Dr. Alan Greene at the Organic Farming Conference (Part 3)

"Good food, grown right is at the core of human health."

The folks at MOSES (that’s the Midwest Organic and Sustainable Education Service) were kind enough to allow me to reprint this summary of Dr. Alan Greene’s keynote at the 2009 Organic Farming Conference, written by colleague and friend Bridget O’Meara; this is part two.

National Crisis: Childhood Obesity
Greene then changes tack and focuses on the crisis that is taking place on a national scale: childhood obesity. In the last 30 years, childhood obesity has increased to the point where 1 in 3 kids is already overweight or obese--and, by the end of next year, the numbers will reach 40%. Problems that used to be rare are becoming increasingly common in children: high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, abnormal triglycerides, abnormal blood sugars, Type II diabetes (formerly known as "adult onset diabetes") and/ or a waist-size over 40 inches.

"Obesity is just a visible sign that the way we are feeding kids today is failing, utterly. But, the good news," according to Greene, "is that organic food can prevent and reverse these trends and set our metabolism right, especially in early childhood." Organic food is more satiating because it's more nutritious. It has more antioxidants that prevent and repair damage and more micro-agents that slow the aging process. It is also grown without the use of pesticides that contain endocrine disruptors, which are linked to diabetes and to which the typical American consumer is exposed daily through diet. Investing in organic foods now will save not only health-care costs but also, literally, the lives of today's children.

Some people say organic food is too expensive. But, as Green points outs, a diagnosis of Type II diabetes will reduce a child's life expectancy by 10-20 years; it will cost more than $3 million and will be a chronic problem for the rest of a his or her life. "If we spent $100 million to provide good organic food to kids in schools and we could just stop 33 kids from getting diabetes, it would pay for itself-- and we would get delicious organic food to enjoy and we would save 300 to 600 years of those kids' lives to have relationships and love and family and work. We would save so much… What a bargain organic food is!"

"When I was growing up, doctors were my heroes because they could help people who are sick. But, today, farmers are my heroes because you can prevent people from ever getting sick AND can help them when they are." The body sources food for all the good things it needs to keep us from getting sick as well as what it needs to heal when we do get sick or injured. We are what we eat in a profound way. We are built entirely from food. As Greene says, "When we feed a child, every bite is either an investment in a child's body or it's a debt you're taking out that you're going to have to pay back somehow, some way. How much better to invest than to take out new debt--especially in a tough economy."

Too Much Food, Not Enough Nutrition
Greene addresses a fundamental irony in the United States. At the same time that childhood obesity rates rise exponentially, kids in this country are suffering from malnutrition. Of the 40 known essential nutrients, kids typically get 13 at sub-optimal levels--levels low enough "to affect their intelligence, to affect their behavior, to make them get sick more often, and to accelerate the diseases of middle age."

Changing what kids eats can change their health. Exzema in kids, for example, can by reduced by a third by just switching from conventional to organic milk. "Autism, ADHD, food allergies... all are nutrition problems with food answers. The answers to all of the most pressing problems in kids health and in our health are in this room--this is the answer, this is the core, this is central."

But conventional medicine has under-valued food as a source of health and has even downplayed the importance of food as a source of nutrition. Fortunately, new scientific studies contradict conventional wisdom. The potato, for example, long maligned as a "junk vegetable," contains not only fiber, vitamins, and minerals but also medicinal levels of coco amines, which have been proven effective against high blood pressure and cancer. In Greene's words, "The least of our vegetables is filled with things that we didn't even know existed that are so good for us."

And apples, similarly derided as nature's junk fruit by Western medicine, have an unprecedented ability to fight breast cancer and can lower cholesterol. The effectiveness of eating one apple a day against these conditions is as dramatic as taking a statin drug. "Apples taste better, especially organic apples, without all the side effects. Lipitor costs $4 per day--the apple is worth every bit as much and more."

"Healthy food is the best answer to all of our health problems--and the research backs that up."

Greene cites an Organic Center study that compares organic and conventional produce. ORAC units (Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity ) measure the affects of food on health. 3000 units a day are needed to maintain health; 5000 units a day improve health. Most serving of fruits and vegetables have about 1000 units. But most adults get 1200-1600 a day, a third of what they need for optimal health. Organic food on average across the board has 30% more ORAC units than its conventional counter part. Millions of people at the cusp between health and sickness could get 30 percent of what they need if we just switched to organic food. "In this room is the answer to our health care crisis," Greene claims, pointing to his audience of organic farmers.

A russet potato has 5000 ORAC units, but what happens when the potato is submerged in boiling grease and turned into a French fry? According to Greene, "It destroys coco amines, greatly reduces ORAC values, and adds calories, fats, and carcinogens called acrylomides. It takes something that's beautiful from nature and destroys it."