Science Project. Organic Vs. Conventional?
Image by Kris *V*
My friends’ herd of Devon cows. They rear organic beef cattle in the beautiful Devon countryside.
Question by Jessica: Science Project. Organic Vs. Conventional?
Okay. I am doing a science project on different types of Organic and Conventional fruits and vegetables.
People say that people who eat Organic fruit get sick because the foods are not cleaned.
But the Conventional foods are grown in cow feces and pestisides.
I want to test this to see which has more germs.
Is this a good project for a science fair?
What kind of solution should I use to see which has more germs?
Should I swab it with a cue tip or should a put a piece of the food in some solution.
This is apart of agriculture right? I am trying to do this to go to State Convention for the FFA.
If you cannot answer all my questions but know one please answer.
Thanks!
Give your answer to this question below!
7 Responses to Science Project. Organic Vs. Conventional?
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Who says organic foods are dirty? Don’t people wash their food first?
It sounds like a good experiment. You can swab the outside of the fruit and put it in a petri dish and let the bacteria culture grow, ala Mythbusters when they tested the 5 second rule. This project definitely has to do with agriculture. Good luck!
Supermatt100
February 12, 2012 at 10:27 pm
I’m a small farmer. I live/work on a permaculture farm, and we grow everything organically.
First off, you have one thing wrong. Conventional foods are not grown in cow manure. They are depentant almost entirely on artificial nitrate chemicals.
Here on my farm, everything is grown with rabbit, goat, and horse manure. I raise meat goats, and meat rabbits.
Because we produce our own food, and work daily with the livestock, I’m exposed to tiny amounts of fecal matter all the time. My husband and I have a natural tollerance for such bacteria now. If I get someone from the city here on my farm, I entirely change the way I cook and feed them. They have no natural immunities to things I have a great tollerance, and antiboties for. I could make them desperatly ill.
This however also goes for conventional farming. I live in the heart of potato country. I’ve actually spent most of my life living in varrious agricultural areas. I think most people would be terribly shocked to see what goes on during food harvest, even with conventional crops.
Have you ever seen a bathroom in the middle of a vegtable crop field? Me either. Workers are going to the bathroom right in the fields. This exposes people to much worse things…like hepititis.
For organic crops, most of them are using cow, or horse manure. If the manure has been propperly composted, the harmful bacteria, like Ecoli is dead.
How about this for an idea for the state convention…the feeding of beef cattle to help prevent ecoli contaminations to the meat.
Did you know that cattle normally have a neutral PH for their rumen acid? (the rumen is the stomach area of goats, sheep, cattle, llamas, and all other cud chewing animals)
Did you know that the cattle sent to feed lots are stuffed with corn, which is NOT a natural food source for the cattle?
Did you know this makes the rumen of the cattle extremely acidic?
This acid environment is the PERFECT breeding ground for the dangerous Ecoli bacteria.
Did you know that if cattle were taken off corn six days prior to slaughter, and fed on hay, the Ecoli in their rumen and intestines would drop to almost nothing?
This alone would almost totally prevent any future Ecoli tainted meat products from ever hitting the market and endangering the health of humans. No new laws, or rules are needed….just feed the cattle hay for six days prior to slaughter.
By the way, I’m totally for real and true organics, because they are SO much healthier for you. They taste better, and have tons more trace minerals and vitamins. True organics…not the mass produced industialized organics.
~Garnet
Homesteading/Farming over 20 years
bohemian_garnet
February 12, 2012 at 11:26 pm
So, A, I’ve never heard anyone (before you) say that people who eat organic foods get sick because the food is not cleaned.
B, There are bacteria present in dirt and feces, but that doesn’t mean that a tomato grown either organically or conventionally would have the bacteria. Bacteria are not pulled up through the plant like water.
So, I really don’t see that you have a “problem” to examine here.
Germs on our food are a big issue. What about testing the produce that comes in bags, labeled as “Pre-washed and Ready to Eat!”
You could test by swabbing, then rubbing the swab onto an agar plate. In a few days, you count the bacteria colonies.
You could find out if the pre-washed is actually free of bacteria, or if it even has any less than unwashed greens. If you like, you could make the comparison between washed organic greens and washed conventional greens, see if there’s any cleanliness difference.
Yes, that’s a part of agriculture. Sounds like good ideas for FFA.
Good luck.
aggylu
February 12, 2012 at 11:30 pm
Foods is simple but people is complicate
whai ?
They like to eat complicate foods .
But din project is new in the marketing and they (people)are not science to eat science food .
Complicate food create confusion for brain and the cell become
not accept the think .
nicolae t
February 12, 2012 at 11:58 pm
I would narrow down the test from “germs” to something more specific like e-coli 157h7, salmonella, campybolactor, etc.. That or bacteria counts on each type of food would also work. I would also choose no more than 3 different kinds of food and I would stick to either meats or vegetables/fruits. You also should pay attention to the kind of organics. Either buy from a local certified organic source or a corporate organic source but do not mix the two together as they are about as different as conventional vs organic
As to your premise that organic foods make people sick I believe this is taken from Dennis Avery at the Hudson institute who claimed the CDC had run tests on organic foods and found that organic foods were dirtier than conventional. the CDC said they have never run any such tests and that Mr Avery made the whole thing up. Later John Stossel used this false information on the ABC News magazine 20/20 to “prove” organic foods were bad for all of us. Mr Stossle had to apologize for this episode a few months later due to outcry and some holes in his theory you could toss a planet through
ohiorganic
February 13, 2012 at 12:36 am
Work with your ag advisor and possibly your science teacher on your intended project. Aggylu has good input. It sounds as if your topic should be “Food safety” and you could include the handling and packaging aspects of the industry. Using pictures of cultures taken from the various packages as noted by several of the answers is a great idea. Be careful if you are pitting conventional vs. organic when you do this as you may find one particular company with issues of high bacterial content and it may not have anything to do with its original source, but merely that particular companies way of food processing, handling and packaging. You have a great project at hand, but you have a lot of studying to do. Donot loose focus on your project just because you want to go to the state convention.
lazydaysranch
February 13, 2012 at 1:21 am
Germ isn’t a very definitive term, you may want to do some research to find out what harmful bacteria may be found on foods (e.coli for example).
You can purchase bacterial test kits from science supply catalogs (a science teacher at your school will probably have catalogs, or look online). You will use a sterile swab of some type and then innoculate a culture medium. You then examine for bacterial growth after several hours (or days). Some kits require an incubator for culture and some don’t.
SkyLights90N
February 13, 2012 at 2:02 am