Yes, organics is a $29 billion industry and still growing. Something is pulling us toward those organic veggies that are grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers.
是的，有机产品具有290亿美元的产值，而且在继续增长。这些不依赖农药和化肥生长的蔬菜在无形当中吸引着我们。
But if you're thinking that organic produce will help you stay healthier, a new finding may come as a surprise. A new study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds scant evidence of health benefits from organic foods.
但是，如果你认为有机食物可以使你更健康，一个新的发现会让你很吃惊。在《内科年报》上刊登的一项新的研究表明，有机食物并没有发现明显的营养价值。
"There's a definite lack of evidence, " says researcher Crystal Smith-Spangler at Stanford University School of Medicine, especially when it comes to studies of people.
“缺少明确的迹象“斯坦福大学医学院的研究者Crystal Smith-Spangler说，尤其是对一些人进行研究时。
She and her colleagues collected 200 peer-reviewed studies that examined differences between organic and conventional food, or the people who eat it.
她和她的同事对200对-对比试验进行了回顾性研究，来检测有机食物和传统食物，或者吃了这些食物的人群的区别。
A few of these studies followed people who were eating either organic or conventional food and looked for evidence that the choice made a difference in their health.
对吃了有机食物或者传统食物的人群进行跟踪调查，来寻找它们在人体中造成的不同迹象。
One study, for instance, looked at whether eating organic food while pregnant would influence the likelihood of eczema and other allergic conditions among children, and another looked at whether eating organic meat would influence the risk of a Campylobacter infection, a bacterial food-borne illness. When the researchers looked at the body of evidence, they found no clear benefits. But they say more research is needed.
其中一项研究，例如，当在怀孕时，食用有机食物是否对在婴儿中产生的湿疹或者过敏产生影响；或者食用有机肉类是否对感染弯曲杆菌或者细菌性斑点病的几率产生影响。当研究者检测这些人群时，并没有发现明显的区别。但是他们说，需要进一步的研究。
It's important to note, though, that such studies have a really hard time uncovering subtle effects of our environment, or what we eat, on our health. Too many other powerful influences get in the way. Also, these studies only followed people for a very short time — about two years or less. That's hardly enough time to document any particular health benefit.
但是值得注意的是，虽然，这样的研究要经历一个艰难的过程来发现它们对我们的环境造成的微小的影响或者我们吃的食物对健康的影响。产生了太多其它的强大影响。另外，这些研究只对人群跟踪了一个非常短的时间-大概两年或者更少。几乎不能记录任何特殊的养生价值。
Most of the studies included in this collection looked at the food itself — the nutrients that it contained as well as levels of pesticide residues or harmful bacteria.
这项研究更多的是对食物本身的研究——它所包含的营养价值，食物残留或者有害细菌的程度。
As you might expect, there was less pesticide contamination on organic produce. But does that matter? The authors of the new study say probably not. They found that the vast majority of conventionally grown food did not exceed allowable limits of pesticide residue set by federal regulations.
就像你所期待的那样，有机食物上的农药污染较少，但是那有关系吗？这项新研究的作者说，可能没有多大的关系。他们发现联邦法律也规定传统的食物也不允许农药残留超标。
Some previous studies have looked at specific organic foods and found that they contain higher levels of important nutrients, such as vitamins and minerals. We've reported on one particularly ambitious experiment, which is supposed to go on for a hundred years, comparing plots of organic and conventional tomatoes. After 10 years, the researchers found that tomatoes raised in the organic plots contained significantly higher levels of certain antioxidant compounds.
以前的一些研究表明，在一些特殊的有机食物中发现较高的营养成分，像维生素和矿物质。我们报告了一项特殊伟大的实验，这项试验将持续100年，用来比较有机番茄和传统番茄。经历十年，研究者发现，有机番茄内的抗氧化物含量明显增加。
But this is one study of one vegetable in one field. And when the Stanford researchers looked at their broad array of studies, which included lots of different crops in different situations, they found no such broad pattern.
但是这只是对一块试验田中的一种蔬菜进行研究。当斯坦福的研究者再看他们庞大的研究数据，这包括处于许多不同条件下不同农作物，他们没有发现那样显著的特征。
Here's the basic reason: When it comes to their nutritional quality, vegetables vary enormously, and that's true whether they are organic or conventional. One carrot in the grocery store, for instance, may have two or three times more beta carotene (which gives us vitamin A) than its neighbor. That's due to all kinds of things: differences in the genetic makeup of different varieties, the ripeness of the produce when it was picked, even the weather.
基本的原因：当谈到营养价值，蔬菜变异显著，无论它是有机的还是传统蔬菜。杂货店的胡萝卜，举个例子，含有的β-胡萝卜素是旁边那根的2到3倍。所有的食物都这样：不同的遗传基因产生不同的物种，甚至天气也会影响它的成熟度。
So there really are vegetables that are more nutritious than others, but the dividing line between them isn't whether or not they are organic. "You can't use organic as your sole criteria for judging nutritional quality, " says Smith-Spangler.
所以一些蔬菜的营养价值是高于其他的，但是它们的分界线并不是取决于它们是否为有机蔬菜。”你不能将有机食物作为判断它们营养价值的唯一标准，“ Smith-spangler说。
Of course, people may have other reasons for buying organic food. It's a different style of agriculture. Organic farmers often control pests by growing a greater variety of crops. They increase the fertility of their fields through nitrogen-fixing plants, or by adding compost instead of applying synthetic fertilizer.
当然人们也有其他一些原因来购买有机食物。那就是农业的不同类型。生产有机食物的农民通过种植不同种类的农作物来控制害虫。他们使用氮固定装置来增加土地的肥料，或者使用堆积肥料代替合成化肥。
That can bring environmental benefits, such as more diverse insect life in the field or less fertilizer runoff into neighboring streams. But such methods also cost money. That's part of what you are buying when you buy organic.
那样可以带来环境效益，像农场中昆虫的多样性，较少的肥料流入邻近的河流。但是那些方法也花费金钱。那就是你在购买有机食物时所付的钱的一部分。
So if you really want to find the most nutritious vegetables, and the organic label won't take you there, what will?
如果你真的想找到最有营养价值的蔬菜，有机食物的标签不能带给你什么，那什么会呢？
At the moment, unfortunately, there isn't a good guide. But a lot of scientists are working on it.
这时，很不幸，没有任何指导。但是很多的科学家正在进行研究。
They're measuring nutrient levels in all kinds of crops, and discovering some surprising things, as The Salt reported last week — such as supernutritious microgreens. They're trying to breed new varieties of crops that yield not a bigger harvest but a more nutrient-rich harvest.
他们测量所有农作物中的营养水平，然后发现了一些令人惊奇的事。上周The Salt 报道-像超营养微绿素。他们试图培育新的农作物——不是提高农作物的产量而是提高它们的营养价值。
The problem is, farmers still get paid by the pound, not by the vitamin. And consumers buy their food the same way. What this really requires is a whole new food system that can track those extra-nutritious crops from farmer's field to consumer's shopping basket.
问题就是,农民仍然是通过重量获得报酬，而不是通过维生素含量。消费者也是通过同样的方法来购买食物。整个新的食物系统真正需要的是-能够跟踪这些具有额外营养价值的食物从田里进入消费者的购物篮中。
Maybe, down the road, you will actually see signs in the supermarket that advertise, for instance, iron-rich beans. Maybe they'd be organic, or maybe not.
也许，沿着这条路，你会真的在超市的广告上看到这样的标示，例如，富含铁的豆子。也许它们是有机食物或者不是。
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