Skeptical conversation #3

Whilst my family was on vacation, I asked Siri for "healthy restaurants near me". Siri responded, "I found 8 organic restaurants near you". I said, "I said 'healthy', not 'organic'."

My mother overheard this exchange and noted, "You seem to have a fetish against organic food."

My irritated response was, "Well, I'm against paying more money for food that's the same as the cheaper stuff but they just grew it in a more expensive way. And I hate that 'organic' is assumed to mean healthy. A cheeseburger could be organic, but that doesn't make it lower in calories or higher in protein."

Here are a few interesting articles on the topic:

• The “organic” path to obesity? Organic claims influence calorie judgments and exercise recommendations - Journal of Judgment and Decision Making
  
• Organic food ‘no healthier’ blow - London Evening Standard
  
• Are Organic Foods Safer or Healthier Than Conventional Alternatives?: A Systematic Review - Annals of Internal Medicine
  

And one showing that organic food does have health benefits... to flies: Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to Drosophila melanogaster. Not that surprising, since the organic food was likely to have less pesticides, which are usually designed specifically to harm insects and other pests. (The article is by a high school student. Take that as you will.)