Picking a can of black beans is likely one of the most mundane grocery store tasks. Unless, of course, the choice is between organic and non-organic beans.

    At a Manhattan Whole Foods （ WFMI - news - people ）, the store sells in-house non-organic and organic 15-ounce cans for $.89 and $1.09, respectively. But it also offers several brand-name organic beans that range between $2.19 and $2.39.

    The added cost for organic beans seems like a small price to pay for a product that's supposedly better for you and the planet. Yet recent developments have called this trade-off into question, and that has once again put organics at the center of an ongoing debate about the American diet.

    In Depth: Seven Things to Know About Organic Food

    In 2008, consumers spent $23 billion on organic food. The market, which grew by 16% last year, is seen by many as an alternative to the practices of industrial agriculture; organic food is largely produced without pesticides, synthetic fertilizers, hormones and antibiotics. And though most organic food producers don't bill their products as more nutritious than conventionally grown food, the organic label tends to confer increased health benefits.

    Yet according to a recent comprehensive review published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, there is no evidence to support the claim that organic food has higher quantities of vitamins and minerals. In addition to that finding--contested by many organic food advocates--the USDA announced this month that it would audit the National Organic Program, which develops standards and accredits organic certifiers. The decision came at the behest of industry members who say the integrity of the program had been compromised in recent years with less-than-uniform guidelines.

    去雜貨店選擇一罐黑豆可能是的一項最平凡的任務。當然，這并不是是在有機豆子和無機豆子之間進行選擇。

    在曼哈頓的 Whole Foods（完全食品市場公司-消息-通訊錄）,這家商店在內部分別以 0.89 美元和 1.09 美元出售非有機的和有機的 15-盎司豆類罐頭。但是它也提供幾種范圍在 2.19 美元和 2.39 美元之間的名牌有機豆類，.

    為有機豆類增加費用似乎是為一種對于您以及這個星球假定更好的產品付出一個小的代價。然而，最近的事態發展已經對這種通過交換賣掉的方式發生疑問，并且再次把有機食品放到正在進行的有關美國人飲食的爭論的中心。

    人們逐漸地了解到關于有機食品的七個事情

    ……

    2008年，消費者們在有機食品上花費了 230 億美元。很多人看到了這個去年增長了 16% 的市場，視為產業農業習慣做法的替代；有機食品主要是不用農藥、化肥、激素和抗生素生產的。不過大多數有機食品生產商并沒有列出其產品比常規方式生產的食物有更多的營養成分，有機標簽趨向于賜予增加的健康益處。

    然而，根據最近發表在《美國臨床營養學雜志》上的綜合評論說，并沒有證據能支持這種說法，即有機食品具有更高數量的維生素和礦物質。在這個發現之外--許多有機食品提倡者所爭辯的---美國農業部在這個月宣布，它將對全國有機計劃項目進行審計，該項目制定標準并且向有機證明者授權。這個決定是應產業成員們的要求而作出的，他們說，在近年來，該項計劃的完整性已經受到不統一的指導方針的損害。