Organic food?

[Fidel_Castronaut]

You have two choices.

1. Eat plants that have been exposed to toxic chemical designed to kill things and wait for the long-term studies to conclusively prove or disprove negative effects.

2. Eat plants that have not been exposed to toxins.

Your choice. Just think cigarette smoking.

False dichotomy, really.

What's best is actually a system of managed farming that both encourages ecological conservation whilst providing cost effective, mass produced nutrients for a growing population with growing food requirements.

To date I am aware of no conclusive study that can prove to a given high degree that 'organic' food provides any beneficial effects above and beyond 'non-organic' food.

Let's not forget that pesticides have actually contributed massively to the elimination of poverty and the protection of food that would have otherwise been spoiled and lost. There's no doubt that there is much that can be improved in farming both locally and internationally, but to simply assert that 'organic' > the rest is illogical and, to me, unfounded.

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First of all I resent my position being characterized as "argument from ignorance".

Secondly, "studies" underwritten, directly or indirectly, by the chemical industry should be viewed with some suspicion.
You may note that your position is the exactly the same as the defenders of
leaded gasoline when true scientific inquiry was being systematically suppressed by large petroleum.

In the case of cigarettes, they were marketed as having health benefits
BY doctors. And plenty of favorable "scientific" papers where
(and still are) being written by tobacco industry funded "scientists".

I will simply quote some sources you may have heard about

The EPA

"Laboratory studies show that pesticides can cause health problems,
such as birth defects, nerve damage, cancer, and other effects that
might occur over a long period of time."

The NIH National Institutes of Health
"Scientists do not yet have a clear understanding of the health effects
of these pesticide residues. Results from the Agricultural Health Study,
an ongoing study of pesticide exposures in farm families, show that
farmers who used agricultural insecticides experienced an increase in
headaches, fatigue, insomnia, dizziness, hand tremors, and other
neurological symptoms. Evidence suggests that children are particularly
susceptible to adverse effects from exposure to pesticides, including
neurodevelopmental effects."

I will eat my veggies from my local organic farmer, thank you. You are of course free to eat whatever you like. But, I will reserve the right to resent your accusations.

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I'm sorry but this is a complete non-sequitur and reads more like a conspiracy theory diatribe. I fail to see the link between studies dismissing issues regarding tobacco written several decades ago and contemporary longitudinal discourse on the efficacy of pesticides.

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Organic produce, IMHO, is largely marketing bullshit.

QFT. It's also worth noting that it's a massive money making enterprise as well.

I'll save my money and buy traditionally farmed produce and preference free-range meat or animal products.

A very wise and considered approach. Worth emulating.