The Organic Center's "Core Truths"

About the Organic CenterAbout the Organic CenterBacked by the world's leading scientists, physicians and scholars, The Organic Center is committed to two goals.

1) RESEARCH: providing free, peer-reviewed, credible science that explores the health and environmental benefits of organic agriculture.

2) EDUCATION: helping people and organizations access and better understand science that sheds light on the organic benefit.

Backed by the world's leading scientists, physicians and scholars, The Organic Center is committed to two goals.

1) RESEARCH: providing free, peer-reviewed, credible science that explores the health and environmental benefits of organic agriculture.

2) EDUCATION: helping people and organizations access and better understand science that sheds light on the organic benefit.

www.organic-center.orgwww.organic-center.org

Board of DirectorsChair - Michelle Goolsby Alan Greene, M.D.Dean Foods Stanford University

Mark Retzloff Timothy EscamillaAurora Organic Dairy Ready Pac Produce

James D. White Alex PetrovJamba Juice Better Living Brand Alliance

Sheryl Lamb Margaret WittenbergOrganic Advocate Whole Foods Market

Todd Linsky David PimentelCal-Organic Farms Cornell University

Ken Cook George SiemonEnvironmental Working Group Organic Valley

Sara Snow Anthony ZolezziGreen Lifestyle Expert/TV Host Zolezzi Consulting, Inc.

Board of DirectorsChair - Michelle Goolsby Alan Greene, M.D.Dean Foods Stanford University

Mark Retzloff Timothy EscamillaAurora Organic Dairy Ready Pac Produce

James D. White Alex PetrovJamba Juice Better Living Brand Alliance

Sheryl Lamb Margaret WittenbergOrganic Advocate Whole Foods Market

Todd Linsky David PimentelCal-Organic Farms Cornell University

Ken Cook George SiemonEnvironmental Working Group Organic Valley

Sara Snow Anthony ZolezziGreen Lifestyle Expert/TV Host Zolezzi Consulting, Inc.

NutritionNutrition

• Average levels of 11 nutrients are 25% higher in organic foods compared to conventional foods, based on 236 scientifically valid comparisons.

• Organic fruits and vegetables are approximately 30% higher in antioxidants than conventional.

Did You Know?

Organic Dairy and ChildrenOrganic milk and meat enhances the nutritional quality of breast milk - up to 36% higher levels of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid) due to greater reliance on pasture and forage grasses in organic dairy and meat production.

Source: British Journal of Nutrition, April 2007

Can Organic Feed the World?

- “Organic agriculture has the potential to secure a global food supply, just as conventional agriculture today, but with reduced environmental impacts."

- “Organic agriculture can be more conducive to food security in Africa than most conventional production systems, and is more likely to be sustainable in the long term.”

Organic, World Hunger and the UN

United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Organic Agriculture and Food Security, May 2007

UNCTAD, UNEP, Organic Agriculture and Food Security in Africa, Oct. 2008

In developed countries, organic systems produce 92% of the yield produced by conventional agriculture.

In developing countries, however, organic systems produce 80% more than conventional farms and could increase food security.“Organic Agriculture and the Global Food Supply,” Ivette Perfecto, et. al., University of Michigan, Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems, July 2007

Organic in Developing Countries

PesticidesPesticidesPesticides

Facts About Pesticides• When the first list of pesticides known to be endocrine

disruptors was published in 1993, it included 35 pesticides representing about 20% of the commercially important pesticides at that time.

• Today, there are 180 pesticides on that list, accounting for over half of the pesticides applied in the U.S. and globally.

• Nine out of the top 10 pesticides posing the greatest risks as a result of dietary exposures are endocrine disruptors.

Source: That First Step, The Organic Center Critical Issue Report, C. McCullum Gomez, C. Benbrook, R. Theuer, March 2009.

Pesticides and Human Health

Two-thirds of U.S. teenagers have at least one of the five conditions that constitute metabolic syndrome.

Source: That First Step, The Organic Center Critical Issue Report, C. McCullum-Gomez, C. Benbrook, R. Theuer, March 2009.

“The average child in America is exposed to 10 to 13 pesticides daily in their food and drinking water. Switching to an organic diet for just five days virtually eliminates any sign of exposure to organophosphate insecticides among school-age children.”

Source: Reducing Pesticide Exposures Critical Issues Report, The Organic Center, August 2006; Dr. Charles Benbrook, The Organic Center data, 2009.

Pesticides and Human Health

Exposure to pesticides during pregnancy increases the risk of premature birth, low-birth weight, neurological problems, and diabetes.

Source: That First Step, The Organic Center’s Critical Issue Report, C. McCullum-Gomez, C. Benbrook, R. Theuer, March 2009.

Climate Change

Climate ChangeClimate Change

Dead Zone in Gulf of Mexico

The Dead Zone is 8,000 square miles in the Gulf of Mexico that is caused by the run off of toxic synthetic fertilizers from conventional agriculture in the watersheds that feed into the Mississippi River.

BioTechnologyBioTechnology

The American Academy of Environmental Medicine Calls for Moratorium on GMOs

“Avoid GM foods when possible... Several animal studies indicate serious health risks associated with GM food...

“There is more than a casual association between GM foods and adverse health effects. There is causation...

“The strength of association and consistency between GM foods and disease is confirmed in several animal studies."

Source: Genetically Modified Foods, American Academy of Environmental Medicine Position Paper, May 8, 2009.

“U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the safety of meat from cloned cattle.”

-- Wall Street Journal, Aug. 29, 2008

“Milk and meat from the offspring of cloned livestock are entering the U.S. food supply. The number of clones is on the rise…”

-- Wall Street Journal, Sept. 1, 2008

“U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the safety of meat from cloned cattle.”

-- Wall Street Journal, Aug. 29, 2008

“Milk and meat from the offspring of cloned livestock are entering the U.S. food supply. The number of clones is on the rise…”

-- Wall Street Journal, Sept. 1, 2008

Genetic EngineeringGenetic Engineering

“The government said it will start considering proposals to sell genetically engineered animals as food for meat, poultry and fish.”

Source: UPI, Friday, September 19, 2008

GM Corn and HealthItalian researchers found significant disturbances in the immune system of young and old mice fed GM maize (MON810), and elevated levels of a cell type known to be associated with asthma and food allergies in children.

According to results from a long-term feeding study with mice, researchers in Austria concluded that consumption of a genetically modified corn developed by Monsanto (NK603 x MON810) may lead to lower fertility and body weight and impaired gene expression.

Sources: Finamore A., et. al., "Intestinal and peripheral immune response to MON810 maize ingestion in weaning and old mice," Journal of Food and Agricultural Chemistry, November 16, 2008. Austrian Ministry of Health, Family and Youth, Nov. 11, 2008.

What You Can Do!

• Buy Organic Food and Products

• Write Your Representative in Washington, D.C.

• Becoming a Friend of The Organic Center (your donation is tax-deductible)

Learn More…

www.organic-center.orgwww.organic-center.orgwww.ota.comwww.ota.comwww.rodaleinstitute.orgwww.rodaleinstitute.orgwww.theorganicreport.comwww.theorganicreport.com

The Organic CenterP.O. Box 20513, Boulder, CO 80308

Tel 303.499.1840www.organic-center.org

SELEYN DEYARUSsdeyarus@organic-center.org