Organic Farmers Hit Back Over Health Claims

THE organic farming community fought back yesterday against claims their produce is no healthier than food grown by other methods. David Miliband, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has claimed there is no conclusive evidence that organic food is better than products grown conventionally.

His comments came as a blow to the organic food industry, which is keen to obtain official recognition of the nutritional and environmental benefits which it ascribes to chemical-free farming.

Liz Lawrence, from the website faceofflowers.com, which specialises in organic produce, said: “Organic produce is the only legally guaranteed food that you know what you’re getting. You know there’s no chemicals in there.

“To sell organic produce, you have to be registered and you’re inspected very thoroughly.”

Robin Maynard, Campaigns Director for the Soil Association, said: “It has been shown that there is a difference between food produced organically and that using industrial methods.”

He admitted there was a lack of studies showing how organic food could be healthier, but said research had shown higher levels of Vitamin C in organic produce, and recent research into organic milk had proved it contained higher levels of Omega 3.

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