Consumers are buying more organic food than ever before, spending the extra dollars to eat healthy. According to The Organic Trade Association, sales of organic food totaled $29.3 billion in 2011. But a recent report from Stanford University found that organic food may not be worth the extra cost.
The Stanford scientists studied 40 years worth of research comparing organic and conventional foods and found that organic fruits and vegetables on average were not more nutritious.
The researchers did find, however, that organic foods reduced consumers' exposure to pesticides and antibiotics. Organic foods are grown without pesticides and organic poultry and beef are not fed antibiotics.
Walter Robb, co-CEO of Whole Foods (which sells lots of organic food), disagrees with the Stanford study, and not just because of his job. He tells The Daily Ticker, "I've been an organic gardener all my life…and I can see..the vitality of the food from my own experience of raising vegetables."
