ABBEY STELL
Staff Writer
There are a lot of different opinions out there about what it means to be truly organic.
Many consumers wonder whether buying organic food is truly safer, healthier, and worth paying the extra dollar for (or two or three.) Pepperdine students seem to be stuck between buying what is best for the body, and what is easiest on the pocket book.
Junior Anna Shea says she will buy organic over inorganic if “it’s not outrageously overpriced.”
Shea also said she thinks it’s worth it ultimately because from what she understands, with organic foods there is less of a potential to cause cancer in the body.
“The less chemicals we put in the environment and in our bodies, the better” Shea said.
Still, some believe it is essential for one’s health to buy organic foods whenever possible, despite the cost.
When asked what he thinks, junior Dirk Seib said he thinks organic foods are worth their cost.
“You can’t put a price on your health,” he said.
Seib, who is majoring in physics, says he trys to buy organic food 85 to 90 percent of the time and tries to shop at grocery stores such as Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.
Shelley Kramer, director of the L.A. Cancer Prevention Coalition and cancer awareness educator, is a strong advocate of eating organic foods and says there is no doubt pesticides have been linked to causing cancer.
She says, however, that some organic foods can be deceiving. It’s not just the use of natural pesticides (or none at all) that makes produce organic.
“It’s the soil it’s grown in, what was grown in it before, how they enrich the soil,” she said.
Kramer says that even if a crop is grown completely organic, but the crop next to it is not, then the air that blows over from the inorganic crop can affect the organic one.
The only way one can tell if a product is organic is if “it has a USDA-approved ‘certified organic’ seal on it,” she said.
There are others such as Jennifer Billings and Brittney Reimert who don’t seem to express as much concern about pesticides.
Billings, a graduate from Columbia University with a degree in biochemistry, says that most of the pesticides being used in the United States are water-soluble and will not build up in the body. Although Billings believes pesticides could be linked to cancer, she’s not sure how severe the situation is.
“The human body is exposed to at least 70 different toxic substances in the air,” Billings said. “Pesticides just add to so many of the diseases that we already have. But a lot of people like myself don’t want to take a chance and just buy them.”
Reimert, a junior nutrition major at Pepperdine, says there is an overall misconception that organic means healthier, when all organic really means is pesticide-free.
“Nutritionally, they are the same thing [as inorganic foods]. But there are pluses to not having pesticides … it’s always nice to have less chemicals in your system.”
Pepperdine biology professor Dr. Donna Nofziger Plank chooses to buy organic as often as she can for several reasons.
“For health reasons for both myself and my family…I am responsible for putting food on the table as well as modeling healthy food choices for my kids. Also, as a steward or caretaker of the earth, I have a responsibility to take care of the earth and avoid practices that could harm it.” says Nofziger Plank.
Many of Nofziger Plank’s views stem from research she has done herself, as well as her personal beliefs as a Christian and as someone who knows what it’s like to live off of homegrown produce.
“I try to be very intentional with what I do,” she said. “The way I spend my money is a way of serving God — it’s His money, we are stewards of it.”
Nofziger Plank does not claim to be an expert on the subject of organic foods, but knows there is a lot of evidence linking pesticide exposure and disease, particularly among farm workers.
“We need to be more aware of how our choices impact others and the earth,” Nofziger Plank said.
“We need to be more aware of how our choices impact others and the earth,” Nofziger Plank said.
03-20-2008
