Is organic food really healthier?

有机食品真的更健康吗?

Organic food is more than just a passing fad. Organic food sales totaled a record US$45.2 billion in 2017, making it one of the fastest-growing segments of American agriculture. While a small number of studies have shown associations between organic food consumption and decreased incidence of disease, no studies to date have been designed to answer the question of whether organic food consumption causes an improvement in health.

有机食品可不仅仅是一时风尚。2017年，其销售总额创下历史新高——452亿美元，成为美国农业增长最快的部分之一。虽然少数研究已表明食用有机食品和疾病发病率降低存在联系，但尚未有研究对如下问题做出解答：食用有机食品是否会让人更健康？

I’m an environmental health scientist who has spent over 20 years studying pesticide exposures in human populations. Last month, my research group published a small study that I believe suggests a path forward to answering the question of whether eating organic food actually improves health.

我是一名环境健康科学家，过去二十年一直都在研究人类接触农药的情况。上个月，我的研究团队发表了一篇小型研究，我认为这项研究为上述问题提供了前进方向。

According to the USDA, the organic label does not imply anything about health. In 2015, Miles McEvoy, then chief of the National Organic Program for USDA, refused to speculate about any health benefits of organic food, saying the question wasn't "relevant" to the National Organic Program. Instead, the USDA's definition of organic is intended to indicate a production method that "foster cycling of resources, promote ecological balance, and conserve biodiversity."

据美国农业部表示，有机标签并不意味着健康。在2015年，美国农业部国家有机计划的时任负责人迈尔斯·麦克沃伊（Miles McEvoy）拒绝推测有机食品的健康益处，并表示这一问题与国家有机计划并“不相关”。相反，美国农业部对有机一词的定义旨在表明一种生产方法，该方法可“鼓励资源循环、促进生态平衡、保护生态多样性。”

While some organic consumers may base their purchasing decisions on factors like resource cycling and biodiversity, most report choosing organic because they think it's healthier.

虽然有些购买有机产品的消费者可能是根据资源循环和生物多样性等因素做出的购买决定，但大多数人还是因为觉得它更健康。

Sixteen years ago, I was part of the first study to look at the potential for an organic diet to reduce pesticide exposure. This study focused on a group of pesticides called organophosphates, which have consistently been associated with negative effects on children's brain development. We found that children who ate conventional diets had nine times higher exposure to these pesticides than children who ate organic diets.

十六年前，我参与了首个探索有机饮食潜力以降低农药接触的研究。这项研究重点关注一组名为有机磷酸盐的农药，这类农药一直被认为会对儿童的大脑发育带来负面影响。我们发现，饮食传统的儿童接触这些农药的次数比食用有机食品的儿童高9倍。

Our study got a lot of attention. But while our results were novel, they didn't answer the big question. As I told The New York Times in 2003, "People want to know, what does this really mean in terms of the safety of my kid? But we don't know. Nobody does." It was true then, and it's still true now.

我们的研究受到了广泛关注。虽然我们的结果是新颖的，但却并未回答上述问题。正如我在2003年对《纽约时报》所说的那样，“人们想知道，这对儿童的安全究竟有何意义？但我们并不知道答案。没有人知道。”这句话既适用于当时，也适用于此时。