{"id":33763,"date":"2013-04-18T12:45:14","date_gmt":"2013-04-18T12:45:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/?p=33763"},"modified":"2013-04-18T12:45:14","modified_gmt":"2013-04-18T12:45:14","slug":"article_27382","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly"},"content":{"rendered":"

For related articles and more information, please visit OCA’s All About Organics Page<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.<\/p>\n

Three years later, Ria’s exploration of fruit flies and organic foods has not only raised some provocative questions about the health benefits of organic eating, it has also earned the 16-year-old top honors in a national science competition, publication in a respected scientific journal and university laboratory privileges normally reserved for graduate students.<\/p>\n

The research, titled “Organically Grown Food Provides Health Benefits to
\n\tDrosophila melanogaster<\/span><\/a>,” tracked the effects of organic and conventional diets on the health of fruit flies. By nearly every measure, including fertility, stress resistance and longevity, flies that fed on organic bananas and potatoes fared better than those who dined on conventionally raised produce.<\/p>\n

While the results can’t be directly extrapolated to human health, the research nonetheless paves the way for additional studies on the relative health benefits of organic versus conventionally grown foods. Fruit fly models are often used in research because their short life span allows scientists to evaluate a number of basic biological effects over a relatively brief period of time, and the results provide clues for better understanding disease and biological processes in humans.<\/p>\n

For her original middle-school science project, Ria evaluated the vitamin C content of organic produce compared with conventionally farmed foods. When she found higher concentrations of the vitamin in organic foods, she decided she wanted to take the experiment further and measure the effects of organic eating on overall health.\u00a0 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[2],"organicbytes":[],"countries":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nIs Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly - Organic Consumers<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly - Organic Consumers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Organic Consumers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/organicconsumers\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"OCA\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@organicconsumer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@organicconsumer\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"OCA\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"OCA\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/17936886bc35620784b0838870381700\"},\"headline\":\"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly\",\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\"},\"wordCount\":285,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"All About Organics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\",\"name\":\"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly - Organic Consumers\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/\",\"name\":\"Organic Consumers Association\",\"description\":\"Campaigning for health, justice, regeneration, peace, and democracy.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Organic Consumers Association\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/OCA.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/OCA.png\",\"width\":640,\"height\":290,\"caption\":\"Organic Consumers Association\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/organicconsumers\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/organicconsumer\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/organicconsumers\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@organicconsumer\/\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/17936886bc35620784b0838870381700\",\"name\":\"OCA\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/csrtech.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/author\/rayj\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly - Organic Consumers","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly - Organic Consumers","og_description":"When Ria Chhabra, a middle school student near Dallas, heard her parents arguing about the value of organic foods, she was inspired to create a science fair project to try to resolve the debate.","og_url":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/","og_site_name":"Organic Consumers","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/organicconsumers","article_published_time":"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00","author":"OCA","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@organicconsumer","twitter_site":"@organicconsumer","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"OCA","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/"},"author":{"name":"OCA","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/17936886bc35620784b0838870381700"},"headline":"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly","datePublished":"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/"},"wordCount":285,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#organization"},"keywords":["All About Organics"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/","url":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/","name":"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly - Organic Consumers","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-18T12:45:14+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/article_27382\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Is Organic Better? Ask a Fruit Fly"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/","name":"Organic Consumers Association","description":"Campaigning for health, justice, regeneration, peace, and democracy.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#organization","name":"Organic Consumers Association","url":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/OCA.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/OCA.png","width":640,"height":290,"caption":"Organic Consumers Association"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/organicconsumers","https:\/\/x.com\/organicconsumer","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/organicconsumers\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@organicconsumer\/"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/#\/schema\/person\/17936886bc35620784b0838870381700","name":"OCA","sameAs":["https:\/\/csrtech.com"],"url":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/author\/rayj\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33763"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33763"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33763\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33763"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33763"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33763"},{"taxonomy":"organicbytes","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/organicbytes?post=33763"},{"taxonomy":"countries","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/organicconsumers.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/countries?post=33763"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}