Organic foods protect children from the toxins in pesticides, while foods grown using modern, intensive agricultural techniques contain fewer nutrients and minerals than they did 60 years ago, according to two new studies.

A US research team from Emory University in Atlanta analysed urine samples from children ages three to 11 who ate only organic foods and found that they contained virtually no metabolites of two common pesticides, malathion and chlorpyrifos. However, once the children returned to eating conventionally grown foods, concentrations of these pesticide metabolites quickly climbed as high as 263 parts per billion, says the study published Feb. 21. Organic crops are grown without the chemical pesticides and fertilisers that are common in intensive agriculture. There was a “dramatic and protective effect” against the pesticides while consuming organically grown foods, said Chensheng Lu, an assistant professor at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University.

These findings, in addition to the results of another study published in Britain earlier this month, have fueled the debate about the benefits of organically grown food as compared to conventional, mass-produced foods, involving academics, food and agro-industry executives and activists in the global arena. According to the new British analysis of government nutrition data on meat and dairy products from the 1930s and from 2002, the mineral content of milk, cheese and meat declined as much as 70 percent in that period. “These declines are alarming,” Ian Tokelove, spokes-man for The Food Commission.

Although controversial, a number of other studies have also found differences between conventionally produced foods and foods grown organically or under more natural conditions. Organic fruits and vegetables had significantly higher levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants, according to a 2003 study in Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. A 2001 report by UK’s Soil Association looked at 400 nutritional studies and came to similar conclusions: foods grown organically had more minerals and vitamins.

Farmers globally should not adopt the intensive farming practices of North America or Europe, says Ken Warren, a spokesman with The Land Institute, based in Kansas. “It’s an unsustainable system that relies heavily on chemical fertilisers to keep yields high’,” Warren said. “Hollow food” contains insufficient nutrition and is suspected in playing a role in the rapid rise in obesity, as people may be eating more to get the nutrition they need, he said.

Moreover, herbicides and insecticides kill microorganisms in the soil that play an important role in maintaining soil fertility and helping plants grow. Pesticide residues in modern agriculture are another cause for concern. The Land Institute advocates what it calls “natural systems agriculture.” “Farmers in other parts of the world should learn from American agriculture’s mistakes. Looking to nature is a better model for farming,” Warren said. —IPS