Organic Lobby Isn’t the Culprit

Re “Forget Organic: Just Eat Those Veggies,” Commentary, May 20: Greg Critser sets up a straw man when he blames the organic food industry for kids who don’t eat their fruits and vegetables. Rather, kids who eat a diet that is mostly proteins, fats and processed sugars and starches do so because their parents feed it to them and these foods get the most advertising dollars. When was the last time you saw an ad for broccoli or peaches?

Increased use of integrated pest management and decreased pesticide use are to be applauded. And yes, it is better to eat conventionally grown fruits and vegetables than no fruits and vegetables. But that doesn’t mean organic advocates are misguided or harmful. Unlike conventional farming, organic farming builds up topsoil and coexists with wildlife. It doesn’t use petrochemically derived fertilizers or genetic engineering, a polluting and largely untested technology. Organic farmers are pioneering the nutrient-cycled, sustainable food system that will keep us fed for centuries to come.

Danila B. Oder

Los Angeles

Critser’s goal of getting kids to eat more fruits and vegetables is right on target, but his diatribe against organic food is a strange and self-defeating way of reaching that goal. What world does he live in where kids are driven to junk food by $2 tomatoes and where the organic industry dominates the airwaves? Visit schools and neighborhoods in Los Angeles or turn on the TV for the real reasons kids don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables: too much junk and not enough fresh, tasty fruits and veggies. Fast food and junk food are everywhere, in restaurants, stores, advertisements and, increasingly, even in public schools’ lunchrooms and vending machines.

Meanwhile, the produce served to students in schools has been packaged, shipped cross-country and assembled to the point that taste often suffers. Our kids deserve better.

In the Santa Monica-Malibu school district and in pilot programs in Los Angeles, children are flocking to farmers market salad bars available as part of the lunch program. Fresh, locally grown (and yes, organic) fruits and vegetables taste better, so kids are more likely to eat them.

Mark Vallianatos

Research Director

Urban and Environmental

Policy Institute

Los Angeles