Every day we face the question that most people have asked at some point, “should I buy regular food or organic food?” What are organic foods? The USDA defines it as, “Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations. Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones. Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides.” Many people believe organic food is allowing them to live an overall healthier lifestyle, and 76% of people who buy organic food say they do so because they believe it is healthier to consume. This may be the case but after a life of eating organic food instead of foods containing pesticides, will it affect one’s life expectancy? Organic foods have been produced for thousands of years, but it was not until recent years that the idea became popular because hundreds of years ago nearly all food was made organically.
One of the biggest concerns with organic food is the price of the product. The reasons for this vary, but are impart because they do not receive pesticides and are not made in the cheap bulk form similar to processed or pesticide contaminated foods. A large number of people favor the 
organic food because the lack of pesticides. How common are pesticides are on our non-organic food? In 2008 the PDP conducted an observational study and tested 11,683 samples from all regions across the country. Of the sample, only 23.1% of the sample had tested negative for all pesticides tested. Some people have suggested that pesticide removal from food can be as simple as washing the food off with water, unfortunately this is not the case. Some pesticides can stick to a waxy layer on the food while others can be absorbed inside the food. A test observing the total pesticides absorbed showed that 74% of lettuce and 70% of broccoli contained these pesticides inside the food rather than on the outer layer.
There have not been a great deal of studies regarding humans in taking conventional or organic foods. One famous observational study is the “PARSIFAL” study. In this study 14,000 children from five European countries. The study showed that the children who consumed biodynamic and organic food had a statistically significant lower body wait and had less allergies than that of those who consumed non organic food products. products.
In order to come up enough evidence to fail to reject the null hypothecs one would need to conduct an extensive experiment. It is almost unrealistic to do because the experiment would be as long as the life of each person. If a random sample of 10,000 people a double blind study would have to be conducted. 5000 of the people would receive a placebo (conventionally produced food) while the other 5000 would receive organic food. Because it is a random sample the randomization would act as a control for outlying factors such as exercise, drug use, and other things that could affect life expectancy.
We can not conclude that organic food will add to life expectancy, but after my research I failed to reject the hypothesis that organic foods are less likely to be contaminated by pesticides than conventional foods.
http://alabamaorganics.blogspot.com/
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1573521411000054
http://www.healthychild.org/produce-purification-101-can-washing-fruits-veggies-remove-pesticides/
http://alabamaorganics.blogspot.com/
http://www.organic.org/home/faq
This blog is really interesting because my mom is all about organic foods. When I was around 12 she switched our whole family over to organic milk and often tries to buy organic food when she can. I’m not sure if I believe that it can extend our life expectancy, but I do believe that it can prevent diseases. I see it as the less chemicals you put in to your body, the better your body is better off since it can not process the chemicals.
This post immediately caught my eye, because at home I would constantly make sure my mom was buying organic foods and non GMO products. Although now being at college and not having access to all of those things any more, I am in constant worry about the types of pesticides and chemicals I could potentially be putting in my body. While you were not able to find any sufficient evidence on if eating organic foods increases life expectancy, according to this article it is found that organic foods are nutritionally superior than conventional foods in a study they conducted. That being said I wonder if that could have a part in increasing life expectancy, due to the fact that a person eating organic food is going to get more of nutritional value than someone eating the conventional version of the same food. Although of course correlation does not alway equal causation, so I hope there will be many more studies on organic foods in the future to better understand.
Another angle to examine in this topic of organic food vs. non organic is the economic monopoly non organic food has right now. Most organic fruits and vegetables, meats and poultry are far more expensive than the non organic and most people in this country cannot afford a high end supermarket such as Whole Foods. The farmers who produce solely organic food are doing so without any pesticides, or fertilizers. I personally try to buy organic foods and fresh produce because I feel like the quality is better. Stanford’s Center for Health Policy scientists did a meta-analysis to date of existing studies comparing organic and normal foods finding that the only major difference is that you are a lower risk of pesticide exposure if you eat organically.
I really like this question. I love grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s because for some reason I assume all their food is better for me than food from other grocery stores. My dad thinks it is ridiculous, but it is important to me to eat high quality food. Your question focused on life expectancy, but I am wondering what impact does eating organic food over nonorganic have on the quality of our life. Does it make us feel better? Are we less likely to get sick? Here is a link that discusses a recent study. It found organic foods have a higher concentration of antioxidants, and antioxidants can reduce our risk of some diseases. You asked an interesting research question, and I’m glad I read this!
In considering whether or not organic food can increase life expectancy, you can also look at the opposing question of what the negative effects are of consuming pesticides on food. This publication from the University of Washington explains the health risks and who is most vulnerable. One study focused on people that work directly with pesticides, such as pesticide applicators, and stated, “acute OP pesticide poisonings result in symptoms like nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea, dizziness, anxiety and confusion, which can be quite severe but are often reversible”. Although no severe effects have been observed on people with indirect contact to pesticides, it is something to be concerned about for the future of food production and consumption.