Why choose organic, and the “Dirty Dozen”

The organic food industry is a huge business, with people mainly buying organic foods for two reasons: health and environment.

According to the 2020 Soil Association Certification Organic Market Report, organic reached its highest ever sales at £2.45bn with a market growth of 4.5% in 2019. 

It’s Organic September this month, and we are going to look at what that means and what the health benefits of consuming organic foods are. I also want to point your attention to what is known as the “Dirty Dozen” and “Clean Fifteen” as I find these really useful.

Organic September 

Organic September is an annual campaign by the Soil Association, the UK’s leading membership charity campaigning for healthy, humane and sustainable food, farming and land use. They are the only UK charity working across a spectrum of human health, the environment and animal welfare, 

The aim of the campaign is to raise awareness of the many benefits of organic food and farming, which the Soil Association defines as follows:

• Supporting biodiversity and wildlife
• Helping to combat climate change
• The highest standards of animal welfare
• Reduced exposure to pesticides
• Food as it should be, and food you can trust

The campaign encourages people to make small changes – even just switching some of your food shopping to organic can contribute to positive changes and drive the demand for more organic farms.

What does organic mean? 

Organic can refer to many things, from foods to health/beauty/wellness products, cleaning products, cotton and wool. 

Talking about foods specifically, organic means the following: 

• Fewer pesticides 
• No artificial fertilisers 
• Higher animal welfare standards 
• No routine use of antibiotics 
• No genetic modification (GM) 
• No artificial colours, preservatives or toxic ingredients 

‘Organic’ is a protected term, subject to legal regulation.

For a food or drink product to be labelled as organic, at least 95% of the ingredients must come from organically produced plants or animals, and these ingredients must be approved by an independent certification body like the Soil Association for example, whose symbol is a recognised and trusted mark of organic certification internationally and can be found on over 70% of organic products.

Benefits of Organic Eating 

There are many reasons to buy organic food over conventional food, although it is not always proven that organic foods are more “nutritious” as such. Saying that, due to the fact that organic foods contain fewer or no pesticides, no artificial fertilisers, toxic ingredients or residue from antibiotics, it’s easy to see a link between eating organically and improved health and wellbeing. 

Many health experts warn about the potential harm of repeated exposure to synthetic pesticides and artificial fertilisers, with some of these classified as “probable human carcinogens”. A number of health conditions are also linked to commonly used herbicides, insecticides and and pesticide residues in food. 

A 2014 meta-analysis in the British Journal of Nutrition found that organically grown crops were not only less likely to contain detectable levels of pesticides, but they were also 48% less likely to test positive for cadmium (a toxic heavy metal that accumulates in the liver and kidneys) due to differences in fertilisation techniques. 

Many conventionally raised animals can be injected with synthetic growth hormones in order to gain weight faster or produce more milk, and traces of these substances can make their way to consumers. As organic foods are produced without the use of antibiotics, there are no drug residues in the food either which makes them safer from that aspect. One of the consequences of drug residue is believed to be widespread antibiotic resistance. 

Organic meat and dairy products are also said to have around 50% more healthy omega-3 fatty acids and less saturated fat than conventional products, due to the way organic livestock is raised. 

Some studies have found up to 69% higher antioxidant contents in vegetables, but it was stated that with studies like this there tend to be “many confounding variables” like weather, length of the study and what aspects of a phytochemical are looked at for example. 

And lastly, organic vegetables and fruit don’t contain preservatives so they have to be on the shelves quicker and are often fresher and tastier – another powerful reason to choose organic when possible!

 

The cost of buying organic, and the Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen 

Buying organic can be more expensive, especially when feeding a family, and it is not always feasible to only buy organic. 

There are however some foods that should always been bought organic as the non-organic varieties contain high levels of pesticides – consequently making a food that should be healthy a lot less healthy! 

Animal products including eggs, dairy and meat should also be organic if possible, due to the reasons mentioned above.

EWG’s 2020 Shopper’s Guide to Pesticides in Produce™ is really helpful in identifying the worst and least contaminated fruits and vegetables. The mission of EWG (Environmental Working Group) is to empower people to live healthier lives in a healthier environment, driving consumer choice and civic action with breakthrough research and education. 

The Dirty Dozen (2020)

The Dirty Dozen refers to twelve crops that feature the highest amounts of pesticide residue, and should therefore be bought organic whenever possible:

1. Strawberries 
2. Spinach 
3. Kale 
4. Nectarines 
5. Apples 
6. Grapes
7. Peaches
8. Cherries
9. Pears
10. Tomatoes 
11. Celery 
12. Potatoes 

A lot of the foods on the Dirty Dozen list have got a skin, and pesticides sprayed on fruits and vegetables generally accumulate on the outer peel or skin. You can peel some of these but that will come with a loss of the nutrients right under the skin, like for example the pectin in apples. Furthermore the skin does not form an impermeable barrier, and some pesticides are actually designed to be absorbed into the tissue of the fruit or vegetable to protect it from pests that penetrate the skin to suck out the liquid inside. 

The Clean Fifteen (2020)

The Clean Fifteen refers to fifteen crops that have the lowest levels of pesticide contamination, and the EWG believes these are the safest foods to buy conventionally:

1. Avocados
2. Sweet corn
3. Pineapple
4. Onions
5. Papaya
6. Sweet peas (frozen) 
7. Aubergines (eggplants) 
8. Asparagus
9. Cauliflower 
10. Cantaloupes 
11. Broccoli 
12. Mushrooms 
13. Cabbage 
14. Honeydew melons
15. Kiwi 

You can request a downloadable version of the Clean Fifteen™ and Dirty Dozen™ lists from the EWG website.

Organic does not necessarily mean healthy! 

Buying vegetables and fruits that are in season is always a good idea. They are generally fresh and cheaper, and you should find a variety of these at your local farmer’s market (even if they might not be certified “organic” as such). Most supermarkets also offer really good organic ranges. 

Remember that not everything marked as “organic” is healthy – many of the organic desserts or snacks for example are still high in sugar, salt, saturated fat or calories, and making junk food look or sound healthy is a common marketing ploy!

 

As always, if you have any questions or comments to this post then please feel free to get in touch. 

Thank you for reading and keep well x