Letter: Organic food is best for nutrition

IN KATY Ross's article "Nature's way" (Spectrum, 6 March) the study by Which? was mentioned as apparently undermining the case for organic food. This study was based in one plot of land which was organic before the study. It was then split in two, with one half following organic principles and one not.

Anyone using this study as any basis of support for non-organic commercial farming would be disingenuous. In commercial farms the soil becomes denuded of the natural biological goodness which is in organic soils and the crop nutrition relies on petrochemical-based fertilisers. This was not the situation in the Which? study.

As indicated by the much more rigorous Newcastle University research referred to by Katy Ross, apart from the question of chemical residues on crops treated with chemical fertilisers and pesticides, organic meat and milk are shown to have more beneficial anti-oxidants and organic vegetables to have more vitamins and minerals. John Scott MSP is quoted as saying the world is facing diminishing food supplies. All the more reason to ensure the food produced is as nutritious as possible.

Jim Stamper, Rutherglen