This book is the result of a multidisciplinary workshop, which met in 2008 to address three key questions: Are there quantifiable effects of organic rather than conventional produced food on human health? How might the environment impact on these possible health benefits? How do the public perceive these benefits?
As such it is an interesting and timely snapshot of our understanding of these issues with well-written articles from respected authors in many areas relevant to human health ranging from the effect of n-3 fatty acids to dietary flavonoids to selenium (both as a benefit and a threat) to contaminants in foods.
I found Stockdale and Watson's article describing what constitutes organic farming very interesting and of great value, especially for students, as a summation of the current views. Also, the excellent articles on the effects of flavonoids on human health (Spencer et al.) and on the effects of the environment on the regulation of flavonoid accumulation (Jenkins et al.) are of immediate and long-lasting value for my own research. Although the book is necessarily limited by the set-up of the original workshop, the choice of authors and the breadth of topics explored are excellent. As such, I would recommend this book to research institutes and university departments involved in relevant research fields. I have one slight quibble. The title surely requires a question mark as the overwhelming message from the contributors is that there is little current evidence for the assumption that organically produced food is healthier than conventionally produced foods.