The Idea of an Essay, Volume 3

166 The Idea of an Essay: Volume 3 Smith-Spangler et al. (2012) found many studies related to their thesis: “the health benefits for organic food is unclear” with their purpose to clarify the health benefits between conventional and organic food. With a professional librarian, they conducted their research attaining articles from seven different databases all subject to a specific criteria. Their sources compared the nutrients of organic and conventional foods, and a few dealt with the affect that this has on humans. Once they obtained their sources, they conducted a meta-analysis observing the differences. After sharing their results they state: “Despite the widespread perception that organically produced foods are more nutritious than conventional alternatives, we did not find robust evidence to support this perception” (Smith- Spangler et al., 2012). Their research did indicate a few differences in nutrition. For example, the phosphorus level present in organic agriculture was higher than those produced conventionally. They refer to the Food and Nutrition Board claiming that even though the difference in phosphorus is present, it is not significant since a person needs to be dying of starvation before producing “dietary phosphorus deficiency” (Smith-Spangler et al., p. 357-358, 2012). Another difference found was the amount of omega-3 fatty acids and phenols. While both of these are beneficial, Smith-Spangler et al. were concerned about the methods the studies looking at these and state: “funnel plots were asymmetric raising concern for publication bias.” Also, the results of the studies looking at omega-3 fatty acids were “highly heterogeneous” –diverse and dissimilar with not many patterns arising –since most of the studies were conducted within a short period of time. Therefore, they were careful to come to any conclusions in regards to omega-3 fatty acids and phenols. Organic milk was the only conclusive evidence found to support the notion of organic health benefits. They referred to the meta-analysis by Palupi, Jayanegera, Ploeger, and Kahl, which compared nutritional quality of dairy. The other seemingly random nutrition differences found were not statistically significant enough to include in their discussion (Smith-Spangler et al., p. 357-358, 2012). Smith-Spangler et al. also indicated a notary finding in their study, “Conventional produce has a 30% higher risk of pesticide contamination than organic produce” (p. 357, 2012). However, they state that this is not clinically significant as the pesticide residue allowed is very small, so the residual pesticides and chemicals