It's Official: Organic really is better

"EU-funded Quality Low Input Food project indicates significant nutritional benefits from organic food". Soil Association

Ok, as if we needed any more convincing about how good organic (home) grown food is for us, but here are some early results of the £12 million 4-year Quality Low Input Food (QLIF) study.

As stated in a press release from Biological Farmers of Australia below

The evidence from the $27million four-year European Union-funded project should end years of debate and is likely to overturn official advice that eating organic food is a lifestyle choice and that there is no clear evidence that it is "more nutritious than other food".

The study will be peer reviewed and published over the next 12 months. But already one conclusion is clear: organically produced crops and dairy milk usually contain more "beneficial compounds" - such as vitamins and antioxidants believed to help to combat disease.

Nutritionist and spokesperson for Australia’s largest organic body, the Biological Farmers of Australia, Shane Heaton, welcomed the study, saying, "This adds to the growing body of evidence from around the world that organic produce not only contains less of the things you don’t need, but also more of the things you do need in your diet."

The press release from the Soil Association web site also asserts that, 'Early results indicate organic fruit and vegetables contain 40% more antioxidants (believed to cut the risk of heart disease and cancer) in organic produce compared to non-organic foodstuffs. There were also higher levels of other beneficial minerals such as iron and zinc'.

A more in depth review of the study can be found here at the Soil Association web site.