Letter: On the Benefits of Organic Food

A recently reported Stanford University study claims there are no health benefits to organic food. This conclusion is based upon the fact that organic produce and meat don't contain more vitamins than non-organic. The levels of pesticide residue in non-organic food are dismissed as being within government regulations. 

The reports I have seen of this study make no reference to achieving a healthier planet through organic food production. Run-off from factory farms creates a "dead zone" at the mouth of the Mississippi River, extending far into the Gulf of Mexico. Farming practices are crucial to many other challenges facing the environment, including global warming and species loss. 

This may be unfair: Go to the local organic market and look at the customers, then go to the closest supermarket and do the same. Who looks healthier? Organic food can be a springboard to an overall healthier lifestyle, with healthier families eating flavorful produce instead of the highly processed and vastly profitable fare from our agribusiness giants. Organic food production means more than the methods of fertilization and pest control—ideally it is part of a broad movement of farmers, consumers and businesses concerned about their own health, the health of their communities and the health of the planet.

—Jim Beller
Albany, CA 

Albany Patch welcomes guest columns and letters to the editor via email at albany@patch.com.