals, have organic approved livestock housing or grazing systems, avoid using antibiotics and growth hormones in livestock, and give their animals organic feed, among other things.
Conventional farming tends to rely more on technologies like antibiotics, genetic engineering, and targeted pesticides. This doesn’t mean that all conventional farms use all of these technologies, they simply have these options available to them. Many non-organic farms also adhere to organic practices, but don’t necessarily carry the label.
Comprehensive scientific reviews have discovered that there is no overall difference in nutrition between organic and conventional food. A recent study did suggest that in some cases there might be a slight difference, but only when looking at specific foods and nutritional comparisons. This same study also found that while some organic foods were higher in one nutrient than the conventional version of that food, they were often worse in other nutrients than the conventional version.
Now let’s get a little more specific. Organic livestock are always raised without additional growth hormones. Conventional agriculture can use additional growth hormones, but certainly not in all meat or milk. The first thing to know is there is no such thing as truly hormone free food. Pretty much all food (even plants) contains hormones. Hormones are naturally occurring in every cellular organism. When you see food labeling saying “Hormone Free” or “No Hormones,” it actually usually means no hormones added.
Poultry and swine are never raised with added hormones, but beef animals can be raised with growth hormones. These hormones can be fed to the cattle or a small implant can be placed under the skin in their ear. Beef from an implanted animal does have slightly higher estrogen levels than hormone free beef, but the difference is extremely tiny, especially when compared to other foods like eggs, tofu or even white bread. For example, hormone free beef contains 0.85 ng of estrogen and hormone added beef contains 1.2 ng of estrogen. Eggs contain 94 ng, white bread contains 52,029 ng, and tofu contains 19,306,201 ng of estrogen with the same serving size as beef.
When compared to other foods, the difference in hormone free (organic) and hormone added (conventional) beef is miniscule. Beef raised with implanted hormones is also completely safe and has been tested many times.
One other large difference between organic and conventional ag is the use of antibiotics. Organic livestock are not allowed to be given antibiotics and still retain organic status. This means that if an organic animal is sick and requires antibiotics, it will be designated as “non-organic” after receiving the antibiotics.
Conventionally, antibiotics are used whenever an animal is sick and antibiotics are needed to treat or prevent disease. But all animal products that you purchase at the store will be free of antibiotics. With thorough testing, following the use of withdrawal times and only using antibiotics when necessary, you will never find any harmful antibiotic residue in your food.
You also won’t find any nutritional difference. Protein from animals raised with the use of antibiotics versus animals that have had no antibiotics will be the same.
Overall, organic and convention agriculture don’t have a statistically significant nutritional difference one way or the other. There are slight differences in production methods between organic and conventional, but they don’t make any difference in your nutrition or health.
There is a price difference in organic and conventional food, with organic food costing more to produce and purchase from the grocery store. There are lots of options to choose from in the U.S. food system, which is a good thing. At the end of the day, it’s up to each grocery store shopper to make their own decisions.
One thing you never have to worry about is the safety and nutrition of your food. All food sold in the U.S. will provide you with important and necessary nutrients, regardless of the production method used.
Michelle Miller, the Farm Babe, is a farmer, public speaker, and writer who has worked for years with row crops, beef cattle, and sheep. She believes education is key in bridging the gap between farmers and consumers.
