Consumption of fruit and vegetables could be hit by a “double whammy” if the drive towards organic systems continues, a scientist at the University of Edinburgh has warned.
Organic produce is more expensive and it carries a higher risk from the natural pesticides that develop within the varieties of produce, according to Anthony Trewavas, a professor at the university’s Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology.
“It is well known that a diet high in conventional fruit and vegetables cuts cancer rates by about half,” he said. “But price determines consumption, and fruit and vegetable consumption needs to be increased, not decreased, which a general push
towards higher priced organic food would incur.”
In addition, pesticide regulations were restricted to synthetic chemicals and regular monitoring had shown that exposure to the traces in conventional food to be virtually zero risk. However, the major chemical exposure of all human beings was to natural pesticides, designed by the plants themselves for protection and honed to toxicity by evolution. “There are many thousands of chemicals and every day we consume several thousand natural chemicals, all of which hover on the levels of toxicity,” Trewavas told a Cambridge farm conference. “The amounts consumed are tens of thousand-fold higher than synthetic pesticide traces.”
In aiming for yield, conventional breeding has reduced substantially the levels of natural pesticides and correspondingly rendered food safer for human consumption.
“Organic associations claim that the higher levels of some natural constituents in organic food make them healthier. But only balanced diets are healthy, and conventional produce provides all that is necessary for excellent health.”
Vic Robertson
Organic produce is more expensive and it carries a higher risk from the natural pesticides that develop within the varieties of produce, according to Anthony Trewavas, a professor at the university’s Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology.
“It is well known that a diet high in conventional fruit and vegetables cuts cancer rates by about half,” he said. “But price determines consumption, and fruit and vegetable consumption needs to be increased, not decreased, which a general push
towards higher priced organic food would incur.”
In addition, pesticide regulations were restricted to synthetic chemicals and regular monitoring had shown that exposure to the traces in conventional food to be virtually zero risk. However, the major chemical exposure of all human beings was to natural pesticides, designed by the plants themselves for protection and honed to toxicity by evolution. “There are many thousands of chemicals and every day we consume several thousand natural chemicals, all of which hover on the levels of toxicity,” Trewavas told a Cambridge farm conference. “The amounts consumed are tens of thousand-fold higher than synthetic pesticide traces.”
In aiming for yield, conventional breeding has reduced substantially the levels of natural pesticides and correspondingly rendered food safer for human consumption.
“Organic associations claim that the higher levels of some natural constituents in organic food make them healthier. But only balanced diets are healthy, and conventional produce provides all that is necessary for excellent health.”
Vic Robertson
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