Organic versus Nonorganic Milk

Organic versus Nonorganic Milk

David Sparks Ph.D.
David Sparks Ph.D.
I received a press release from Oregon State University stating that Mike Gamroth, professor emeritus in OSU's College of Agricultural Sciences co-authored a study that showed "While there are differences in how cows are treated on organic farms, health outcomes are similar to conventional dairies.” I called Mike up and caught them as he was driving towards Boise. “Cows raised on organic and conventional dairy farms in three regions of the United States show no significant differences in health or in the nutritional content of their milk. Basically that is true. You will hear a lot of talk about organic milk having omega-3 fatty acid and that sort of thing and it is true. But any cow that is on fresh green pasture is going to have a different makeup of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids in their milk every. That is basically the principal there. It is required that you graze organic cows 120 days a year and so when we see the increased nutritional quality of the milk it’s because they are on grass. Conventional dairies, if they’re out on grass that will produce the same thing. What does that tell people who say that they are only going to drink organic milk? I think a lot of people do selected a bit for that reason but I think a lot more of them are apprehensive about farm chemicals and antibiotics.
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