Myth Buster: Is Organic Food Better for You?

Myth: Organic fruits and vegetables are more nutritious.

Facts: First, let’s start with the basics: What exactly does “organic” mean, anyway? Organic is a popular word that seems to be tossed about freely in the produce aisles of upmarket grocery stores, but its usage is strictly defined. As of 2002, any fruit or vegetable labeled organic or bearing the USDA organic seal must be grown by a farmer whose agricultural practices meet the government’s National Organic Program standards. Broadly, those regulations prohibit the use of most synthetic pesticides, fertilizers made from petroleum or sewage sludge, and genetic engineering.

But not one of those rules says that organic fruits and veggies must be more nutritious than their conventionally grown counterparts.

“What we do,” says Billy Cox, a spokesperson for the National Organic Program, “is certify operations to make sure they are eligible to grow organic products.” In other words, a label that says organic tells you a lot about how a piece of produce, say a strawberry or a tomato, was grown—but nothing about its nutritive value.

Researchers are comparing organic and conventionally grown produce like strawberries and tomatoes in search of nutritional differences, but for the moment, there’s much more work to be done. If you want to ramp up your nutrition, experts agree, just eat more fruits and vegetables, especially fresh ones. By and large, they’re all nutritional powerhouses.

And if you’re determined to get the most bang for your produce bite, go for color, says Bhimu Patil, director of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M University. In plants, colors often reflect the presence of healthful phytochemicals. “A white onion is good for you, but red and yellow onions are a little bit better,” Patil says.

Beth Goulart is a journalist based in Austin, Texas.