“That First Step — Organic Food and a Healthier Future,” A Critical Issue Report

March 2009

Author(s): Dr. Christine McCullum-Gomez
Dr. Charles Benbrook
Dr. Richard Theuer

Overweight, obesity and diabetes are collectively the nation’s number
one public health problem. Effective interventions are urgently needed,
especially among children and adolescents, in order to improve human
well being and to slow, and hopefully soon, reduce growth in health
care costs.

This
“Critical Issue Report” describes six ways that organic food and
farming can contribute to reversing current trends in overweight,
obesity, and diabetes.

But most important, the report explains
why the conscious decision by individuals to purchase organic food
marks a critical first step toward a healthier diet and lifestyle.

For
many people, this first step is the beginning of a series of
incremental changes with important, long-run health benefits for
individuals, families, and society as a whole.

We have posted below:

• The report’s Executive Summary (6 pages, 514 KB);
• The full report (74 pages, 2.5 MB);
• Chapters 1, 2, and 3 (35 pages, 1.65 MB);
• Chapter 4, Appendix Table 1, and References (33 pages, 459 KB)

We
anticipate that many readers of the report will be most interested in
the subject matter covered in specific chapters, as well as the
Executive Summary. For this reason, we include at the beginning in each
chapter a section summarizing the chapter’s contents and major
findings.

For readers of the full report, be aware that major
findings are repeated in the Executive Summary, in each chapter’s
summary section, and again in the body of each chapter.

 

“That First Step” Executive Summary (PDF file, 8 pages, 539 KB)

“That First Step” Full Report (PDF file, 81 pages, 2.7 MB)

Chapters 1, 2, 3 (PDF, 35 pages, 1.6 MB)

Chapter 4, Appendix , References (PDF file, 41 pages, 2651 KB)