Are organically grown foods the best food choices? The advantages claimed for such foods over conventionally grown and marketed food products are now being debated. Advocates of organic foods -- a term whose meaning varies greatly -- frequently proclaim that such products are safer and more nutritious than others. 

    The growing interest of consumers in the safety and nutritional quality of the typical North American diet is a welcome development. However, much of this interest has been sparked by sweeping claims that the food supply is unsafe or inadequate in meeting nutritional needs. Although most of these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, the preponderance of written material advancing such claims makes it difficult for the general public to separate fact from fiction. As a result, claims that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health have become widely publicized and form the basis for folklore. 

    Almost daily the public is besieged by claims for "no-aging" diets, new vitamins and other wonder foods. There are numerous unsubstantiated reports that natural vitamins are superior to synthetic ones, that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are better than fumigated grains and the like. 

    One thing that most organically grown food products seem to have in common is that they cost more than conventionally grown foods. But in many cases consumers are misled if they believe organic foods can maintain health and provide better nutritional quality than conventionally grown foods. So there is real cause for concern if consumers particularly those with limited incomes, distrust the regular food supply and buy only expensive organic foods instead. 
     
    綠色食品是最佳食物嗎?有人認為綠色食品比通過常規(guī)方式生產(chǎn)和銷售的食品有更多的優(yōu)越性，然而現(xiàn)在卻有人對此提出異議。 綠色食品--這一詞的用法非常不統(tǒng)一--支持者往往聲稱綠色食品比其它食品更安全，營養(yǎng)價值更高。 北美的消費者們越來越關(guān)注他們的日常飲食是否安全和有營養(yǎng)。 這一發(fā)展趨勢是好的。 然而這種關(guān)注多半是由一些武斷的說法引起的，即食物供應(yīng)不安全或不能提供足夠的營養(yǎng)。 盡管這些說法多數(shù)未被科學(xué)證實，但是由于大量文章支持這一觀點，使得普通群眾難辨真?zhèn)巍?因此那些認為只食用綠色食品就能防治疾病或增進健康的觀點便廣為人知，并導(dǎo)致一些不科學(xué)的做法和習(xí)慣。 公眾幾乎每天都被"抗衰老"食品、新型維生素以及其它具有神奇功效的食物廣告所包圍。 聲稱天然維生素優(yōu)于人造維生素，受精蛋比未受精蛋的營養(yǎng)價值更高，未經(jīng)薰蒸消毒處理的谷物比經(jīng)過處理的好等等諸如此類的報道屢見不鮮，但沒有一篇是經(jīng)過證實的。 大多數(shù)綠色食品有一共同點，即它們的價格高于以常規(guī)方式種植的食物。 但在許多情況下，如果消費者認為綠色食品能預(yù)防疾病且營養(yǎng)價值高于以常規(guī)方式生產(chǎn)的食品，那么他們被誤導(dǎo)了。 如果消費者們，尤其是那些收入有限的消費者們，懷疑傳統(tǒng)食品而只購買更昂貴的綠色食品，那就值得擔(dān)憂了。