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  • Book Review
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Toppling the organic house of cards

Nature Biotechnology volume 25, pages 522–523 (2007)Cite this article

The Truth About Organic Foods

  • Alex Avery
Henderson Communications, 2006 230 pp, paperback, $19.95 ISBN 978-0978895204 | ISBN: 978-0-9788-9520-4

Alex Avery's controversial The Truth About Organic Foods begins by reminding us that the roots of organic agriculture are deeply embedded in occult and Romantic mysticism. Rudolf Steiner (“When I eat roots, their minerals go up into my head. When I eat salad greens, their forces go to my chest, lungs and heart—not their fats, but the forces from their fats.”) and J.I. Rodale (“Old farmers who remember how their grandfathers grew crops...will tell you of the fine crops and very little plant and animal disease and insect depredation.”) are the best-known organic pioneers of the 20th century, but modern consumers have driven the double-digit growth of the industry in recent years with more pragmatic concerns about chemical pesticides on the conventional farm and preservatives in processed food. Today's organic industry attracts its chemophobic clientele with bucolic images of fresh, nutritious foods devoid of chemicals, grown on small farms in an environmentally sustainable manner by local organic farmers. We are whisked back to a gentler time when life was good and foods were entirely natural, with no chemicals, no pesticides, no GMOs, no massive corporate farms and no multinational retailers.

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References

  1. Foster, C. et al. Environmental impacts of food production and consumption. A report to the Department for Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFRA). Manchester Business School (2006). <http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/project_data/ DocumentLibrary/EV02007/EV02007_4601_FRP.pdf>.

  2. Food Standards Agency. More contaminated maize meal withdrawn from sale. (2003). <http://www.food.gov.uk/news/newsarchive/2003/sep/moremaize>.

  3. Adelman, J. Farm practices target of food safety concerns. The Associated Press (March 20, 2007).

  4. Anonymous. Dirty birds: even 'premium' chickens harbor dangerous bacteria. Consumer Reports 72, 20 (January 2007).

  5. Cloud, J. Eating better than organic. Time (March 2, 2007).

  6. Downey, M. Does organic mean healthier? And is it worth the money? Reader's Digest (Canada) 59–63 (March 2007).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alan McHughen is in the Department of Botany & Plant Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, California 92521-0124, USA. alanmc@ucr.edu,

    Alan McHughen

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  1. Alan McHughen
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McHughen, A. Toppling the organic house of cards. Nat Biotechnol 25, 522–523 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1038/nbt0507-522

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