Colleges throughout the country are starting to serve organic foods to students.

Because of prohibitive costs, however, ISU Dining has not followed suit.

Serving organic foods has been considered at Iowa State in the past, but has never been approved for various reasons.

“The thing that always outweighs [serving organic] is price,” said Ryan Osterberger, food service manager at Union Drive Community Center.

Since organic products are grown without synthetic pesticides or chemicals, they are more labor-intensive.

Organically grown crops are often produced in smaller amounts than non-organic ones, and fewer farmers use organic methods.

The price of organic products reflects the higher demands on farmers.

“[Offering organic foods] would surely drive the food costs up across the board,” said Sally Barclay, clinician in food science and human nutrition.

“I think some ecologically minded students would like the fact that it was environmentally friendly, but as to whether they would want to pay the higher costs, I’m not sure.”

Another reason the university does not serve organic foods is a perceived lack of interest from students.

In the eight years he has worked at Iowa State, Osterberger said he’s never been asked about organic options.

“At this point, it’s just not a demand,” he said.

If a student feels there are not enough options for his or her particular diet, this concern should be made known to dining services so they can work to accommodate the student’s needs, he said.

There were a few vegan students who did not think there were enough options, so menus were made specifically for them, Osterberger said.

“If customers demanded that they wanted [organic foods] and would be willing to pay more, we would look into that option,” he said.

Over the years there has been discrepancy about what constitutes organic, leading to problems such as false labeling.

“We would have to define organic … I think there are varying definitions for organic foods,” said Dawn Fiihr, food services manager.

“Organic means different things to different people.”

Fifty-six percent of Americans believe organic foods are healthier than non-organic foods, according to the Natural Products Industry Insider, an organic foods industry publication, but this belief has been under investigation.

“Research shows that, nutritionally, there is no real evidence that organically grown produce is better or safer than conventionally grown produce,” Barclay said.

The nutritional benefits of organic foods may be controversial, but Barclay said there are other benefits widely agreed upon.

“Buying organic probably does benefit the environment, both air and water and also wildlife,” she said.

“It may be that there just isn’t enough hard evidence yet to show the health benefits and that as studies continue, we will begin to see real health benefits.”

What is organic?

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has developed its own definition of organic and developed organic labeling standards.

According to the USDA, animals used for organic products can never receive antibiotics or hormones. Organic farmers must produce food without conventional pesticides, various fertilizers, biological engineering or radiation. Food cannot be labeled organic until a USDA-certified inspector has approved the farming methods used.