But our organic food's even better for you and the environment in the first place?

但是，有機食物真的對你的健康跟環境有所幫助嗎？

For plans, the term organic basically means something grown without the use of synthetic fertilizer or pesticides.

「有機」基本上指沒有使用合成肥料或是合成殺蟲劑的產品。

But this is a little bit misleading.

不過這其中有點誤會

You see consumers buy organic to avoid pesticides all together.

消費者購買有機食物為的是避免接觸到殺蟲劑

But the truth is organic farmers can still use pesticides or fungicides to prevent insects from destroying their crops.

但是，事實是，有機農夫一樣可以使用殺蟲劑或殺菌劑，避免昆蟲破壞農作物

They just can't be synthetically made.

只要不是合成製作的殺蟲劑或殺菌劑就行了

There are all over twenty chemicals approved for organic used in the US derived from natural sources like plants.

在美國，超過二十種由植物萃取而成的化學物質，能夠被合法使用於有機作物的栽培中

But studies have shown that some natural pesticides are actually a more serious health and environment risk than man-made ones.

但是研究指出，有些天然殺蟲劑替人類健康與環境所帶來的風險，事實上比人造殺蟲劑還大

Not to say they are all bad, but simply that "Natural" doesn't mean always better for you or the environment.

並不是所有的殺蟲劑都不好，但是「天然」也不代表對人類與環境永遠都是好的

On top of this, not all organic foods are even completely organic.

回到一開始，也不是全部的有機食物都是有機的

If a label simply says "organic", it only has to contain 95 percent organic ingredients.

如果標籤上寫著：「有機的」，可能只有百分之九十五的有機成分

The label "made with organic ingredients" on items like bread may only contain 70 percent,

又或是貼有「用有機原料做成」標籤的麵包，可能的有機成份只有百分之七十

while "containing organic ingredients" may only have 50 percent.

而「含有機成分」的標籤，可能只有百分之五十

Only when a label says "100 percent organic" does it contain purely organic ingredients.

只有貼有「百分之百有機」標籤的內容物全都是有機原料

And for what is worth, the term "free range" only also only requires evidences to the access to the outdoors for a minimum of 5 minutes per day.

不論好壞，「放養」的標籤，其實只要動物一天有被「放風」五分鐘就可以算數了

Interestingly, a meta-analysis conducts in 2012 found that organic crop yields are 25 percent lower on average than conventional ones,

有趣的是，一項2012年的綜合分析發現，有機作物的年產量比一般作物的產量少百分之二十五

though differences vary greatly between types of crops.

但是，不同作物的收成情況也大有不同

For example, organic vegetable yields are typically 33 percent lower than conventional ones,

例如，有機蔬菜的產量一般而言比一般蔬菜的產量少百分之三十三

putting a greater strain on the natural environment as more farmland is required.

因為需要更多耕地的緣故，所以對自然環境造成很大的壓力

However, organic like legume yields are only 5 percent lower as they are more efficient at absorbing nitrogen from organic fertilizers.

但是，因為豆科植物能夠有效率地吸收有機肥料中的氮，所以產量只少百分之五

Of course, many organic farming practices like crop rotations and mixed planting as opposed to using monoculture are better for the soil and environment.

當然，跟單一種植的方式相比，作物輪種與混合種植的有機耕作方式，對土壤與環境而言都比較好

But are they better for you?

但是，對你而言，有機食物真的比較好嗎？

After analyzing 237 studies, researchers concluded the organic food and veggies are no more nutritious than conventionally grown food.

分析了237份研究之後，研究者指出，有機食物與蔬菜並不會比傳統種植的作物營養

However, long-term studies of purely organic diets are difficult as most people eat a mixture of food with non-organic ingredients.

但是，要長期研究有機飲食方式實在困難重重，因為大部分的人吃下肚的食物都含有「非有機的」成分

Those on short-term organic diets do show higher levels of carotenoids, polyphenols,

短期有機飲食確實讓攝食者擁有較高的類胡蘿蔔素、多酚

Vitamin C and E, LDL cholesterol, antioxidant activity, immune system markers and even higher semen quality.

維他命C與E、低密度脂蛋白、抗氧化活性，免疫系統增強，精蟲的品質也會提高

But the differences are clinically insignificant.

但是，這些差異在臨床上並不顯著

Children placed on organic diets for ten days have lower levels of organophosphates in their urine,

維持十天有機飲食的兒童，尿液中的有機磷含量較低

which in higher concentrations are associated with neurological problems,

高含量的有機磷，則與神經疾病脫不了關係

but both levels or orders of magnitude lower than the amount needed to cause clinical harm.

但是，其程度跟量都沒有達到造成臨床傷害的標準

And just because something is organic doesn't make it better.

有機食物並不是一定比較好

A bag of organic chips, for example, is still deep fried, carbohydrates with very little nutritional value.

例如：一包有機洋芋片，一樣是油炸的，而且內含的碳水化合物營養價值非常低。

Most surprising is that organic food has higher incidence of being dangerous.

令人驚訝的是，有機食品的危險性可能更高

Though organic food accounts for only 1 percent of agricultural acreage or space,

雖然有機作物的種植只佔了農地面積的百分之一

they account for 7 percent of recalled food units in 2015.

但是，2015年「被召回的食物」當中，有機食品就佔了百分之七

For example, this year, several flavors of Clif Bars were recalled from stores due to organic sun flower kernels

好幾種口味的Clif Bars (食品品牌) 都被回收了，這是因為，裡面的太陽花籽

that were potentially contaminated with listeria-

可能已被「李斯特菌」污染

a bacterium which kills hundreds in the US each year.

每年，美國有數百人因這種細菌而喪命

Another study found E.coli in 10 percent of organic produce compared to 2 percent in conventional ones.

另一項研究發現，10%的有機食品還有大腸桿菌，但是一般食品可能只有2%

The truth is, eating organic food can be good for you and in some way better for the environment,

事實是，有機食品對你的身體或是環境可能有所益處

but it's not the be all and end all.

但這並不是最終目標

Production methods vary greatly for both organic and conventional foods,

有機食品與一般食品的生產方式差異極大

from one farm to another, or from local farms to factory farms.

使用的農地不同，在地農夫與工廠生產作物的方式也不同

And it's likely a combination of methods that will lead to the greatest result for your health and the environment.

或許，種植方式的混合才是對人類與環境最好的

Organic and conventional food can co-exist and don't have to be at odds with one another.

有機作物與一半作物可以共存

Anyone who tells you with 100 percent certainty that one way is fully better than the other, is ignoring the science.

假如有任何人很確定地跟你說，某種方式一定比較好的時候，那他一定沒從科學的角度考慮

When it comes to your own health, it's really a combination of diet, exercise, various other lifestyles of choices, and of course, your genetics.

而你自己健康，其實取決於飲食、運動、多樣的生活型態，以及基因