Is organic food really healthy?

We all hear about organic food and its benefits to our health and the environment. In recent years, large retail brands have been focusing on natural foods and products to meet the increasing demands of consumers.

We are constantly bombarded with advertisements presenting organic products as the best for our health and the environment, in which we see happy people walking in pristine nature. We are surrounded by green-colored labels, with images of open spaces and amid nature, animals with smiling faces urging us to consume foods over others just because they are labeled as "organic" and sustainable.

In fact, marketing, and advertising, present us with organic as the only good and acceptable product and entice us to buy one food rather than another just because, precisely, it is organic and natural.

But is organic food good for us or not? Are we really talking about organic or just about greenwashing, window-dressing environmentalism?

As with all things, there is no right and wrong answer; the truth lies somewhere in between. Organic food, as well as all organic products, should be almost free of pesticides and pollutants but come to think of it even if a company is serious and strictly follows the rules, a risk of food pollution still exists.

This is because there may be a non-organic field or a particularly large city nearby, and that's when pollutant particles can be deposited on organic soil as well.

In addition, complying with the rules in the organic field is very expensive for the producing companies and often the final price offered to consumers is very high, for many almost unapproachable. However, nearly 16 percent of GDP is spent on organic products, a figure that indicates that consumers trust those in the organic field and like to think they have lent a hand to the planet.

The good alliance," reads the website of the Italian Association for Organic Agriculture, "is the one between farmers and consumers, which is necessary to have an agriculture that produces good, healthy, and environmentally friendly food. To achieve it, it is important to plan and promote conscious production and consumption. One of the founding goals is to affect market choices, thereby allowing the social values underlying agricultural development to be a common good."

Unfortunately, despite the increased popularity of these products, the information coming in about them is often still confusing, and many people still wonder what the advantages and disadvantages are for organic food.

As already mentioned, organic food has very strict rules to follow, it must not use GMOs or even pesticides or any kind of herbicides, but the reality is not always like that, and it often happens that behind a "organic" label there is a good scam. It is not all gold that glitters, just as it is not all organic that is labeled as such.

In theory, organic farms differ from conventional ones in that antibiotics and other drugs are not used and animals are put in a position to live a dignified life, being able to graze outdoors and so on.

In addition, organic crops do not pollute the environment; water, soil and air remain clean and we can leave a better world for future generations. Ancient grains should be rewarded, respect for biodiversity, slow drying in pasta production, and anything that helps the environment and our health.

In any case, organic is a sector that is being rewarded by consumers, in fact the latest ISMEA report tells us that spending to buy organic food has touched 3.3 billion euros and has grown by 4.4 percent in the last year. When we read organic on the label we almost think that product is better healthier, ethical, respectful of nature and this drives consumers to buy.

In conclusion, we can say that buying organic is fine and advisable if we care about our health and that of the planet. However, we should always be very careful about fake certification and adulteration.

Translated by Denise Praticò.