By Neva Cochran
I grew up eating balanced meals that looked amazingly similar to MyPlate. Prepared by my mother, they were similar to the meals she ate while growing up on a farm as a fourth generation member of a Central Texas farming/ranching family. As a child, I spent a week with my grandparents every summer, riding with my grandfather in his pickup truck, opening gates as we drove from pasture to pasture to check on the livestock. I also loved walking in my grandmother’s large garden, picking the fruits and vegetables we would eat at meals.
In those days, agriculture wasn’t controversial. Farmers were respected and appreciated for their role in supplying food for our country. Over the last decade things have changed. Passionate views on GMO, conventional and organic farming dominate food-related news and social media. But I rarely see nutrition mentioned, which surprises me as a registered dietitian nutritionist. Food is produced to feed and nourish the body. So does the way a crop is grown – by conventional, organic and GMO methods – influence its nutritional value?
Farming Defined
First I’ll take a quick look at each type of farming as defined by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Keep in mind that USDA strictly regulates all methods, so foods produced are safe to eat and nutrient-rich.
* Organic: Organic agricultural crops are grown from organic seeds without synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides, irradiation or genetic engineering. While natural pesticides and fertilizers are primarily used, a limited number of approved synthetic substances are allowed if natural methods are inadequate.
* Conventional: Conventional farms tend to be larger, using technological innovations and growing a single type of high-yield crop utilizing synthetic pesticides and fertilizers. More food is produced with less land to ensure a more abundant and less expensive food supply.
* Biotechnology or GMO: Agricultural biotechnology uses a variety of tools, including traditional breeding methods and genetic engineering to make changes to improve plants or animals or to develop microorganisms for specific agricultural uses. It can make insect control and weed management safer and easier as well as protect crops against disease.
Source: www.forbes.com