organic eating has increased in popularity over the past few years. whole foods markets have been opening their doors in new locations across the country. organic food has become a 35 billion dollar industry. i know that there's criticism out there for people that do eat organic. some people think it's just a hype but for me i think it's better for my body and better for the environment. so that's why i choose organic. as popular as organic has become it still faces much criticism from outsiders. but are those criticisms unwarranted, ignorant or just opinions? we'll delve more into the matter today on this edition of equal time.

a lot of fluff and connotations surround the word organic. but what is organic really? what is organic agriculture or organic food? kato guzman bites into the topic. organic eating has become a culture a lifestyle. as science brings our food further into the world of genetics and modification some people find themselves preferring natural alternatives to typical store bought food. but what is organic really? in order to get the coveted organic logo from the united states department of agriculture or usda, farmers must follow a three year process. it takes like probably like two years to certify but we don't, we in the process you don't pesticide that food.

so it takes they go and they check the land and they check the food and then they certify us for it. this is the usda definition of organic. organic agriculture produces products that use certain methods of production that preserve the environment and avoid synthetic materials. this includes avoiding pesticides during the growing of crops, supporting animal health and welfare and preserving nature and biodiversity. several steps are necessary in order to become certified organic. first the farmer submits the application to the usda. a certifying agent looks over the application which includes a list of farming methods used and details about the farm. the agent then physically inspects the farm on site. after that an annual check up ensures the farms are maintaining organic standards. it takes long, it takes a lot of water, it takes a lot of process and its kind of hard but at least a lot of people

buy it. many farmers markets feature locally grown organic fruit and vegetables. but without preservatives organic foods have a shorter shelf life. gmo is genetically modified organisms so foods that have been i guess genetically modified baotran lai-nguyen is a recent graduate in biology from san jose state university she works as a lab analyst at a chemical company. well, i've learned in class there's debate on whether gmos are good for you or doesn't cause any harm but i haven't really found any study that has sound proof that it's bad for you but i just fee l safer just not eating it at all. when we come back we'll take a closer look into the organic culture and examine whether organic food is worth the extra cost.

welcome back. now that we know what organic is and we've heard a little bit about the concept let's take a closer look at a few people that believe wholeheartedly in the organic lifestyle, and a few that think organic is hype and no bite. once again kato guzman. organic eating carries all sorts of baggage. some consumers complain that prices are a rip-off and call the industry a scam. others associate the condescension of hipsters and yuppies with all organics and some just don't care about what they eat. so when i hear about people talking about organic food it kinda makes me think of like hippies or hipsters in the sense where it's kind of like they think, ive been at whole foods. i worked there for a bit. i feel like, it seems like those people that are there, majority of the times it seems like they're,

they feel like they're a higher level than other people that dont eat organic. however, not everybody fits the stereotype of the organic eater. bao tran lai-nguyen tries to eat organic but doesn't consider herself a food snob. i haven't been criticized to my face about eating organic but i know that there's criticism out there for people that do eat organic. some people think it's just a hype but for me i think it's better for my body, better for the environment. so thats why i choose organic so i dont really mind what people say. no study from either side of the organic argument definitively proves a difference in health benefits. the studies have proven only that the nutrition in the organic food is the same as the nutrition in non-organic food. like fruits and vegetables and stuff aren't really proven to have any difference nutritionally from like normal farming products that is a lot more eco-friendly. but the question is not

whether the nutritional value is different. the question is how bad the pesticides are for the people consuming them. if there was a study that came out proving that fruits that are not organic has not much of a harm on your body. i would still choose organic in the aspect that it helps our environment. it's better for it. it doesn't deplete our soil. it doesn't produce toxic load and the farmers don't get harmed by having to pick and spray pesticides everyday. so i would support organic still although certain chemicals are approved for use with food. some consumers fear that the potential risks are too far down the road to be detectable now. yeah i do watch what my kid eats but i try not to give him too much sugar and i don't know too much about gmos but i think if the government lets it happen then i feed that to my kid. i eat basically fast food everyday, microwave dinners almost every day. there are times i will cook for myself . the biggest criticism with organic eating is

the cost. many consider the added expense not worth it. but how much more is organic really? if i have you know spare money maybe i'll do organic but most likely not. i'll be at safeway since it's more convenient. right next to me i wouldn't say its cheaper than conventional shopping. but i think there's ways around it. buying in bulk you go to costco you could buy like a big tub of grapes for 7 dollars. so you migh think 7 dollars is a lot for grapes but you get what you pay for. nutrition students here at san jose state learn that there is not enough science to determine which is best between organic or non organic. ultimately what is important is nutritious versus non nutritious. in class students are taught that too many people pay too little attention to what they eat. people who think about what they are putting into their body are obviously thinking about what the product is vs. people who don't really go to the store and like look at the nutrition label and things like that. they're... i think the people who

go and like specifically look for certain things are more inclined to eat better. of course to some people food is food to me. when we come back we will chew on the topic. a conversation about organic eating. welcome back to this edition of equal time from the brand new high definition television suite in the school of journalism and mass communications at san jose state. today our topic is organic eating. let's meet our guests. hi there my name is erick truong and i am a graduate student with comparative literature, and i also partake in organic eating . hi my name is dr marjorie freedman and i'm a professor in the department of nutrition science & packaging here at san jose state. thank you all for being here today . you know this is a golden opportunity to identify one: what does it mean

organic food? we see it all over our stores. we talk about it. and what's the value ? a?nd is it healthy ? all the different questions. let's start dr freedman . you are a resident expert. what does it mean when we label something organic ? you know i'm glad you asked that bob because the consumer is very confused . however the us department of agriculture has very specific regulations that must be followed before food receives a seal . the usda seal the green seal that says organic and if you look at the at the usda website you will see some of these criteria that must be met at all farms for example that are selling organic produce must be inspected to meet the specified criteria. but isn't all things are grown produce coming out of the ground so what differentiates again that's where the consumer was confused because an organic

by definition anything that has carbon is considered organic as containing carbon however the usda says in order to be organic for example you you cannot use petroleum based pesticides or you can not irrigate your land with treated waste water sewage sludge that has been treated of course . we're not putting raw sewage into the field so people again get confused by that. this also extends to um the way that you treat animals um whether you feed them organic you know pasture or any other type of food, whether they are allowed to just walk around and free range as opposed to incaged. you know how other corporations make business out of making food for the general public. so in addition to how she said pesticides that are used on in most of farm crops to produce

and just over make a tomato look so big when in reality it's not supposed to be that big. something inspired it to get that big . now the next question of course people would want to know: is it healthier? what does your research tell you? um a lot of people the general consensus is seems to be that that everybody assumes it . but a lot of people just don't care to pay the extra money. they think its just a rip off a scam . i think the lack of having less chemicals makes it healthier and will probably be less likely to help develop diabetes or cancer in the long run because a lot of the stuff that you get in your food it never leaves your body creates all these toxins inside you. okay i'm sorry but i have to differ with this comment . i reviewed the literature as a nutrition professional on the nutritional quality of health of organic vs non organic foods . in fact one of my graduate students did a study in a laboratory

using a refrigerated 100% orange juice she got in the grocery store and compared the orange juice from organically grown oranges to non organically grown oranges . there was absolutely no difference in the vitamin c content . now every plant that you grow and you measure weather is vitamin c or vitamin a a mineral content it's never exact because the amount of the nutrient is a function of the genetics of the plant when it's harvested what soil it's grown in how much water it receives . there are many many different variables when we are eating food or eating a combination of foods . when we have a tomato we are eating we are eating tomatoes from many different sources so it all doesn't matter if one is a point one milligram difference in nutrients whether it's organic or non organic. but we look at these samples

and we ran the test it was absolutely no difference so in terms of chemicals. i think it's important to point out if you are using for for example a pesticide in organic produce uses pesticides but there are different classes of pesticides these are not anything that remains in your body . the epa has very strict regulations in terms of pesticide use something called pesticide residue by definition a residue is on surface of the vegatable or fruit so it's not anything that is in our body that causes any long term adverse health effects you mentioned. this is not has never been associated with fruit or vegatables. in fact people with diabetes are recommended to consume a diet that is very high in fruit and vegtables. we have to be very careful in messages we are giving out. i think this is why kato picked this topic and why this is important . journalists often rely on experts to tell

us these sorts of things because the public has a very wide variety of points of view and as we learned in other equal time programs social media drives a lot of ideas on the opinions . do you think social media is giving a message eric to to your generation and to people on social media of a clear picture of what this type of food is. it certainly is part of this upcoming generation of having it's lifestyle drives to you know having like we mentioned before eating organic can be quite expensive i know this because i try to eat organic as much as possible and um it's definitely i noticed that with the people that with the people of my circle they to try to do it and then when you look at the perspective of what they do in their lives you know it's also incorporating a lot of exercise. a lot of making sure that they keep themselves healthy enough to not only eat organic and say oh i'm eating organic therefore i'm healthy. you have to incorporate other things

in your lifestyle for you to you know to make sure sure that you are actually in fact a healthy person. no smoking no drugs exercise daily or so and so to just to make it you know and actual thing of being healthy and not just saying oh organic means equals healthy and therefore i'm good. so an overall eating experience. now as a student on campus kato do your fellow classmates think about this all the time when about this all the time when they are hungry are they just grab that pizza slice and go for it? i think a lot of the people i know eat just whatever is affordable whatever is nearby. right now most of us are still young so you don't really have to worry about certain things. but i'm 26. i'm a lot older than most of my classmates and recently i've just been having like i feel like my body is falling apart . i have a lot of food allergies. breaking news why do you feel that way young man? it's menopause i tell you. i have

i have a lot food allergies. i can't digest i can't i can't digest wheat guacamole soy or lactose. and so i have to severely restrict my diet and it's just easier for me to go the organic route just kind of cut out any possibility of certain things and what might be upsetting me. i can relate to this because when i was in school i when i was in school i i can't really afford much organic food started, you know i got a job and all that stuff and it was when i started when i switched from regular food to organic food my stomach began to or my body was just different. it reacted to the organic food different because of the lack of pesticides so therefore i would get stomach aches whenever for so long that eventually after you know getting used to organic, my body just it was okay with it . now whenever i eat something that is not organic i have the opposite attraction of it like i get body aches . my stomach is not feeling well for a day or two

until it goes down and digested . so i try to not buy something that is not organic because i know that is going to hurt my body. and you've been eating organic food for most of your life . 2000 i want to say i started doing it in 2011, 12. so dr., how does all this play together? again, these are all really anecdotal comments and i think the viewers really should understand that if somebody as a personal reaction we have something called celiac disease nonspecific gluten insensitivity very important that people don't self diagnose food allergies , etc., and stop eating certain foods that may be healthy . in terms of having adverse reactions to non organic food is quite extreme in my opinion . i eat probably 8 to 10 servings of vegetables a day every single day. i rarely eat organic food .

i am extraordinarily healthful. i'm three times older than you. i hate to admit but at 26 or 27 to have somebody's body falling apart . what i believe and what i see as a professor here on campus are students have bad eating habits. they're drinking massive quantities of caffeinated beverages . it used to be carbonated. soft drink that has been replaced by the red bull type of energy drinks. they are not eating many fruits and vegetables, and when we look at it it organic or non organic to say my stomach hurts , i've never ever seen in the literature its a relationship between pesticides and stomach aches. there is no link whatsoever . and it may be the type and kind of food. it may be the other things that you're eating at the same time as you mentioned lifestyle is very important and fluid intake is absolutely critical when were looking at digestive functions

so again i think all of us have experiences with food but we have to be very careful . organic food right now is the largest segment in the food market that's growing the fastest. there is great interest throughout the country and when i go to my local safeway quite frankly many of the organic produce is really comparable price to nonorganic. when i go to costco i see lines aisles full of organic food. i cant even get for example tomato paste or tomato sauce that's not organic and at the same cost so i think the price differential has really changed and it's coming into our local grocery stores. i shop at the farmers market. most of the produce there is organic with comparable price to non organic and i think the americans and people throughout the world have embraced organic foods because from an environmental point of view it is better for our planet

and our latest recommendations of the dietary guidelines advisory committee that came out this week says we need to be concerned about the health of our planet moving forward. we need to eat more plant based foods, fewer animal products that use a lot of resources such as water, and we have to feed animals of course grains. it costs a lot of energy to grow and transport so when we look at organic i think it's here to stay and again price differential is not that great any more. another thing that we have to look in journalism, is organic is popular is well known now its far more well known then when we were younger, but is it a gimmick? is it a marketing technique? is it simply a way for certain producers to get their product to the market in a unique way with a label that will get you to buy it ? i definitely feel that it is you know very much attractive to people that are not informed

and whenever i do talk to people and friends i tell them, you know get yourself informed you know do your research before you're about to vote or about to buy something that you are uncertain of because of buying something without knowing what's behind it is not might as well just do something that is not good for you because knowledge is what drives you to understand why is it good to my body how she said and i feel like different people if you ask them why do you eat organic or why is it that you shop at places that you know are organic like places like whole foods they would say that it's according to individual experiences of what they had of the food. i was going to say about the literature i feel that it's a little biased because even though it's information that is put outthere. a lot of research in general

they completely oversee the fact that things happen to people it's just statistics and numbers that doesnt put into account that people actually have a problem when they eat something. there's a difference between a case study is a difference between a randomized controlled trial there's a difference between a correlational data epidemiological data. tes you are right but when were looking at what americans eat and we're making recommendations we have to look at the weight of the evidence and there are many studies that do show quite frankly that some organic produce has higher nutritional value than non organic but when you say how much what is a differential and you are saying for example eggplant may have a little bit more of a nutrient that's not even eggplants not even a good source of that nutrient it doesn't really matter. so the point is i think we need to simplify

the message. i am totally fine with people eating organic i have absolutely no problem with it but americans need to put down their sugar sweetened beverages stop having all that added sugar they need to have more fruits and vegetables which are high naturally in sweetness and sugar i don't care if they have organic or non organic we need to simplify that message in 140 character tweets. eat more fruits and vegetables organic, great, non organic, great and if you have a personal reason more power to you but we have the majority of people unfortunately until we really normalize prices they can't even afford fruits and vegetables often times because they're more expensive than not fruits and vegetables. that is something that is an issue with you know not only just eating organic.

it's an issue within the united states not only that around the world. and i've traveled here a bit and i've noticed that this is a very western thing to do you know go to a different country and be like oh thats something exotic so therefore i want to eat it or i'm gonna you know get into that culture. organic eating is definitely one of those western things that we do in this part of the hemisphere because there are developing countries that don't, you know they're able to grow organic food but at the same time it's not available for everybody because only the ones who have money are able to buy something from the supermarket. people most people around the world starve themselves and organic eating is probably not the priority on their list so therefore food in general has to be something whatever they can get they will eat. i wanted to bring kato back into this because you've done a lot of research on this and have been developing this story what else have you learned? i think i think one of the topics that

marjorie was talking about was that the biggest problem really isn't necessarily organic or non organic. it's nutrition or non nutritious. i know a lot of people, like myself i work and go to school full time for both. i dont have much time but i still wake up an hour early and i like this morning i cut up peppers and i made an omelette and i do that every morning so it's kind of hard. you need to set the time aside to really eat healthy overall i know when i was in high school i was homeless for about 2 or 3 years and so i was just eating like mcdonalds here and there. i think that's where a lot of problems came with, with health and i started to go downhill. but now i'm evening out in life and i'm eating better and i feel a lot better because of it, so life experiences drive a lot of the decision making. some of it is as you said having the energy drink to keep us going some of it is i'm trying to do healthy by my body. the public is wondering what does it mean? when i go to the store what should i buy?

fruits and vegetables in general. you know try to have a good diet and i know that i'm by far being there like being healthy but it's definitely something you have to get yourself in the habit of you have to say, like kato says wake up early in the morning and make breakfast and i've actually done that you know like when i actually have breakfast in the morning. my day actually feels better than when i don't have breakfast because then my body is just like i'm not in the mood. i'm not you know i just want to get through to work you know or i just have to do this paper or whatever. so as soon as people begin to have habits healthy habits, by, you know incorporating everything into their diets but people are different though. you have to consider that. i'm just the opposite. if you give me breakfast in the morning i'm good for nothing until 1 or 2 oclock. it's too much i don't need that in my body. so everybody's got to, one know themselves

make sure they talk with their doctor make sure they understand what their physiological needs are. i want to ask you something. do you have coffee in the morning? i'm actually an anti-coffee drinker. so in the morning you don't have anything to to eat or drink number of hours after you wake up oh look at me, of course i do. but the bottom line is i like to eat good and sometimes i love broccoli but i'll eat chocolate i'll grab a carrot but i i'm 100 per cent you know. i have chocolate almost daily. i have ice cream and gelato. these are all part of a healthy diet in moderation. now we're looking at students who may i'm working on a project looking at food insecurity. these issues of homelessness of affording food is absolutely critical in this area where we live where rents are so expensive and there are pressures on students with respect to books and well i'm afraid we ran out of time. but i thank you for the conversation though.

and thank you for joining us on this edition of equal time.

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