I do conservation agriculture work in developing countries, which includes helping farmers to achieve certified organic, certified rainforest friendly, and certified fair trade status.
Organic just means not grown with petrochemicals or mined minerals for pesticides and fertilizers. Organic farmers can still use fertilizers and pesticides, they just have to be organically derived. Some organic pesticides can be just as deadly to humans as nonorganic. Fruits and vegetables are still picked before they are ripe and processed through pre-cooling facilities where they are ripened, which diminishes nutritional value. Organic farmers may also rely on labor that isn’t treated humanely (or worse). It doesn’t even guarantee that the farmer will earn more money; organic is at a premium and buyers and major retailers are demanding it more and more, to the point where many commodities, such as coffee all but require organic, fair trade certification for anything above Folgers crystals, and farmers don’t see a significant farm gate price increase. It’s the middle men to retailers that reap most of the benefits.
If someone wants to buy organic, more power to them, but organic labeling is more a marketing gimmick than a promise that food is safer or more nutritious. Better is buying from a local source that harvests closer to ripeness and whose practices you can verify, or grow your own.
I know every can’t do this. But in a pinch, veggies and fruits from any source are going to be better for you than any highly processed foods.
