Now, I was a sceptic when it came to organic food, thinking it was a marketing ploy to sell more expensive fruit and vegetables with the promise of better quality, more nutritious food. I thought it a preserve of the wealthy to be able to buy organic; a virtue signal of sorts, where consumers can one-up on their fellow shoppers: “my fruit is better than yours”. I dismissed the notion that organic food was better, believing that fruit is fruit and veg is veg; it really can’t be all that different! Or can it…?
In 2019 I attended a lecture on the much-derided, often ridiculed, “Superfoods”, wherein the content taught was around certain foods that offer a vast array of vitamins and minerals and/or offer high amounts of certain vitamins and minerals. We also discussed and learned of the value of organically grown vegetables and fruits.
Whereas mass produced fresh foods are molly-coddled and grown in controlled environments (or as much as a farmer can control the environment), organic foods are left to grow exposed to their environments, exposed to bugs, bacteria, fungus, where the fruit or veg can react accordingly and create its very own protective compounds should it ever be exposed to the same foreign invader again – much like the human immune system. With each exposure to stress, be it microbial or weather conditions, the plant responds by fortifying its existence with compounds to ensure its survival. We call these protective compounds, ‘phytochemicals’. When humans consume said plants, we then call them ‘phytonutrients’. A relatable example of these compounds is resveratrol which can be found in the skin of grapes, blueberries, raspberries and, of course, red wine 😉
Phytochemicals have been shown to have widespread beneficial effects on human health, ranging from lowering blood pressure, antioxidants, hormonal balance, inhibitors or promoters of enzymatic pathways, anti-bacterial, supporting the immune system, and even reducing DNA replication in cancerous cells. Many phytochemicals have been utilised in medicine for thousands of years and modern medicine as we know it today utilises these chemical compounds to produce new medications.
It became apparent during that lecture that it makes sense to optimise human health with fresh produce that has had to work hard to grow, survive and thrive, as opposed to fresh produce that has had to rely on tons of insecticides, pesticides and herbicides in order to survive. In short: non-organic results in weaker phytochemicals and therefore weaker protective effects on human health. Organic foods results in stronger, more potent phytochemicals resulting in better protective effects on human health.
Which would you prefer?
Although I have simplified all this, it does drive home the message that how our fresh produce is grown is vitally important. It matters. The financial cost is more however, so consumers can be a little savvy if money is an issue. A fabulous not-for-profit organisation called Pesticide UK Network produce the US equivalent of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ reference guide. The top 12 foods are highlighted in the guide as being the most affected by pesticides. The organisation analyse foods grown across the UK to investigate the amount of pesticide use in fruits and veg sold in our supermarkets. Wherever possible, buy organic using the Dirty Dozen as a guide. This guide helps consumers prioritise which foods to buy organic or not and will help keep costs down when shopping - https://www.pan-uk.org/dirty-dozen/ You can find this organisation here: @pesticideactionnetworkuk and I highly recommend following and donating to their important work. They 'name and shame' the supermarkets performing poorly when it comes to pesticide use in their fruit and veg, but also report on the improvements made.
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