Results Among 68 946 participants (78.0% female; mean [SD] age at baseline, 44.2 [14.5] years), 1340 first incident cancer cases were identified during follow-up, with the most prevalent being 459 breast cancers, 180 prostate cancers, 135 skin cancers, 99 colorectal cancers, 47 non-Hodgkin lymphomas, and 15 other lymphomas. High organic food scores were inversely associated with the overall risk of cancer (hazard ratio for quartile 4 vs quartile 1, 0.75; 95% CI, 0.63-0.88; P for trend = .001; absolute risk reduction, 0.6%; hazard ratio for a 5-point increase, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.88-0.96).
Conclusions and Relevance A higher frequency of organic food consumption was associated with a reduced risk of cancer. If these findings are confirmed, further research is necessary to determine the underlying factors involved in this association.
You can't just say this without a link.
I think as organic food became more mainstream it also became more about an individual's health and less about larger environmental and social concerns, but those concerns are at the heart of the original organic movement.
[1] https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-I/su...
What do you find is nonsense about this? Did you not read the article and think it was about "pesticides" vs "no pesticides"? It is actually about how the organic label often results in farmers using more pesticides.
That's highly misleading:
1. Copper sulfate is required to be used such that copper accumulation is limited in the soil. [1]
2. Rotenone [2][3] and nicotine sulfate [3] are not allowed as USDA Organic pesticides.
Really, superkuh, for a user like you, your comment is embarrassing.
[1] https://pnwhandbooks.org/plantdisease/pesticide-articles/mat...
[2] https://www.ams.usda.gov/rules-regulations/national-organic-...
[3] https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-I/su...
I know several people who are otherwise gluten-intolerant but can eat anything there with no trouble.
All of the food issues we're suffering from in the US -- celiac's disease, food allergies, gluten intolerance, dairy intolerance -- are relatively rare in Europe.
It's interesting that it works like fish and mercury contamination. Big fish accumulate mercury in higher concentrations than little fish. The little fish accumulate small amount over certain periods and are eaten by big fish which rapidly accumulate the chemical. The higher in the food chain the fish, the more mercury. It's a parallel with the degree of food processing. The more processed the food, the more contaminants.
You could characterize it as a general problem that humans and the planet are facing now. We have a problem with long chains. We are neglecting their costs. Even in the software industry, as a software developer, long chains of logic introduce their own problems with slight side effects at every stage accumulating into problematic unexpected behaviors and adding significant maintenance burdens. Guess what AI coding is contributing to? Longer chains of logic to solve the same problem.
At some point we have to put our foot down and reject unnecessary complexity and reject minor conveniences. There is too much fake convenience and fake safety which actually create much bigger inconveniences and hazards in the long run.
Everything in our society seems to be mirroring the debt-based system upon which our society is founded. Everything works like a debt which will have to be repaid later, with interest.
Most of the negative impact of agriculture on the climate and on biodiversity happens when we convert an acre of land from its natural state to agricultural use. This is much worse for the environment than the presence of pesticides.
Organic produce consistently takes about 20% more land to produce the same amount of food. As a result, choosing organic over traditional means choosing worse outcomes for the climate and worse for biodiversity.
The climate scam is a different topic.
It should be fine if you remove the first layer. And the other layers as well after that one.
I think there is a difference between avoiding all pesticides, and say avoiding glyphosate, which is why I prefer the buy the organically grown version or some vegetables. If anyone wants to chow down on glyphosate, knock yourself out, but so what if other people are paying a little more to not. That's their prerogative. Everyone can have what they want. What is this blog even arguing?
So there was absolutely no reliable data they used? It was _entirely_ misinformation? That seems dubious.
> Most people have been misled to believe that organic is superior and that’s not your fault
I'd like fewer cancer causing chemicals sprayed onto or around my food. I'm not sure that's "superior" but it seems "more reasonable than not."
> in order to drive people to purchase organic produce
Not exactly a "hard sell" is it?
> All pesticides are toxic
And "toxic" defines a _wide_ range of features and outcomes, does it not? Now who's fear mongering?
> Another study making claims about glyphosate in urine, that the median glyphosate levels in organic food consumers and individuals with known exposure are essentially identical (390 vs 400 parts per trillion, respectively).
So corporate farming is so onerous that there's no way to avoid glyphosate cross contamination? I found this whole thing to be a very goofy analysis that seems preoccupied with punching down on some imagined conspiratorial enemy.
A lot of what I buy happens to be organic, but I eat it because it tastes good, not because of the label.
I do think organic bananas taste better than non-organic. Same with meat and eggs, but any high-quality meat is great, organic or not.
For flour, pasta, and cereal, I feel like it comes down to the brand, not whether it's organic.
Maybe food quality is more complex than what an organic label actually measures.
Headline on the Croplife America website[2] is: "We Represent America's Pesticide Industry".
I rest my case. :)
[1]: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/andrea-love-phd_scientistlife...
Both "sides" that are involved (organic pesticides vs non-organic pesticides) here are arguing for pesticide use in practice.
Also, can we now discount all the studies of harm of pesticides, unless they come from the Croplife America?
Some kind of fallacious argument in this form
Organic farming is essentially the idea of farming more ‘in line with nature’, and is concretely defined and regulated by different laws in different places. If these regulations aren’t yielding the expected results, it may be a good idea to drop or improve them. What I find dangerous, though, is the easily acquirable belief that the idea of organic farming is deceptive and worthless.
Certain practices present in conventional farming are known to be problematic and it’s perfectly reasonable to be concerned and seek to avoid them. Organic farming can miss the goal, but my understanding is that it’s aiming in the right direction. Therefore, I think a more responsible conclusion to draw would be ‘today’s organic farming isn’t what it should be’, not just the plain ‘organic foods are not superior’. In this form, I fear the message does far more harm than good.
You have to think about who is motivated to write this kind of stuff. Invariably, it's people selling conventional pesticides or people paid by such people. The lobbying is strong, contrary to the arguments. This is actually a very good sign, these despicable people feel threatened.
I don't know the rules of the organic label in the US, here in Europe it's not perfect, and yeah, thhere are still pesticides including some bad stuff like copper sulfates that are allowed, and the level of care absolutely vary from ome producer to another but it's still better than conventional products for pretty much everything except for the price if you don't factor in the cost of the damage done to the environment and yourself.
This kind of misinformation needs to be firmly fought back. They want to sell glyphosate, which they try to trick us into thinking it's not bad, that's the full extent of it. It's bad, we are better off without it, that's it, end of the story.
So rich people who can afford expensive food get cancer less often.
But at the same time I don't think its healthy to _always_ question everything in the mainstream. Its mainstream for a reason (sometimes an angle pushed by economic groups like big cig in the example above), and sometimes the reason is reasonable. Be critical and keep an open mind, but don't assume its fake because its mainstream.
"The most frequently quantified [organic] pesticide was copper." https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2015/5570...
> Analysis of these articles revealed no significant difference in ..., zinc, and copper.
> restrictions limit the use of copper salts.
I see a theoretical risk but not a practical problem here. At best you've identified a place where the regulations might need tightening.
So of course, the (often paid) promoters of “YOLO agriculture” will use that as an argument, putting under the rug that the industry they defend is doing bullshit with people's health and the environment.
There ought to be a middle ground, but unfortunately we live in a permanent culture war so there cannot be reasonable discussion about anything, really.
https://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/cuso4tech.html https://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/archive/glyphotech.html
Meanwhile, glyphosate is used early before planting to kill off the weeds and so it's naturally degraded (to harmless CO2 and water) by the harvest time.
Many of the "organic approved" substances are also incredibly dangerous. Rotenone is a naturally derived neuro-toxin linked to Parkinson's. Pyrethrin is poison. Then you have a bunch of chlorine and ammonia based elements - maybe not as dangerous in their pure industrial concentrations as paraquat would be but certainly not safe.
(Paraquat is also very unique because it neutralizes itself in contact with soil so it's actually a lot safer in a lot of situations).
Pyrethrin in USDA Organic produce is required to be natural, not synthetic, so don't confuse the two. Also, even natural pyrethrin is a last resort Organic pesticide.
[1] https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-7/subtitle-B/chapter-I/su...
to whom and at what dose? It's a paralytic nerve agent, so scary!! But mostly to bugs...
"mammals are able to process pyrethrin quickly and have higher body temperatures which prevent pyrethrin from working effectively"
Anecdotally, we have no history of food allergies in the family but my daughter has severe sesame allergy, milk, egg and nuts allergy. We are from South America but live in the UK.
I tend to suspect that the "gluten-intolerant but can eat noodles in Europe" is a bit bunk. These days the top source of Durum wheat used in luxury European products is ... North Dakota and Canada.
I suspect the root of the issue is that the European lifestyle in general is so much healthier (less processed food, smaller portions, more walking) combined with the excitement of travel gives people a overall boost in their constitution.
Agree that climate and biodiversity are two very important factors, but there's others. Health effects (e.g. quality-adjusted life years) being one, soil health & resilience another. Monocropping pesticide-laden foods is not some ideal state.
19skitsch•1h ago
In seriousness does this mean I’m ok to buy the regular broccoli at the store next time?
MostlyStable•1h ago
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fsflover•1h ago
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barcoder•1h ago