| June 15, 2004:
The same right-wing think tank that conspired with John Stossel
of ABC News, in an erroneous attempt to discredit organic food
(subsequently forcing an apology from the network), is at it
again. The Hudson Institute, and its father and son team of
Dennis and Alex Avery, are attempting to spin a new report that
actually concluded there was no "statistically different"
risk in the pathogenic contamination of organic food verses
its conventionally produced counterparts.
"For years, the Averys’ have been banging the
drum trying to suggest to consumers that organic food is somehow
dangerous," said Mark Kastel, Director of the Organic
Integrity Project at The Cornucopia Institute. "In this
case, the study or any study is evidently enough
ammunition for them to begin their indiscriminate potshots."
The report in question, published in the May issue of Journal
of Food Protection, looked at produce grown on conventional
and organic Minnesota farms during 2002. Less than 5 percent
of the produce from conventional and organic farms showed
contamination with any of the tracked pathogens in question,
and that was before washing at the wholesale level, peeling
off outer leaves, or a thorough washing once the produce arrives
in the home of the ultimate consumer.
"This study was primarily designed to look at the use
of composted manure verses chemical fertilizers at the farm
level. The authors of this report intentionally did not concern
themselves with what happened once the produce was washed
and left the farm," Kastel said.
According to Francisco Diez-Gonzalez, the report's chief
author and faculty member at the University of Minnesota,
"I had a very heated discussion with Alex Avery of the
Hudson Institute. They were very dissatisfied with our findings
and told me that our interpretations were not 'correct.' They
told me I should have known better than to look for E. coli
0157:H7, because we wouldn't find any."
Dr. Diez-Gonzalez is not surprised to learn that the Hudson
Institute, with its long record and the backing of agribusiness
giants like Monsanto and DuPont, is now trying to use the
independently funded University of Minnesota data to discredit
organic farming.
Commenting on the Diez-Gonzalez study, Alex Avery called
eating organic food “a crap shoot” and warned
that potential cases of diarrhea, typhoid fever and Reiter’s
Syndrome await its consumers. “This statement is total
a fabrication and a gross distortion of the Diez-Gonzalez
study," charged Kastel. “Alex Avery will say anything
in his petty little war against organic food and farming”
The only criticism of the research, levied by The Cornucopia
Institute, was that nearly 80 percent of the samples taken
during the study came from organic farms and only 20% from
conventional operations. "If conventional produce was
represented as a higher percentage of the total, maybe the
findings would have looked even more favorable, in terms of
the compareable safety of organic products," said the
Cornucopia's Kastel. The conventional sampling was also extremely
light in terms of the produce items that were most susceptible
to contamination (leafy greens and lettuce).
According to Dr. Diez-Gonzalez, investigators are attempting
to include more conventional produce in the second and third
year of their research.
"One of the positive findings from the Minnesota study
is that the potential for contamination on farms certified
as organic by the USDA, under the federal supervisory program
which went into effect in 2002, is demonstrably lower than
for farms that call themselves organic but are not certified,”
noted Kastel.
Federal law now mandates that any commercial organic producer
must be inspected on an annual basis. "It is not surprising
that the best management practices take place on certified
farms where the operators are highly engaged, educated and
conforming to the strict regulations in terms of the use of
composted animal manure,” Kastel added. "The results
are higher quality and safer produce for the consumer."
For more on the original study, Pre-Harvest Evaluation
of Coliforms, Escherichia coli, Salmonella and E. coli O157:H7
in Organic and Conventional Produce Grown by Minnesota Farmers,
go to: www.misa.umn.edu/Other/preharvestcoliforms.html
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