MARKET WATCH COLUMNIST
Is Organic Any Healthier?” Ellis Henican Sunday Column, Newsday, August 2, 2009
Are shoppers demanding refunds at the greenmarket?
Not yet. But wait.
Over the past 15 years, the organic grocery business has gone from quirky outlier to “Do you love your family or not?” Across the country and around the world, millions pay extra at the checkout counter for what is billed as organic food.
No one could ever say for certain that foods grown the natural way – no potent pesticides, no God-knows-what-else – were actually any better for your health. But the claim seemed logical – and why take a chance? You really want all those agri-poisons romping inside you?
But now a major British study threatens to undermine the $48-billion global market in organic fruit, vegetables, dairy and meat. Is that a gasp I hear at Whole Foods?
The lead author sounds unequivocal.
“We wanted to answer the question, ‘Is there any evidence that organic food is nutritionally superior to conventionally grown food?’ ” said Alan Dangour of the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, whose research includes a “systematic review” of 162 scientific papers over the last 50 years. “The answer is no. Organic food is not nutritionally superior to conventional food.”
Already the defenders of organic are firing back. “Junk science,” they claim.
That debate will not be settled tomorrow. It may never be resolved.
But this much is undeniably – and unnaturally – clear: Another of the simple verities has been questioned now.
And what comes next?
What if all the things we thought we knew turn out to be wrong?
ORGANIC OR NOT
1. Junior Lohans’ DJ’ing talent
2. Unauthorized taxi parking spots
3. Rudy’s Albany dreams
4. A summer that doesn’t feel like one
5. Exhausted “clunker” cash
PAYING RETAIL: It’s not the newest mall – or the snazziest. But Queens Center, with its trusty Macy’s and J.C. Penney, is still a gold-plated cash cow. We’re talking $876 in annual sales per square foot, 2 1/2 times the industry average. That impressive stat emerges as owner Macerich Co. sells 49 percent of QC to the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan for $150 million plus some debt. Lesson learned?
SOCIALIZE:Facebook and Twitter helped elect Barack Obama. Can they actually help the Net-prez govern? Juliette Powell, author of “33 Million People in the Room,” says, “Absolutely.” She’ll reveal all on Thursday night at an NYC meet-the-visionary event sponsored by Old Beth-page-based Sobel Media. Details at sobelmedia.com.
ASKED AND UNANSWERED: Why stop with a White House beer summit? Who’s up for a North Fork wine confab? . . . If alleged wedding profiteer (and Brookhaven Town clerk) Pamela Betheil “did nothing wrong,” as her lawyer’s insisting, why’d she just return $10,000 in overcharges to newlyweds she’s accused of gouging? . . . What made Jimmy Buffett, on stage at The Stephen Talkhouse with Ilo Ferreira, trade his just-opened Red Stripe beer for a Land Shark? Obsessive Parrotheads think they know why . . . The autopsy didn’t say. So will the toxicology report explain why a seemingly healthy 36-year-old West Babylon mom would drive the wrong way on the Taconic? “We may never know” is just not adequate . . . Do state prison libraries charge overdue-book fines? Is talking allowed in the stacks? From now on, admitted extortionist and former Roosevelt library prez Natalie Connor may want to pay extra-close attention to all library rules . . . When the folks at Brooklyn’s Transit Museum decided to name their LIRR-at-175 exhibit “The Route of the Dashing Commuter,” which meaning of “dashing” was top of mind? Back in the 1830s, riders wore some pretty spiffy hats . . . How tough could five miles be? Want to find out? Monday, 7 p.m., Jones Beach Parking Field 5, at the New State Park Summer Series Race . . . How did Plaxico Burress get the Glock up from Florida? The pistol-packing Giant didn’t violate anyone else’s gun laws, did he? . . . “NH Sportswriter Allegedly Ran Prostitution Ring”: Didn’t I tell you journalists should be better paid?
E-mail ellis@henican.comFollow at twitter.com/henican
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