Skip to main content

Food Trends: To Be Organic Or Not To Be, That Is The Question

I recently purchased Netflix and have been watching all the food documentaries.  If you’ve watched any of them and are like me, you may have felt quite nauseas by the end of most of the movies.  Shortly after watching all movies I have been known to say “that’s it we’re eating all organic.”  Honestly, I do not purchase all organic right now.  It becomes quite expensive and also research can still not prove that organic is healthier from a nutrient composition. So, I pick my battles. Being a registered dietitian has its upsides when reading food labels, but when I speak to clients, friends, or even my husband, the labels can be quite confusing. 

The term organic references the way farmers grow and process dairy, meat, fruit, vegetable, and grain products.  Instead of farming the conventional way, utilizing pesticides, and such or regulating where livestock lives and matures, organic farmers utilize crop rotations, mulch, manure, compost and such to prevent disease.  Animals are given organic feed, allowed to be outside, and live in a clean household.

The USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) regulates and certifies organic products and different foods have seals that state where they stand organically.  It is important to realize that the seal is voluntary and that producers who sell less than five thousand dollars of product a year are exempt from certification, but still need to follow USDA standards.

So what does each seal or statement mean?

Seal/Statement
Meaning
100% organic
Everything plus ingredients is organic. Usually a single ingredient food
Organic
95% - 100% of everything plus ingredients is organic
Made with Organic Ingredients
70% of ingredients are organic
Contains Organic Ingredients
Contains less than 70% of organic ingredients


A lot of times meats will utilize different terms instead of organic. Here's some clarification.


Terms
Meaning
Natural
Minimally processed, no artificial flavors or coloring but may still receive antibiotics
Grass Fed
Fed grass or hay, access to outside. Usually healthier/leaner
Free Range
Not caged, allowed to be outdoors, however this label is unclear. Best to call to get clarification
No Hormones Added
No growth hormones are added. Keep in mind by law poultry and pigs cannot be given hormones

To be organic or not to be is the question.  Research is inconclusive regarding if organic foods are healthier from a nutrient composition, but I feel there is an argument worth stating that organic foods are free of hormones, genetically modified organisms (foods that have altered DNA), food additives, food coloring, and many more. 

If on a budget it is always worth checking out your local farmer markets, food co-ops, and community supported agricultural farms as prices may be more reasonable.  Do you do organic? What’s your trick to the trade? 

 

Comments

Kathryn said…
I try to follow the dirty dozen and clean fifteen rule. It strikes a reasonable balance for me.
September 5, 2011 at 10:32 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Miraculous Misconceptions: Raspberry Ketones

The interwebs are abuzz about the supposedly “miraculous” Raspberry Ketone supplements. Raspberry Ketone popularity started with Dr. Oz's show in February 2012, when he nicknamed it a “miracle weight loss drug.” Some even credit Raspberry Ketones with stimulating hair growth, but for our purposes here, let’s talk about weight loss. Raspberry Ketones are derived from red raspberries. Proponents claim that the supplement will stimulate your metabolism causing weight loss. However, there are no reliable studies to prove this.   Specifically there is no scientific evidence to show how it alters metabolism to promote weight loss. There is also no scientific evidence to determine a proper dosage. If you find a study that claims otherwise, check the funding source. Most likely, that study was funded by a company who produces or funds raspberry ketone products. As far as I know, no major pharmaceutical companies are investing in Raspberry Ketone research. And it is my opinion ...
9 comments
Read more

Family Nutrition: What’s the deal with Multivitamins?

This is definitely one of my top ten questions from clients and frankly it’s a hard question because there isn’t a generic answer.   The internet and such stores as the Vitamin Shoppe and GNC continue to place a lot of focus on vitamins and minerals and some of my clients swear by their regimen.   I’ve even had some clients tell me they can tell a difference within hours of taking certain supplementations.    Since this is a subject I try to tame my responses too, I was very glad to see the article “Multivitamins, So Many Types, So Many Labels” by Melinda Beck in the Wall Street Journal published June 21, 2001.   Did you know that the multivitamin is the number one dietary supplement producing $4.8 billion back in 2008 and that one third of American’s take multivitamins religiously?   As Melinda points out there are many different varieties of multivitamins yet there is no specific formulation that specifies what a multivitamin should look like.  ...
4 comments
Read more

Body Image

Becca and I recently started a BRAVE  Ed Group for our Eating Disorder Patients. The goal is to provide education about the Eating Disorder recovery process in a group format to decrease feelings of isolation and offer an opportunity for all to share positive affirmations, approaches etc. Last week we talked about Body Image. We completed an activity in The Body Image Workbook for Teens by Julia V Taylor PhD which was very insightful. In this activity all the different body parts were labelled and you were supposed to jot down your first thought. Once completed you then determined if the initial thought was a judgement or truth statement. This sounds a lot easier than it really is. In the last week I've really been thinking about this.  Negative body image is often the first symptom that precipitates the action to make a change to your body. If the action, reducing calories or over exercising for example, becomes compulsive and irrational this exacerbates the negative bo...
Post a Comment
Read more