Organic Production and Food Quality: A Down to Earth Analysis

288 Pages·2012·1.947 MB·English

by  Robert Blair

Organic Production
and Food Quality
I am very grateful to my dear wife, Moreen, for herencouragement
andsupport in writing this book and to my late parents, Sam andMary,
who guided me to the path of learning.
Organic Production
and Food Quality
A Down to Earth Analysis
Robert Blair
Faculty of Land and Food Systems
University of British Columbia
Vancouver
Canada
Thiseditionfirstpublished2012(cid:2)2012byJohnWiley&Sons
Wiley-BlackwellisanimprintofJohnWiley&Sons,formedbythemergerofWiley’s
globalScientific,TechnicalandMedicalbusinesswithBlackwellPublishing.
Editorialoffices: 2121StateAvenue,Ames,Iowa50014-8300,USA
TheAtrium,SouthernGate,Chichester,WestSussex,PO198SQ,UK
9600GarsingtonRoad,Oxford,OX42DQ,UK
Fordetailsofourglobaleditorialoffices,forcustomerservicesandforinformation
abouthowtoapplyforpermissiontoreusethecopyrightmaterialinthisbookplease
seeourwebsiteatwww.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.
Authorizationtophotocopyitemsforinternalorpersonaluse,ortheinternalor
personaluseofspecificclients,isgrantedbyBlackwellPublishing,providedthatthe
basefeeispaiddirectlytotheCopyrightClearanceCenter,222RosewoodDrive,Danvers,
MA01923.ForthoseorganizationsthathavebeengrantedaphotocopylicensebyCCC,
aseparatesystemofpaymentshasbeenarranged.Thefeecodesforusersofthe
TransactionalReportingServiceareISBN-13:978-0-8138-XXXX-X/2007.
Designationsusedbycompaniestodistinguishtheirproductsareoftenclaimedas
trademarks.Allbrandnamesandproductnamesusedinthisbookaretradenames,
servicemarks,trademarksorregisteredtrademarksoftheirrespectiveowners.The
publisherisnotassociatedwithanyproductorvendormentionedinthisbook.This
publicationisdesignedtoprovideaccurateandauthoritativeinformationinregardto
thesubjectmattercovered.Itissoldontheunderstandingthatthepublisherisnot
engagedinrenderingprofessionalservices.Ifprofessionaladviceorotherexpert
assistanceisrequired,theservicesofacompetentprofessionalshouldbesought.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Blair,Robert,1933-
Organicproductionandfoodquality:adowntoearthanalysis/RobertBlair.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-0-8138-1217-5(hardcover:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:0-8138-1217-8
1. Naturalfoods–Processing.2. Food–Quality.3. Consumers–Attitudes. I.Title.
TX369.B532011
363.19’29–dc23
2011022691
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
Thisbookispublishedinthefollowingelectronicformats:ePDF[9781119951858];
WileyOnlineLibrary[9781119951889];ePub[9781119951865];Mobi[9781119951872]
Setin9.5/12.5ptPalatinobyThomsonDigital,Noida,India
1 2012
Allreasonableattemptshavebeenmadetocontacttheownersofcopyrightedmaterialused
inthisbook.However,ifyouarethecopyrightownerofanysourceusedinthisbookwhichis
notcredited,pleasenotifythePublisherandthiswillbecorrectedinanysubsequentreprints
orneweditions.
Contents
Foreword ix
1 The Shift to Organic Food 1
Background 1
Organic regulations 3
Consumer perceptions 7
Analysis of the topic 9
References 10
2 Consumer Concerns AboutFood 13
The concerns 14
Consumer concerns and attitudes 16
Food regulations 20
Justification for consumer attitudes about the safety of
organic and conventional foods 21
Range of organic foods 22
References 23
3 Vegetable Produce 25
Pest and disease control 25
Documented findings on pesticide residues 27
Other chemical contaminants 33
Other toxic and antinutritional compounds in produce 35
Hormones 35
Can organic produce cause food poisoning? 36
Nutrient concentrations 42
Organoleptic quality 51
Identification of organic produce 53
Food from afar 54
Finally: watch which saladveg youeat 55
Conclusions 55
References 56
4 Fruit 61
Pesticide residues 61
Other risks with fruit 68
Chemical residues 68
Microbial problems 70
vi Contents
Mycotoxins 70
Cloning and gene-modified fruit 71
Nutrient concentrations 72
Appearance and organoleptic qualities 83
Preserves 86
Conclusions 88
References 89
5 Cereal Grains 93
Pesticide residues 93
Chemical residues 96
Other issues relating to grains 97
Mycotoxins: are organic grains less safe? 98
Gene-modified crops 102
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities 103
Wheat 104
Oats 108
Barley 108
Conclusions 108
References 109
6 Meat 111
Chemical and pesticide residues 111
Organic meat 116
Hormones 121
Hormoneresiduelevelsinmeats.Dogovernmentagencies
monitor for these? 123
Developing countries 124
Antibiotics 125
Bacterial contamination of meat 127
Cloning 129
Mad-cow disease 131
Contaminated beef products implicated 132
Gene modification 133
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities 135
Beef 135
Pork 141
Poultry 146
Fish 150
Conclusions 157
References 158
7 Milk and Milk Products 163
The hormone issue 163
Raw milk 165
Contents vii
Antibiotic residues 167
Pesticide and chemical residues 168
Nutritional and organoleptic qualities 170
Research findings 170
Consumer findings 175
Conclusions 179
References 180
8 Eggs 183
Cholesterol 184
Salmonella and food-poisoning 187
Contamination with residues 191
Antibiotics 191
Chemical residues 192
Egg quality 198
Research findings 198
Consumer findings 203
Conclusions 203
References 204
9 Is Organic Food Safer? 207
Residues 207
Vegetable produce 207
Fruit 208
Cereal grains 208
Meat 208
Milk 209
Eggs 209
Food poisoning 210
Mycotoxins 211
Other anti-nutrients 211
Nitrate 211
Significance of the findings in relation to health 213
Other research on food andhealth 216
Health of farmers andfarm workers 219
Other approaches 221
Conclusions 222
References 223
10 Is Organic Food More Nutritious and “Tasty”? 227
Reviews 227
Analysis byfood group 237
Vegetable produce 237
Fruit 238
Cereal grains 239
viii Contents
Meat 239
Milk 239
Eggs 240
Taste 240
References 240
11 Psychology of Organic Food Choice 243
The safety issue 244
Nutritional quality and taste 244
Environmental issues 248
Image 252
Conclusions 256
References 256
12 Conclusions 259
Reference 263
Appendix 265
Index 267
Foreword
Organic, local, factory farming, pesticides, nutrition, health, food safety
and environmental sustainability are some of the key buzz words sur-
rounding our food supply today. As consumers have moved further
awayfromanunderstandingofhowtheirfoodsupplyisproduced,new
belief systems have sprung up that exploit the disconnect between the
reality of production (and the science behind it) and the perception of
consumers.Astheworldingeneralbecomesmoreandmorecomplexand
individuals have less control over it, many people seek to control their
ownworldsinsomeofthefewremainingwaysthatarepossible.Choice
of food remains one of the few options. As people move to using new
informationsourcessuchastheinternet,oftenwithless“qualitycontrol”
over content, the quality of the information available decreases. As
people move away from communities of common religions and other
oldertraditionalvalues,newvaluesandreligionsareneeded.Aspeople
become more affluent, but have less time to spend doing things they
enjoy, they look for ways to differentiate their spending patterns by
creating “meaningful” expressions of their concerns.
Sowhatisreallyimportanttofoodconsumers,andwhatmightprovidea
solution to these consumer needs, whether real or perceived? It is a
challenge that the food industry has to meet. Traditionally, the food
industrywasalsoaskedtodothisatareasonablecost,butthatconstraint
seemstobelooseningaspeoplehavemorefundsfordiscretionaryspend-
ing.Butaswearealsolearning,weneedtoevaluatewhich“externalities”
are actuallyincorporated into retailpricing andhowthis complicates the
impact of these costs. Who is subsidizing whom?
Thatbringsusbacktothefirstwordinthisforeword:“organic”.Organic
foods are proliferating. Although the growth is significant (easier from a
smallbase),itisstillanichemarket.Andthequestioniswhetherorganic
actually provides a mechanism/production method for providing the
benefits that consumers “believe” organic food possesses and consumers
believe they want. The first attempt at a comprehensive and balanced
review of the scientific literature covering the comparison of organic
agriculture with other forms of agriculture comes, to the best of my
knowledge, in this book by Robert Blair. The news it gives will be
viewed differently by different people. For some it fails to be the “slam
dunk!”thattheywantineitherdirection!(Sorry,butliferarelycomesoutso
one-sided.) Those who strongly support organic agriculture are going to
attack Blair and his data for being biased in favor of conventional
ix
x Foreword
agriculture–atoolofbigbusiness,bigfarmingandcapitalism.Thosewho
thinkorganicisa“con”jobareprobablyalsogoingtobedisappointedand
say heis softonorganic becausehereallyloves the smallfarmerandhis
urban farmer’s market.
So,whatdowemakeofhisbook?Itsetsoutclearly,Ibelieve,whatwe
knowand–justasimportantly,forascientist–whatwedon’tknow.He
showsclearlythatsomeperceiveddifferencesbetweendifferentformsof
agriculture are real and that these lead to some relevant consequences.
Heshowsthatmanyotherdifferencesarenotrealandthatthisalsoleads
tosomeconsequencesbecause,inthepast,peoplehavemadedecisions
basedontheassumptionthatsomeofthesedifferenceswerereal.Butthe
bottom line, which comes through clearly, is that the American and
European food supplies are safe, nutritious, wholesome and healthy,
regardless of production methods. The issues of flavor and freshness
mayinfactbekeyfeaturesofthecurrentincarnationoforganic,butthey
areactuallypredicatedonvariablesthataremorerelatedtothecultivars
selected and the handling and distribution of the food supply than on
organic as a production system. So local may have some benefit in the
hedonisticareasbutthesearebeinglostasorganicbecomesmainstream
andlargecompaniesseeanopportunitytoobtainhigherprofitmargins
from organic and join the program.
IntheUnitedStates,organiciscontrolledbythegovernment.Therules,
whether fair or not, whether consistent with what people really want
fromorganic,whethercostlyornot,aretheonesthatorganicwillneedto
meet in the future and, as such, they probably slightly favor the larger
companies that can afford the supervision charges, that have the
resources to participate in the process that decides what the rules are
goingtobe,andthatcangetorganicproductswidelydistributed.Itmay
have been the case that the organic growers, processors and retailers
failed to recognize and accept multiple standards that reflected at times
genuinedifferencesamongthe“converted”organicfarmersandinstead
decidedtoaskthegovernmenttostep in(aspart ofthe 1990FarmBill),
thusgivinguptheir“religion”togovernmentcontrol.Movingforward,it
isimportantforresearcherstobemorerigorousintheirmethodologyand
datapresentation,andthatallthoseinvolvedinteachingaboutourfood
supplyneedtoincorporatemoreofabalancedviewoftheconflictbetween
idealism and practicality and to put more emphasis on proven facts.
Consumers in the future may also need to think about whether they
want to continue to support this expensive method of food production
withitsreligiousovertones,withoutanyreal“showstopper”advantages,
andinsteadmoveonto“local”,focusonsomeotherissuesrelatedtoour
foodsupply,orjustbuyarangeoffoodsthatareavailabletoday,relaxabit
more,justenjoylifeandeating,andsavetheirmoneytobuyelectriccars,
solarwaterheaters,andpersonalwindmillstogeneratetheelectricitythey
willneedinthefuture.Andsomemighteventakepublictransportationor