Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?

[Bring4th_Austin]

The actual production of fruits and veggies in the "organic vs. non-organic" dispute is not so black and white. There are variables on both sides which could affect the nutrition in the food itself. Produce grown from healthy soil yet sprayed with pesticide would disqualify it from being certified organic yet it would be as nutritious as anything "naturally grown." On the other hand, certified organic produce grown in relatively unhealthy soil, relying on non-sustainable methods of plant nutrition, will likely not be as nutritious.

The nutrition in a GMO would be dependent more on what the genetics were engineered for rather than just the fact it is a GMO. Some GMO crops have been modified to increase certain nutrients within the plants. Genetically engineering crops is an insanely powerful ability.

The crops provide more yield, often doubling the harvest when compared to non GE crops

The methods used to derive this statistic are debatable. It also depends on the type of crop.

but suck more nutrients out of the ground. In response to this, the farmers using these crops end up needing more and more fertilizer each year, until the land can support no more.

This is not specific to GM crops, but rather most conventional agriculture. While those two are becoming increasingly intertwined, synthetic fertilizers in general have more to do with this than the advent of GMO's. In a sustainable system, nutrition for the plant is (mostly) dependent on soil health. Being able to fertilize crops with methods that add nothing to the soil means that the health of the soil doesn't have to be maintained for a plant to be healthy. The land itself is then dependent on the producers of synthetic fertilizer to be cultivated, until it is restored somehow.

In addition, these genetically engineered crops produce no seeds, so every year the farmers have to buy new seeds and ever increasing amounts fertilizer from Monsanto.

That's another thing that depends on the actual GM crop itself. But either way, the biotech companies require contracts to be signed in order for their seeds to be used, which includes an agreement not to reuse seeds. They inspect farms to be sure that all of the farmer's crops that are GM are bought on contract and will sue otherwise.