Is Organic Food Healthier?

At the store and in a pickle?

The "Is Organic Food Healthier?" campaign has closed, but you can still make a gift!

Just visit https://give.boisestate.edu/ and use HR134 in the Fund ID space.

Grocery shopping used to be a pretty straightforward experience. Now, every time we go shopping, we’re forced to make decisions about more than just what to have for dinner. Should we buy organically grown food, or stick with the less expensive conventional option? Is organic really healthier or safer? Unfortunately, there’s not a lot of scientific evidence to help us answer this question. For the past 10 years, Dr. Cynthia Curl has been researching organic food. We’ve learned that eating organic can reduce your exposure to pesticides, but we still don’t know if that leads to a measurable health benefit.

Orange you glad we’ve got a plan?

In this research study, we will recruit a group of pregnant women from local WIC clinics who currently eat conventionally grown food. We’ll randomly assign half of them to an “organic food” group and the other half to a “conventional food” group. The moms in this study won’t know which group they are in, but each group will get fresh fruits and vegetables delivered to them every week. We’ll then measure pesticide residue levels in their bodies to assess the effect of these different diets. Ultimately, in future work, we’d like to look for differences in neurocognitive outcomes (e.g., memory and attention) in their kids when they are older. This could tell us a lot about whether organic food provides a health benefit when eaten during a crucial time for development.

Honeydew you want to help?

This project is currently funded as a small pilot study, but we’d love to raise more money to include more women in this research. Every dollar we raise here will go directly to buying the organic and conventional fruits and vegetables that we will provide to the women in our study. By donating to this project, you’ll make a difference in two ways: you’ll be providing fresh fruits and vegetables to women who need them and you’ll be taking us a step closer to figuring out whether or not there is a health benefit to eating organic. So please, donate today.

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