The Benefits of Organic Food
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By Nancy Gottesman
Now that you have children, you probably give more consideration to the food you bring into your home. Is it nutritious? Is it kid-friendly? Is it safe? Many moms and dads in the U.S. are thinking along these same lines. Six years ago, only 29 percent of Americans purchased organic foods and drinks in natural food stores. Today, 49 percent do so. According to a prominent 2006 consumer-behavior study, one reason for the boom in the organics market is an increasing number of people like you: parents who are concerned about the effect of pesticides and other toxins on their children’s health.
What’s the difference?
Organic produce is grown without the use of pesticides, fertilizers made with synthetics or sewage sludge, bioengineering or irradiation. Organic meats, poultry, eggs and dairy products must come from antibiotic- and hormone-free animals. A product can be labeled “organic” only after the U.S. Department of Agriculture inspects the farm where food is grown to certify that it meets these organic standards. In addition to the lack of toxins, organic foods are produced by farmers who practice soil and water conservation. “From an environmental standpoint, sustainable [organic] farming is better for the earth and improves animal welfare, which will ultimately benefi t all of us in the long term,” says Linda Somers, R.D., pediatric nutritionist at Children’s Mem
Children and pesticides
Although eating organic foods does indeed promote environmental health, perhaps the best argument for going organic is your child’s age and size. Toddlers take in two to four times more food per pound of body weight than the average adult; thus, they have the potential to ingest more pesticides per pound of body weight as well. “When a 20-pound toddler eats an apple, he gets six times the relative pesticide dose of a 120-pound adult,” explains Alan Greene, M.D., a pediatrician and assistant clinical professor, Division of General Pediatrics, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital at Stanford University School of Medicine. Research has shown that eating organic foods can limit that exposure. In one study, children in Seattle, age 2–4 years, were monitored as they ate different types of diets.
While eating the organic foods, the children’s urine samples showed nondetectable levels of pesticides commonly used in U.S. agricultural production. Once the children ate conventional foods (i.e., nonorganic) again, the concentration of pesticides increased substantially in their urine. Yet to be answered by the scientifi c community, however, is how serious a health risk ingesting pesticides or antibioticand hormone-laden meat and dairy products really is.
In the absence of solid evidence, experts recommend that you err on the side of caution, especially since we don’t know how pesticides affect developing brains and bodies. “If you have a choice between ingesting toxins or not, it makes sense to choose not to,” maintains Somers.
Just gotta try this Creamy Avocado Dip recipe via Momables.com - love how you can spread it on a sandwich in lieu of Mayo! 
Comment by Babytime Organics on Feb 15 2011 12:59:47:
What an excellent article. We recently started switching our regular food out for organic, when possible, mainly for general health reasons. But, I never realized that children receive a higher concentration of pesticides than adults because of their body smaller body sizes. Makes sense though. Now I’m going to be even more vigilant about switching to organic. Great information!
Comment by Leslee on Feb 18 2011 05:10:00:
Whenever possible we try to buy organic produce and dairy products for our children to minimize the amount of pesticides, antibiotics and hormones, but also for the taste. We think they taste better. Take a look at the ingredients in a non-organic half and half – a large part of it is corn syrup, while the organic half and half is cream and milk. Likewise with packaged products, high fructose corn syrup is rarely an ingredient.
Also, we try to grow our own organic foods (non-certified) during the spring/summer.
Comment by Becky – Resident Mom on Feb 21 2011 11:24:32:
Love this article…it’s a real eye opener for many. I fed my 2 1/2 year old exclusively organic until age one and felt wonderful about it. I continue to buy organic as much as possible (cost permitting) and only feed my son organic fruits and vegetables. I think all parents need to take a closer look at what they are feeding their children these days. Things are much different than when we were kids!
Comment by Terrie on Mar 04 2011 12:52:32:
well i live on a farm and we use fertilizer and some pesticides for some stuff, we even spray melons and its not a pesticide its for the blight, we would lose more w/o em i just dont see how organic foods are “organic” but we only have to worry about slugs and a certain butterfly and raccoons and porccupines, those critters we trap or watever cuz theyre no good to the farm, its not just critters we have to worry about but also blights and wat we use is safe and i dont see anything wrong with fertilizer we just cant grow nything w/o it, wat i would concentrate on is reducing the carbon footprint, we not only grow veggies but we also buy cherries, peaches, pears, apples, plumes from a few growers in our state and sell em for profit in our area and we know they use some pesticides that are safe… we just cant grow certain fruit in our area and there is a such thing as safe pesticides for us, and i tottally get with more concentrated in kids, it does make sense but i dont know how they can grow anything w/o that stuff, i think they should replace that corn syrup or watever with real sugar, the real stuff is better and a good thing about local foods, theyre picked riped, major difference between from the tree and store bought becuz wat u get at the store is picked too early becuz theyre being shipped accross the country and they spray em with perservatives at the store, i dont think our growers do perservatives… i do like that organic is safe for the animals and environment and theyre all about conservation so something i would try for my kids but cant do on our own farm, our land is too rocky
Comment by Lizzette Jimenez on Feb 28 2012 07:14:45:
Excellent quick read article for all Mommies and Daddies. Becoming a parent definitely makes you think differently, I became more aware after having my little human almost three years ago.
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Comment by Champagne Baby on Mar 02 2012 04:19:24:
Very interesting! We've always tried to eat healthy, but recently, with the arrival of our 2nd little punchkin, we have been trying to eat more organic fruits and vegetables. We have been using the Door to Door Organic program. I definitely recommend it if it comes near your house!