Comments on: Overweight? Hungry? Blame “Hollow Food”

By: Organic farms have better fungi and that’s a very good thing « Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 16:51:13 +0000

[...] Overweight? Hungry? Blame “Hollow Food” Organic Cure for Brain-damaging Pesticides Found in US Children [...]

By: Organic farming more profitable and better than conventional systems - U of Wisconsin « Stephen Leahy, International Environmental Journalist

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 15:09:17 +0000

[...] Overweight? Hungry? Blame “Hollow Food” [...]

By: Organic Cure for Brain-damaging Pesticides Found in US Children « Stephen Leahy Environmental Journalist

Mon, 04 Feb 2008 16:43:15 +0000

[...] I wrote a detailed article about an earlier study by Emory U: Overweight? Hungry? Blame “Hollow Food” [...]

By: Organic Agriculture Reduces Climate Change, Poverty and Hunger « Stephen Leahy - Environmental Journalist

Sun, 02 Dec 2007 18:25:25 +0000

[...] Stories: Overweight? Hungry? Blame “Hollow Food” Organic Provides 3X More Food Per Acre in Poor Countries – podcast Food Additives Make Kids [...]

By: Mariah Burton Nelson

Mariah Burton Nelson — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 03:16:27 +0000

I just switched from a very healthy no-meat diet to an even-healthier no-meat diet without fish, eggs, dairy products, or processed foods. I’m trying to heal my gall bladder to avoid surgery and am avoiding all the things that were triggering attacks (including Chinese food.) After about 10 days I feel much less hungry. Food tastes better. I’m not sure if this will heal my gall bladder but it’s an interesting experiment. Also I have no cravings (so far) for anything except what I’m thinking of as whole foods. I heard that there are many things people ingest that “the body does not recognize as food.” That rang true. I’m determined to only put things in my mouth that my body will welcome. I’d be interested in others’ experiences or responses.

Mariah Burton Nelson
http://bodiesinmotion.wordpress.com

By: Stephen

Stephen — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 22:38:40 +0000

Leslee you’re right pesticide residues on food do pose a health risk — hard to quantify that risk because we are all different biologically, where we live, what we eat and how we live and so on.

Andy is wrong that organic necessarily requires more land, Posted this podcast by U of Michigan on new study that proves it. http://stephenleahy.wordpress.com/2007/09/25/organic-provides-3x-more-food-per-acre-in-poor-countries-podcast/

By: Leslee

Leslee — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 17:15:31 +0000

I can see the point of using more land for farming organic crops to gain the same yield. However, numerous studies have been performed on the mineral supply of the topsoil that our produce is grown in and through the years we are finding we need to eat more to get the same mineral/vitamin content.
Also, pesticides in high levels can create neurological disease as well as hormone imbalances – Infertility, depression and difficult menopause, ring any bells? These problems are more rampant than ever.
Also, many experts have testified that pesticides, although within the normal legal limits, are unsafe, especially in children. Blood test analyses have shown that fact. Do you think feeding your child household cleaner, in small amounts, is o.k? Why not? Often these chemicals are not that differently structured than the pesticides used on crops. Certain spinach crops have been tested to have 14 different pesticides. If that’s not dangerous I don’t know what is?

Maybe we need to focus more on developing environmentally and biochemically friendly pesticides rather than debating the organic issue.

I only hope that this is helpful in making more informed decisions.

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 07 Sep 2007 17:47:37 +0000

Hi there,

I mentioned the Food Commission report because it was prominent in your article. The source for most of these claims comes from one rather poorly conducted examination conducted by someone in the business of selling mineral supplements. It is more marketing press release than science.

In general though, the idea that modern foodstuffs are dangerously short of nutrients does not make much sense and is a startling claim. Plants and animals, like humans, need an adequate source of nutrients to grow. A plant deprived of nutrients does not make a good crop. It appears inconceivable that you can obtain good crop yields and produce a product that is dangerously poor in nutrients. It is a contradiction. Of course, some plant varieties may have higher nutrient contents than other varieties, but there does not appear to be any reason why organic should be naturally better than non-organic. For example, an organic tomato may have to divert more energy to producing chemicals that fight pests as they do not have the benefit of pesticides to do that for them. This may shift the ratios of various nutrients within an organic crop, benefiting some nutrients at the expense of others. You should not rely on the reports of one crop in isolation. There is a much bigger picture.

The whole organic debate is polarised in silly ways – “organic good, non-organic bad”. Progressive farming needs to have a much wider discourse. For example, organic crops typically have lower yields, and so to produce similar quantity more land is required. Clearing farming land for organic crops may not be good for the overall environment. Organic crops will undoubtedly be more susceptible to occasional blight. In western nations, this need not matter. In developing nations, this would be disastrous. We need to step outside of the chains of organic thinking that we are being forced down by the propaganda given above and think how we produce adequate food crops that are reliably produced, resistant to catastrophic failure, low impact on natural resources and cheap enough to feed those with limited resources.

Organic farming does not have all the answers to these difficult problems, if any answers at all.

By: Food Additives Make Kids Hyperactive - Organic Better? « Stephen Leahy - Environmental Journalist

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 02:38:43 +0000

[...] September 6th, 2007 My articles documenting studies on benefits of organic foods/agriculture i.e. Overweight? Hungry? Blame “Hollow Food” and Organic Agriculture Reduces Climate Change, Poverty and Hunger generate strong opinions for and [...]

By: Stephen

Stephen — Wed, 05 Sep 2007 12:23:33 +0000

Andy, the article itself and the updates I added represent a wide range of reputable research groups. I imagine you choose to focus on the Food Commission because you have previously slammed them on your website.