Box 1. Box 1 Confusion of principles

Organic proponents assert that better plants are produced from minerals derived from manure breakdown, so that organic food is superior and improves human health. Hundreds of rigorous tests have failed to reveal better-tasting properties or improved nutritional value, but have consistently shown that organic produce has lower nitrate and protein content¹⁶. Conventionally farmed food seems to be better for children¹⁷, although rodents apparently favour organic food¹⁶. Overall cancer rates have dropped 15% during the era of synthetic pesticide use. Stomach cancer rates have dropped 50–60%, probably an effect of plentiful, cheap conventional fruit and vegetables¹⁸. But this may not be the whole story, because food mycotoxins from contaminating fungi (which can be controlled by specific fungicides) definitely contribute to European cancer rates — fumonisin and patulin are both reported to be higher in organic products^{19, 20}, and failure to use effective fungicides on organic farms has led to these farms acting as repositories of disease^{21, 22}. Organic farms may be protected from the full effects of disease outbreak because they are surrounded by conventional farms using proper fungicides.