There’s so much buzz about organic foods these days. It’s becoming more and more mainstream. Conscientious moms (and dads) are voting with their dollars and big business is finally listening. You may even purchase organic at your house. When you pick up a gallon of organic milk, does your eye catch the price difference from conventional milk? Mine does. You may feel a twinge of uncertainty – is this really worth it or am I being taken for a ride here? 

Or, maybe you already know that organic foods are important for growing children’s bodies, and you feel a bit mad that you have to pay more in order to provide your kids with food that’s not covered in cancer-causing pesticides or come from genetically modified seeds. You may even wonder (yes, I have wondered this), what was I thinking when I signed-up for this parenting thing? I certainly never realized how much I would be thinking about things like food and poop (that’s a whole other story). But, here I am thinking about these things because I have little people who are counting on me.

What is Organic Exactly?

So, back to what’s all the buzz about organic? Well, first let’s define organic. I’ll refer to Dr. Alan Greene, a pediatrician, who spells it out on his website: "Organic refers to the way agricultural products—food and fiber—are grown and processed. It is an ecological system that relies on healthy, rich soil to produce plants that resist pests and diseases. Organic farming prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemicals in favor of innovative practices that work with nature, instead of against it, such as crop rotation, cover crop planting, beneficial insect release and composting. In the case of livestock, no antibiotics or synthetic hormones are permitted. Organic production also prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Organic practices mean: No pesticides to contaminate our soil and water or injure farm workers; No fertilizers to runoff and contaminate rivers, lakes and oceans; And, a healthier and more sustainable environment for us all."

 

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Children are at a greater risk for some pesticides for a number of reasons. Children’s internal organs are still developing and maturing and their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are "critical periods" in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual’s biological system operates. Children may be exposed more to certain pesticides because they often eat different foods than adults."

A study conducted by the University of Washington tracked a group of preschool children. There were 18 with organic diets and 21 with conventional diets. Their urine was analyzed for evidence of exposure to five different kinds of toxic pesticides. The researchers found that the average total was six- to almost nine-times higher for children with conventional diets than for children with organic diets.
 

There are many reasons organic foods cost more – it is more labor intensive due to not using pesticides to protect the crops, there is more cost in creating and maintaining healthy soils that will produce nutrient-rich, healthy plants, and government subsidies offered to conventional farmers may not be available to organic farmers. Whatever the reasons, it is important to realize that while the cost may be more for the organic foods, the benefits for our families are much greater. I only have one chance to help build those bones and those hearts and those eyes, and since it took 30 years for the government to realize that DDT was responsible for so many medical problems and deaths of many children before it was banned in the US, I’m not going to leave it up to the EPA to decide what’s safe for my growing kids. I know intuitively, and I’m sure you do too, that foods that aren’t sprayed with a host of chemicals are a lot healthier for everyone, especially kids.

It becomes a matter of adjusting our spending priorities and doing the best we can to protect our children from the chemicals that are so prominent in our environment. Buying organic foods, even if it is just some of our weekly groceries, is one way we can protect our children.

Here are some of the reasons my husband and I decided organic food is worth the cost:

1. My intuition, along with my analytical side, tells me that knowingly putting chemicals into my children’s bodies is not supporting their health, especially chemicals that are known to be carcinogens.
2. Data collected by Tufts New England Medical Center show that small amounts of exposure to chemicals may be harmful when combined with other exposures.[1]  
3. In a study at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, Dr. Lu and colleagues found that when a group of children who ate conventional foods, were switched to a mainly organic diet of the same types of food for five days, traces of the two harmful pesticides being studies immediately vanished from their urine and stayed undetectable until the children resumed their conventional diets.[2] 
4. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, "Americans use more than a billion pounds of pesticides each year to combat pests on farm crops, in homes, places of business, schools, parks, hospitals, and other public places." and "Children are at a greater risk for some pesticides for a number of reasons. Children's internal organs are still developing and maturing and their enzymatic, metabolic, and immune systems may provide less natural protection than those of an adult. There are "critical periods" in human development when exposure to a toxin can permanently alter the way an individual's biological system operates." Most tests done by the EPA to set acceptable risk levels for pesticide residues were done using 154 pound adult men, not 0-90 pound children.[3] 
5. Organic farmers have been growing safe, nutrient-dense food for years. The use of pesticides and other conventional farming practices have only been around for a relatively short time and because it could take decades to determine the safety of a conventional pesticide, such as what happened with DDT and led to it being banned, we won’t know the full effects on our children and grandchildren’s health until it is too late.
6. Some recently published studies in peer-reviewed journals have shown organic foods to have higher nutritional value. For example, researchers at the University of California, Davis, recently found that organic tomatoes had higher levels of phytochemicals and vitamin C than conventional tomatoes.[4]

And the truth is, not all organic food is that much more expensive than conventional foods. When you buy in season and from local farmers’ markets, you can get great deals. And, the bottom line is that if we don’t prioritize healthier foods in our budgets, our kids will pay the price in the long-run ~ with their health and with the health of the world they are inheriting from us. 

 

 
Sources:

1. Davis, D. et al. 1995. Can environmental estrogens cause breast cancer? Scientific American, 273:4, 166-172

2. Lu, H. et al. 2006. Organic Diets Significantly Lower Children’s Dietary Exposure to Organophosphorus Pesticides. Environ Health Perspect, 114:260-263.