Organic Food in the US and Europe

Last Thursday I spoke about cooking with organic food at the Conference on Organic Food in US and Europe - a forum sponsored by Alce Nero.  I was running back and forth between New York University's Casa Italiana (where the conference took place), and the James Beard Foundation house (where I was preparing a 5-course organic meal with Alce Nero products for 72 people).  

The conference brought together professionals from various fields including food production and distribution, farming, legal, nutrition, and culinary backgrounds.

Here are some interesting facts on organic food:

• Food colourings and additives can cause a range of health problems in adults and children. For example, tartrazine (the yellow food colouring E102) and other additives have been linked to allergic reactions, headaches, asthma, growth retardation and hyperactivity in children.
• Currently, over 400 chemicals are allowed to be used in conventional farming to kill weeds, insects and other pests that attack crops.
• To be certified as organic, food products need to come from farms and processing plants that are certified as organic. This means that they are inspected by certified government officials to ensure that organic farms are up to USDA organic standards.
•  The biggest study ever of organic food was completed in 2007 and found that organic fruit and vegetables contain up to 40% more antioxidants than conventional equivalents 
• Non-organically raised animals are pumped with hormones and toxic chemicals. What happens to those chemicals when those animals die? They are digested and stored in the human body.
• Sperm count is higher in organic communities.
  

Though the conference ended with a split of those believing that organic food is better for us, and some believing that non-organic food has the same vitamins and minerals, I came up with my own conclusion that I shared with the audience at NYU: while in the market, choose the food that smiles back at you.

Ciao!

Cesare