Setting the Record Straight!

Columnist - Kristine Valenzuela

I got really irritated a few weeks ago after reading our local news online. It was another misleading article talking about how organic produce wasn’t any more healthful than its traditionally-grown counterpart. The article went in depth talking about all the different nutrients that were measured in two tomatoes grown using the two very different methods and how they were the same. That’s all that was offered was information on the nutrient levels. I wish I had a penny for every article I read that said the same thing. To their point - and this will be the only positive comment I will ever make about these types of articles - is, yes, nutritionally-speaking, the conventional and organic tomatoes have the same nutrients. BUT...you knew there was gonna be one, right?...time after time, these ‘scientific studies’ fail to measure what’s most important about the two types of produce. I encourage you to look for one study that measures the amount of pesticides. Better yet, bet you won’t find too many articles on what long-term exposure to pesticides and other unsavory fertilizers will do to both human and animal bodies. The pesticides, fertilizers, irradiation and non-earth-friendly transportation methods are the biggest red flags in conventional produce! They are the reason organic products exist! Some of us don’t want those chemicals running through our bodies on a regular basis. Yet, articles that discuss levels of all the bad things simply don’t exist.

The news media is very sly about how they transmit their information. They want you to see things "their" way, whether they’ve presented all the facts or not. While I’m sure the media’s slant has something to do with politics, what I don’t appreciate is how the public is mislead in the process. This is where I’d like to insert my reference to watching the documentary Food, Inc. which helps make sense of the whole organic debate. The facts aren’t all presented - that’s a problem. This interferes with the public being able to make informed choices about organic or conventional produce. So I’m here to tell you to be suspicious of this article when you see it in the future (since it gets run in the media every few months it seems). Read it. See if it talks about the pesticides at all. Maybe ask yourself why these types of articles are so one-sided. I encourage everyone to read news with an open and analytical mind and make sure you’re getting enough information to make good choices. If you’re not, you might want to research all sides of the argument. Until next time...

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