Q: Buying organic can get expensive. Does the higher price tag come with health benefits?
Autumn is in full swing, which means supermarket produce sections are ripe with the finest late-season fruits and vegetables — like apples, leafy greens and winter squash — and often pricier organic versions of each.
If buying organic isn’t in your budget this fall, experts say not to worry, as you’re likely to get the same nutritional benefits from conventional foods. More important, they added, is that you follow a healthful diet with plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Why are organic foods more expensive?
The Department of Agriculture sets stringent guidelines for organic food producers. Certified organic produce, for instance, must be grown without the use of most synthetic pesticides and herbicides. And animal products such as meat, poultry, dairy and eggs must come from animals given year-round access to the outdoors and raised without growth hormones or antibiotics. Organic products can’t use genetic engineering, either.
One reason organic foods can be more expensive than their conventional counterparts is that producing them without synthetic pesticides or herbicides requires more labor, said Sean Svette, a dietitian and director of the nutrition and dietetics program at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs.
An organic farmer who doesn’t use a powerful weed-killing herbicide, for instance, may need to hire more workers to remove the weeds.
Do higher costs mean more nutrients?
With macronutrients like protein, carbohydrates and fat, there are no differences between organic and nonorganic foods, said Lizzy Davis, an assistant professor of nutrition sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.