Check out The Organic Center’s new video, narrated by green living expert Sara Snow.

Want to know what it means to be organic? How do pesticides effect you? This video is an excellent explanation of the organic movement and how switching to organic food can benefit not only your health, but our planet.

The health rewards of grapefruit will leave you feeling in the pink

The largest common citrus, grapefruits are said to get their name from the way they grow in grape-like clusters. Refreshingly juicy at a time of year when most fruit is scarce, they offer plenty of health-boosting benefits. Just half a grapefruit helps defend against everything from cold-season sniffles to heart disease and cancer.

Health Benefits: As you might have guessed, grapefruits are full of vitamin C, a major antioxidant that helps fight infection, may shorten the duration of colds, and protects against free radicals. Left unchecked, free radicals damage cells — this damage can contribute to the development of Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, and cancer.
Red and pink grapefruits like Ruby Reds (a relatively new variety developed in the past century) offer additional antioxidant benefits in the form of the phytonutrient lycopene. Found in red-tinted foods like tomatoes and watermelon, lycopene is associated with a reduced risk of some cancers and heart disease, and it may increase the skin’s resistance to sun damage.

Pink and red grapefruit also offer about 35 times more of the antioxidant vitamin A than their paler counterparts. That means potentially more protection from many cancers and heart disease, and increased support for the immune system and vision.

There’s more to this fruit than antioxidants, though. Grapefruits also offer potassium and folate. The potassium lowers blood pressure and is associated with a reduced risk of stroke, while folate, an important nutrient during pregnancy, has been shown to boost energy levels and help ward off depression and memory loss.

Next time you eat one of these citrus marvels, leave the grapefruit spoon in the drawer. Instead, eat grapefruit segments whole, as you would an orange, and you’ll get 50 percent more fiber. (By leaving the membrane behind you lower the fiber count to just under 2 grams per half fruit.) About half that fiber is insoluble, meaning it doesn’t dissolve in water, contributing to healthy digestion and supporting weight loss by making you feel full. Grapefruits also rank among the richest sources of pectin, a soluble fiber that helps lower cholesterol and regulate blood sugar levels.

How to Buy: Choose firm and unblemished fruits that feel heavy for their size. They’ll keep in the refrigerator for up to several weeks.

Cooking Tips: Since vitamin C helps the body absorb iron from plants, scatter grapefruit segments over spinach salad to get the most out of your greens. Add some nuts or cheese, too; the lycopene in Ruby Reds is best absorbed when combined with some fat. Below you’ll find an easy Grapefruit tea to make in 10 minutes.

Nutrition Breakdown: Per 1 large grapefruit, approximately 332 grams
Calories: 106 kcal
Fat: 0.3 g
Fiber: 5.5 g* = 22 percent DRI**
Vitamin C: 114 mg = 152 percent of DRI
Folate: 33 mcg = 8 percent of DRI
Lycopene: 3,768 mcg

* Includes membranes
** DRI, Dietary Reference Intakes, is based on National Academy of Sciences’ Dietary Reference Intakes, 1997 to 2004

Warm Grapefruit Tea

Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

All grapefruits vary in sweetness, so adjust the honey accordingly.

Ingredients

2 cups ruby red grapefruit juice (squeezed from 2 grapefruits)
2 to 4 tablespoons honey
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 teaspoon whole allspice berries

Directions

In a medium pot, combine juice, honey, cinnamon, allspice, and 1/2 cup water. Bring to a boil over high heat; strain and discard solids. Serve with a grapefruit segment or strip of zest.

Per serving: 113 calories; 1 g protein; 0 g fat; 29 g carb; 0 g fiber.

Did You Know?

Compounds called furanocoumarins present in even small amounts of grapefruit (and its juice) can significantly increase the blood levels — and side effects — of many oral prescriptions, including some choles­terol and blood pressure medications, antidepressants, antihistamines, sedatives, and estrogens. Ask your doctor about potential interactions. Researchers are working to tap into this phenomenon with the hopes that someday practitioners will be able to prescribe grapefruit along with lower doses of medication.

By Zoe Singer, Recipes by Charlyne Mattox

The Organic Center just published a State of Science Review (SSR) on the nutrient content of organic versus conventional food. We encourage you to download and read the PDF below.
New Evidence Confirms the Nutritional Superiority of Plant-Based Organic Foods.

Mercer Island children tested in yearlong study

Government promises to rid the nation’s food supply of brain-damaging pesticides aren’t doing the job, according to the results of a yearlong study that carefully monitored the diets of a group of local children.The peer-reviewed study found that the urine and saliva of children eating a variety of conventional foods from area groceries contained biological markers of organophosphates, the family of pesticides spawned by the creation of nerve gas agents in World War II.

When the same children ate organic fruits, vegetables and juices, signs of pesticides were not found.

“The transformation is extremely rapid,” said Chensheng Lu, the principal author of the study published online in the current issue of Environmental Health Perspectives.

“Once you switch from conventional food to organic, the pesticides (malathion and chlorpyrifos) that we can measure in the urine disappears. The level returns immediately when you go back to the conventional diets,” said Lu, a professor at Emory University’s School of Public Health and a leading authority on pesticides and children.

Within eight to 36 hours of the children switching to organic food, the pesticides were no longer detected in the testing.

The subjects for his testing were 21 children, ages 3 to 11, from two elementary schools and a Montessori preschool on Mercer Island.

The community has double the median national income, but the wealth of Mercer Island made no difference in the outcome, he said.

“We are confident that if we did the same study in poor communities, we would get the same results,” he said. The study is being repeated in Georgia.

The study has not yet linked the pesticide levels to specific foods, but other studies have shown peaches, apples, sweet bell peppers, nectarines, strawberries and cherries are among those that most frequently have detectable levels of pesticides.

Measuring the harm

Lu is quick to point out that there is no certainty that the pesticides measured in this group of children would cause any adverse health outcomes. However, he added that a recent animal study demonstrated that persistent cognitive impairment occurred in rats after chronic dietary exposure to chlorpyrifos.

Death or serious health problems have been documented in thousands of cases in which there were high-level exposures to malathion and chlorpyrifos. But a link between neurological impairments and repeated low-level exposure is far more difficult to determine.

“There’s a large underpinning of animal research for organophosphate pesticides, and particularly for chlorpyrifos, that points to bad outcomes in terms of effects on brain development and behavior,” Dr. Theodore Slotkin, a professor of pharmacology and cancer biology at Duke University in North Carolina, said in the April 2006 Environmental Health Perspectives.

Lu says more research must be done into the harm these pesticides may do to children, even at the low levels found on food.

“In animal and a few human studies, we know chlorpyrifos inhibits an enzyme that transmits a signal in the brain so the body can function properly. Unfortunately, that’s all we know.”

Not many chemicals, including pharmaceutical products, were designed specifically to kill mammals, which was genesis of organophosphates.

“It is appropriate to assume that if we — human beings — are exposed to (this class of) pesticides, even though it’s a low-level exposure on a daily basis, there are going to be some health concerns down the road,” said Lu, who is on the Environmental Protection Agency’s pesticide advisory panel.

The EPA says it eliminated the use of organophosphates on many crops and imposed numerous restrictions on the remaining organophosphate pesticide uses.

Congressional concern that children were being harmed by excessive exposure to pesticides led to the unanimous passage of the Food Quality Protection Act. At its heart was a requirement that by 2006, the EPA complete a comprehensive reassessment of the 9,721 pesticides permitted for use and determine the safe level of pesticide residues permitted for all food products.

“As a result, the amount of these pesticides used on kids’ foods (has undergone) a 57 percent reduction,” said Jonathan Shradar, the EPA’s spokesman.

But that’s not nearly enough to prevent birth defects and neurological problems, said Chuck Benbrook, chief scientist of the Organic Center, a nationwide, nonprofit, food research organization.

“The pesticide limits that EPA permits are far, far too high to say they’re safe. And, the reduction that EPA cites in the U.S. has been accompanied by a steady increase in pesticide-contaminated imported foods, which are capturing a growing share of the market,” he said.

Yet the EPA continues to insist that “dietary exposures from eating food crops treated with chlorpyrifos are below the level of concern for the entire U.S. population, including infants and children.”

That statement is “not supported by science,” Benbrook said.

“Given the almost daily reminders that children are suffering from an array of behavioral, learning, neurological problems, doesn’t it make sense to eliminate exposures to chemicals known to trigger such outcomes like chlorpyrifos?” he asked.

What to do

While the gut reaction of some parents might be to limit the consumption of fresh produce or switch completely to organic food, Lu cautions not to make the wrong decision.

“It is vital for children to consume significantly more fresh fruits and vegetables than is commonly the case today,” he says, citing such problems as juvenile diabetes and obesity.

“Nor is our purpose to promote the consumption of organic food, although our data clearly demonstrate that food grown organically contains far less pesticide residues.”

Lu says an all-organic diet is not necessary. He has two sons, 10 and 13, and he estimates that about 60 percent of his family’s diet is organic.

“Consumers,” he says, “should be encouraged to buy produce direct from the farmers they know. These need not be just organic farmers, but conventional growers who minimize their use of pesticides.”

Understanding how fruits and vegetables grow can help guide the consumer, he says.

For example, organic strawberries probably are worth the money because they are a tender-fleshed fruit grown close to the dirt, so more pesticides are needed to fight insects and bugs from the soil. He adds apples and spinach to his list.

“It may also be money-smart to choose conventionally grown broccoli because it has a web of leaves surrounding the florets, resulting in lower levels of pesticide residue,” Lu says.

He is greatly concerned about one finding from the study.

“Overall pesticide (marker) levels in urine samples were even higher in the winter months, suggesting children may have consumed fruits and vegetables that are imported. The government needs to ensure that imported food comply with the standards we impose on domestic produce,” he said.

Dangerous science

Chlorpyrifos, made by Dow Chemical Co., is one of the most widely used organophosphate insecticides in the United States and, many believe, the world.

For years, millions of pounds of the chemical insecticide were used in schools, homes, day care centers and public housing, and studies show that children were often exposed to enormously high doses. Just as the EPA was ready to ban the product, which analysts said would have damaged Dow’s overseas sales, the company “voluntarily” removed it from the home market. Yet, with few exceptions, the agricultural uses continued.

The EPA’s Web site is a study in contradictions when it comes to chlorpyrifos.

At one section, it “acknowledged the special susceptibility and sensitivity of children to developmental and neurological effects from exposure to chlorpyrifos.”

But in another section, the agency reports that infants and children face no risk from eating food crops treated with chlorpyrifos. However, the agency doesn’t say how it reached that conclusion. There is no agreement of how much of the neurotoxin is too much.

Benbrook said the EPA has refused orders from Congress to study the cumulative developmental risk to children from low-dose exposures.

“Perhaps we can rest assured that EPA has protected us adults from acute insecticide poisoning risk, but our kids are on their own,” Benbrook said.

Source: Seattlepi.com, Andrew Schneider

The best in Central Florida food

We’re very proud to announce that Matt McLean (a.k.a. Uncle Matt) is the recipient of Orlando Sentinel’s inaugural “Culinary Cup” award. According to the Sentinel, “Central Florida’s culinary community has been shaped and nurtured by thousands of passionate individuals. From the soil to the table, these professionals have demonstrated a commitment to quality and a vision for the future.”

We’re excited to see Matt, and Uncle Matt’s Organic, recognized for our commitment to a healthy, organic lifestyle. Thank you, Heather McPherson, and the Orlando Sentinel, for this great award!

ORLANDO, Fla. — January 23, 2008 — Central Florida’s culinary community has been shaped and nurtured by thousands of passionate individuals. From the soil to the table, these professionals have demonstrated a commitment to quality and a vision for the future.

This year the Orlando Sentinel inaugurates its Culinary Hall of Fame to recognize those who have made significant contributions to how Central Florida eats, drinks and dines. Each year we will select 10 honorees, plus spotlight trailblazers worth watching and remember those no longer with us.

Our definition of who is a culinary professional is broad. Food and beverage is a diverse industry that requires a variety of skills and interests. Our regional reputation does not rest on restaurant reviews alone. In addition to talented chefs, our achievements are reflected in exceptional work in agriculture, food manufacturing, retail stores, and health and wellness.

The class of 2008 only begins to showcase the talent and history that surround us. It includes established names such as restaurateur Manny Garcia and the Duda farming dynasty, as well as newcomers and industry insiders such as Harmoni Market’s John Gabrovic and the Orlando Brewing Co.’s John Cheek. We salute their accomplishments!

CULINARY HALL OF FAME WINNER
Matt McLean: An organic way of growing Florida citrus for future generations

Working his family’s Lake County groves as a young boy, Matt McLean swore he would never follow his father, grandfather and great-grandfather into the citrus industry. But McLean, 36, did just that.

After graduating from the University of Florida with a degree in business administration, McLean returned to Clermont and started a juice brokerage in 1993. Two years later, opportunities in the organic market piqued his interest and, in 1999, he launched Uncle Matt’s Organic orange juice.

“It’s not just a lifestyle,” says McLean. “It’s about healthy living and healthy soils. For me, it’s laying the foundation for the next generation of McLeans.”

Uncle Matt’s juice is a blend of Hamlin and Valencia oranges, without added flavor or peel oil. The Valencia orange is Florida’s most famous variety, known for its deep orange color and sweet juice. The Hamlin was a favorite of McLean’s grandfather. Uncle Matt’s products can be found in Publix and Chamberlin’s stores, and Economy Health Foods in Altamonte Springs.

By Heather McPherson, Sentinel Food Editor

The Farm Bill is something that we at OTA (Organic Trade Association) have all been passionate about, and it’s one of the reasons we lobby in Washington every year. This approval from the Senate is a great start to helping organic farmers. Read on…

WASHINGTON, D.C.  – In a 79 to 14 vote, the U.S. Senate today approved its version of the Farm Bill that included funding and direction for key organic priorities, according to Caren Wilcox, executive director of the Organic Trade Association (OTA).

“The Senate Farm Bill includes important steps to help strengthen the safety net for organic producers and manufacturers,” Wilcox said. “These measures include funding for organic research, data collection, and transition to organic production, as well as eliminating the crop insurance premium for organic producers.” Currently, organic producers must pay a 5% surcharge for crop insurance; yet, in times of loss, the producers receive not the usually higher organic crop price, but the lower conventional price.

The Senate version of the Farm Bill:
· recognizes that increased funding is essential for the National Organic Program at the U.S. Department of Agriculture at the full authorized level;

· includes $5 million for organic data collection to help provide better price and yield information for organically-grown crops;

· includes $22 million in new money for certification cost share to aid organic farmers;

· bars USDA from charging a premium surcharge on organic crop insurance, unless validated by loss history on a crop-by-crop basis;

· adds organic production as an eligible activity in the Environmental Quality Incentives Program;

· adds to the Soil and Water Conservation Protection Loans a priority for those converting to organic farming practices and adds conversion to organic production as an eligible loan purpose;

· provides $80 million over the life of the bill for organic agriculture research and extension, and

· includes a sense of the Senate resolution that funding for organic research should be commensurate with organic agriculture’s share of the market, currently about 3 percent.

“We in the organic community appreciate all the support we have received for our priorities in the Senate. Thank you to Chairman Harkin, Senator Leahy, who led efforts to create a national organic program, and Senator Chambliss. With their leadership and interest, organic agriculture and processing will have access to the many federal programs typically reserved for non-organic production and processing.” Wilcox said.

#1 Get off to a clean start: Take a shower with soaps and shampoos made with organic ingredients. Then, serve someone special an organic breakfast in bed with certified organic juice, coffee, fresh fruit, cereal, yogurt and eggs. (All items available nationally at natural & conventional supermarkets.)

#2 Create a celebratory meal that’s as close to 100% organic as possible. Invite friends and family to enjoy and help cook. It can be an organic picnic, pizza party, barbecue or high tea!

#3 Volunteer or make a donation to support organic gardening programs in your community, through schools, social service agencies, etc.

#4 Building healthy soil is a key tenet of organic farming. A great way to guarantee rich, organic soil is to start composting! City dwellers can compost at your neighborhood community garden. What’s composting, you say? Contact your local library or Cooperative Extension office for composting information.

#5 Be a big “softie” and treat yourself (or someone special) to a pair of 100% organic cotton socks or anything made with snuggly organic fleece. Studies have shown that in the U.S., it takes about one-third of a pound of chemicals to grow enough non-organic cotton for one T-shirt.

#6 Treat yourself to organic indulgences: Nibble on an organic chocolate bar, lick an organic ice cream or frozen yogurt bar, or scoop up succulent organic sorbet. Fill your candy jar at home with organic snacks or cookies.

#7 Bring an organic treat to the office to share with co-workers or to send with your children to school. Certified organic raisins, cheese, nuts, fruits, chips and crackers are just some of the possibilities.

#8 Remember your Pooch! Give your furry friend an organic dog wash and treat him or her to an organic doggie biscuit.

#9 Raise a toast to organic! Whether you enjoy a glass of organic wine, lemonade, Uncle Matt’s organic juice, or tomato juice, there are numerous organic libations and refreshments to wet your whistle.

#10 Slumber soundly and organically sip organic chamomile tea and slip under your organic cotton sheets.

Research at Washington State University supported by The Organic Center has led to the first-ever assessment of the bioavailability of the chiral flavonoids hesperetin, naringenin, and eriodictyol — important antioxidants in citrus fruits and juices.  Dr. Neal Davies leads the research team at WSU.

Using sensitive techniques, they measured the levels of  three flavonoids and their enantiomers in conventional and organic fruit and tomato juices, and for the first time ever, quantified both the glycoside (molecule with attached sugars) and agylcone (molecule stripped of sugars) forms of the enantiomers of these three flavonoids. Organic lemonade had ten-times the total eriocitrin (glycoside form of eriodictyol) compared to conventional lemonade, and the agylcone form had over three-times the level in conventional juice.

Organic lime juice also had three-times the level of eriocitrin, compared to conventional lime juice. Organic apple juice had over three times the total hesperidin (glycoside), and almost twice the hesperetin (agylcone form). Organic grapefruit juice had about 20% less total hesperidin (glycoside), but 77% more hesperetin (agylcone).  The importance of measuring both the glycoside and agylcone form of flavonoids (and other nutrients) is clear in the grapefruit juice findings.

Based on the data for just the glycoside form of hesperidin, it would appear that conventional grapefruit juice contains more of this flavonoid than the organic juice that was tested.  But by focusing on the more bioavailable agylcone form, the opposite conclusion would be reached.

Source: J.A. Yanez et al., “Pharmacokinetics of Selceted Chiral Flavonoids: Hesperetin, Naringenin, and Eriodictyol in Rats and their Content in Fruit Juices,” Biopharmaceutics  Drug Disposition, Vol. 29, pp. 63-82, September 2007

Give the gift of good health! Our organic citrus, packed fresh and delivered to your friends and family, is the perfect holiday treat. Choose from navels, tangerines, grapefruit or hamlin oranges. All are USDA certified organic and are Florida grown.

For more information about our gift fruit or to order online, please visit www.organicgiftfruit.com.

Enjoy and Happy Holidays from Uncle Matt’s!

Fans of eating organic have always believed that organic fruits and vegetables packed a bigger nutritional punch than conventionally grown produce.

But until pretty recently, hard scientific evidence has been lacking.

Studies that seemed to prove the theory often turned out to be poorly designed - the organic and conventional crops weren’t grown in the same area or weren’t the same variety, for example. Or the samples were too small, the studies too short or they were flawed in some other way, according to food chemist Alyson Mitchell, an associate professor in the Department of Food, Science and Technology at UC Davis.

Mitchell says it was just a few years back that her own studies that found higher nutrient levels in organic crops were dismissed as nothing more than wishful thinking, no matter how well done the science was.

Now, though, the scientific fulcrum is swinging. It seems like a week doesn’t go by without a headline from university researchers somewhere in the world who have shown that organic tomatoes, corn, or some other fruits and vegetables contain more nutrients, especially when it comes to vitamin C and other antioxidants.

“There’s definitely a trend,” Mitchell says.

Just this year, three European studies have reported the benefits of organic crops, including peaches in France and apples in Poland.

The biggest was a four-year European Union-funded study of organic and conventional crops grown in side-by-side plots on 725 acres near Newcastle University, in the United Kingdom. The study showed levels of antioxidants 20 to 40 percent higher in organic wheat, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage and lettuce, according to news reports.

Also making headlines was a 10-year study by a UC Davis team led by Mitchell, which looked at dried tomato samples collected over 10 years from side-by-side organic and conventionally farmed plots just west of the university. The results, published in the Journal of Agricultural Food Chemistry, were dramatic: The organic tomatoes contained 79 percent more of one antioxidant, and 97 percent more of another.

Another UC Davis study this year showed similar results for polyphenols (the antioxidants in red wine and blueberries), vitamin C (an important antioxidant) and some minerals in organically grown kiwi as compared with conventional fruit. Earlier research showed similar results for marionberries, strawberries and corn.

Mitchell says her team’s review of studies since 2000 shows that research techniques have improved, and that the “better studies demonstrate a trend of higher levels of flavonoids (one type of antioxidant) and vitamins in fruits and vegetables.”

Results seem to vary widely in the size of any organic benefit - or whether there is a benefit at all. Mitchell’s team spent three years looking at solids (a reflection of sugar) and antioxidants in fresh tomatoes and bell peppers. The organic tomatoes had higher levels of both solids and antioxidants than the conventional, but the bell peppers showed no differences, Mitchell said.

She’s looking at spinach now, curious if a leaf will show the same results as a fruit.

The trend would seem to be great news for shoppers. It should mean that consumers are getting a nutritional bonus when they ante up the extra for organic, along with avoiding pesticides and contributing to a cleaner environment.

“No,” says Mitchell. It’s just not that simple.

You can’t just figure you’re getting more nutrients by buying organic tomatoes instead of conventional, she says.

Where the tomatoes were grown, what kind of tomatoes they are, how ripe they were when they were picked, if they were kept cool or not, and how long they’ve been in the store all affect nutrient levels.

“Variety is critically important,” Mitchell says. Different varieties of tomatoes grown in the same area, in the same way, with the same handling and same amount of time on the shelf, will still vary in their nutrient levels simply based on their variety.

“The consumer doesn’t have a clue, except for apples, what variety they’re buying,” Mitchell says. Yellow onions, for example, can be a dozen different varieties throughout the year.

UC Davis scientists have done any number of “market basket” studies - comparing store-bought fruits and vegetables - and “they’ve all failed miserably,” says Mitchell. “It’s very depressing.”

A two-year study of market broccoli will never be published, she says, because good research proved impossible. “How do you make a comparison when the conventional broccoli is on ice and the organic isn’t?”

Processing adds another wrinkle. Mitchell’s team studied 10 tomato-based pasta sauces, half organic, half not, and “we saw really no difference.” If the organic tomatoes had more nutrients to start with, the extra had disappeared by the time they hit the jar.

“I think we’re losing a lot of nutrition in processed foods,” she says.

When it comes to variety, whether it’s corn, tomatoes or peaches, modern commercial crops have been bred for high yield, resistance to disease, long shelf life, uniform size and an attractive appearance - anything but taste, or nutrition.

Mitchell says her recent tomato study showed that organic farming methods themselves - using manure and compost instead of synthetic nitrogen fertilizers - not only built healthier soil but pushed plants to produce more of their defense mechanisms, which are often antioxidants.

None of the recent research has been enough to get the U.S. Department of Agriculture to reconsider its stance that organic has nothing to do with nutrition. However, its counterpart in the United Kingdom, the Food Standards Agency, is taking another look at its official neutrality on the subject, according to the British press.

Nutritionist Marion Nestle, professor at New York University and author of “What to Eat,” (North Point Press, 2006), says, “I’m still skeptical - though there are so many reasons to buy organic.” Among the reasons: much lower pesticide residues and healthier land.

Organic versus conventional produce is such a hot research topic, and the financial stakes are so high on both sides that this debate will only intensify.

Mitchell, for her part, says, “What I’d like to tell everyone is to grow food when you can, support local farm systems when you can, try to buy organic and, whatever you do, buy fresh and cook it yourself.”

The 2007 study compared eggs from 14 pastured flocks around the country with USDA nutritional data for commercial eggs.

The results, according to Mother Earth News: Eggs from chickens that roamed freely outdoors and augmented their grain feed with grasses and bugs had twice the omega-3 fatty acids, three times more vitamin E, seven times more beta-carotene (an antioxidant), one-third less cholesterol and one-fourth less saturated fat.

The new study was a follow-up to a smaller one done in 2005, which showed similar results.

To learn more

Among the many places to find information about the nutritional comparisons of organic versus conventional fruits and vegetables, here are a few relevant to the accompanying story:

UC Davis studies: Both the 3- and 10-year studies done by Alyson Mitchell’s UC Davis team can be found by searching pubs.acs.org (abstracts are free; full studies require subscription).

Organic Center: This science-based pro-organic organization gathers information on studies worldwide that compare organic crops, milk and meat favorably with conventional. Search “state of science” section at organic-center.org.

Soil Association: Search soilassociation.org to find information collected by Great Britain’s leading organic certifier.

Mother Earth News: motherearthnews.com.

- Carol Ness