Agriculture

Flaws in the "Organic Food" Study

Philip Proefrock

Last month there was a great deal of media attention paid to a study about organic food (Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review), which was widely cited for concluding that "[there is no] evidence that organic foods are significantly more nutritious than conventional foods." But the study is more spin than significant science.

A critique of the study in the New York Times by columnist and food writer Mark Bittman points out the weaknesses and oversimplifications in the study that have been used to "debunk" organic food based on criteria that are significantly immaterial to the organic label.

Bittman says of the study, "[it] was like declaring guns no more dangerous than baseball bats when it comes to blunt-object head injuries. It was the equivalent of comparing milk and Elmer’s glue on the basis of whiteness. It did, in short, miss the point." The other half of the conclusion of the study, "Consumption of organic foods may reduce exposure to pesticide residues and antibiotic-resistant bacteria," was much more overlooked.

Organic food has never been about some perception of super-food with extra nutritional value, except perhaps to those who don't understand organic in the first place. But this study was so narrow in its definitiion of "nutritious" (which was taken to mean "containing more vitamins") that, as Bittman points out, "you can claim that, based on nutrients, Frosted Flakes are a better choice than an apple."

The benefits of organic farming are numerous, and are far beyond relative comparison of the amount of some vitamin content. Not only are there potential individual benefits (the aforementioned reduced exposure to pesticide residue and so forth), but contributing to such broader environmental benefits as reduced pesticide use and more sustainable farming practices are also worthwhile goals.

image: CC BY-SA 3.0 by Ragesoss

via: NY Times (apologies; this may be behind their paywall)

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SciShow: Lab Grown Meat

Philip Proefrock

At present, the only option for those who believe that killing animals to eat them is wrong is to only eat vegetables. And those who like eating meat but are concerned about the environmental consequences of animal farming also may be looking for other options.

Last week on Sci Show, Hank featured the topic of lab-grown meat as an alternative to raising animals and killing them for food.

Early work on making synthetic meat has produced some small samples, but it is still years from being a fully developed technology capable of producing affordable, commercially viable (inevitable pun) products. And, as Hank asks, what should it be called?

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SciShow: The Dark Lord of Nutrition

Philip Proefrock

US agricultural policy provides billions of dollars of subsidies to corn farmers every year, which helps to support the industries that produce ethanol for fuel and corn syrup for sweetening (among many other products).

In this week's Sci Show, Hank looks at high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) - the new "dark lord of nutrition" - and the controversies around its increased use as a sweetener in many of the processed foods. Some studies have indicated that HFCS may be linked to increased obesity.

But HFCS is pretty similar to "regular" cane sugar or table sugar, and other studies are less conclusive about the negative effects. Watch this episode for some further information on the ambiguities around all the claims being made about this sometimes controversial food product and the American diet.

Reference information from this episode is posted in this Google Doc.

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Warmer Temperatures Will Slash Wheat Yields

Megan Treacy

Rising temperatures around the world are affecting many food crops and according to a new study done by a Stanford University scientist, wheat will be particularly vulnerable.

David Lobell looked at nine years-worth of images captured by the MODIS Earth-observation satellite to analyze the growing season of wheat in the Ganges plain of India. What he found was that in the years with higher average temperatures, the wheat fields turned brown earlier meaning that they were no longer growing.

Previous studies have predicted that wheat yields would fall by about 30 percent by 2050 in places like India, but Lobell thinks that realistic yield losses could be about 50 percent greater than existing models show. That's a scary figure since other studies have shown a need for wheat yields to increase by 50 percent in order to feed a growing global population.

One solution is breeding for wheat plants that have bigger roots and are less stressed by dryer and warmer conditions. Another option is to breed for plants that are slower growing and can be planted earlier in the season. That way the wheat could be harvested before the high spring temperatures while retaining its hardiness. Scientists are already working on these solutions, but either approach will need to have a breakthrough soon to keep up with growing demand and warming temperatures.

via New Scientist

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Miracle Rice Uses Less Water to Grow, Emits Less Methane

Megan Treacy

A new type of rice being cultivated by the University of Agricultural Sciences in Bangalore, India has many advantages over typical rice varieties -- it requires less water to grow, it's higher in protein and it emits less methane over its life cycle.

This rice, which is not genetically modified but a hybrid crop, uses 60 percent less water than conventional rice crops. It only needs to be watered once a week even in arid climates and can go as long as 15 days without water.

From a nutritional standpoint, the rice has 14 to 15 percent protein compared to seven to eight percent in conventional rice. It also can be harvested more quickly with a similar yield to conventional rice, making it ideal for feeding the world's growing population.

So far, only about five percent of rice fields are using this new type of cultivation, but researchers are hopeful that as word spreads about this approach to rice, it will spread to more areas.

via DNA India

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