Now thats bull****. They said it was better based on estimates? How about actual measurements?
Because so many factors impact the nutritional quality of food, studies seeking to compare the
nutritional quality of conventional and organic foods must be designed to eliminate or control, to
the fullest extent possible, multiple potentially confounding variables.
Two articles have addressed directly the proper design of studies striving to compare the
performance of alternative farming systems. In 1997 van der Werf et al. published a paper entitled
“Methodological Issues in Comparative Agro-Economic On-farm Research Assessments of
Organic Versus Conventional Farming Techniques” in the U.K. journal Biological
Agriculture and Horticulture. While the focus of the paper is on carrying out such studies in
developing countries, the basic issues addressed, and suggestions made, apply universally.
The need for clear definitions of the production systems being compared is emphasized. The
authors recommend use of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements
(IFOAM) definition of organic farming. They argue that conventional agriculture should be defined
“as the most common set of agricultural practices of the research population” (van der Werf et al.,
1997). Three possible approaches are described to carry
out comparative research –
• Single farms are compared with regional
averages;
• Matched pairs (or groups) or farms and/or fields are identified, each containing an
organic and conventional farm/field; or
• A controlled experiment is carried out on a research station, emulating to the extent
possible organic and conventional systems. The authors favor the second approach for several
reasons including its relevance to commercial operations, ability to select matched pairs that
control for a variety of confounding variables, and tendency to produce more reliable results. They
also recommend that research teams focus on defined sets of practices, as opposed to wholefarm
performance, because the later raises so many additional analytical and data collection
challenges. Ideally, farmers should have at least two years of experience in carrying out a given organic
technique before they are asked to participate in a comparison study. In addition, it is important to
assure that the farms, and farmers, chosen to be included in a matched pair are representative of a
broader population of organic and conventional farmers.
More info is on pg. 21 of the pdf.
