The city of Tartu has set a goal of providing as much organic food as possible in its schools and preschools. This aligns with a national initiative under which educational institutions can apply for support from the Agricultural Registers and Information Board (PRIA) if at least 20 percent of their ingredients are organically produced.

Ave Kutman, together with colleagues from the Tartu Health Care College and the Estonian University of Life Sciences, set out to examine whether and how much organic food in schools differs from conventional ingredients in terms of purity and nutritional content. She focused more narrowly on apples, potatoes and beef.

For ingredients to qualify as organic, they must meet strict criteria. The simplest definition excludes agricultural chemicals: "Organically grown food is food produced without any synthetic pesticides or fertilizers — everything must be purely natural," Kutman explained on the radio program Labor.

The research team sent 36 food samples to Eurofins LZV, a top laboratory in the Netherlands, to be analyzed for nearly 800 different pesticide residues. The results were surprisingly positive: not a single potato sample — organic or conventional — contained any pesticide residues. Kutman explained that, compared to the rest of Europe, Estonia's agricultural situation is particularly strong. "Potatoes, both organic and non-organic, were completely free of pesticide residues. We did not detect a single pesticide," the junior researcher emphasized.

While the results for potatoes were uniform, apples told a different story. No pesticide residues were found in organic apples, but 94 percent of the conventional apples analyzed contained small amounts of pesticide residues. The most commonly detected was captan, a fungicide. However, the study stressed that all detected amounts were far below the safety limits set by the European Union.

This supports Kutman's assertion that there is no cause for alarm, even when it comes to imported apples. "I dare say that if the apple is washed and peeled, there probably won't be any pesticides left at all," Kutman noted.

In terms of meat, the team focused only on beef, since it is practically the only type of organic meat that schools are able to provide. There is virtually no organic pork production in Estonia and the price of organic chicken is often out of reach for school meal programs. The general rule applies here as well: "Organic ingredients are significantly more expensive than conventional ones," Kutman said.

Unlike plant-based foods, meat was not tested for pesticide residues, as these generally do not accumulate in muscle tissue. However, the team did compare the nutritional content of the meat — but Kutman remained tight-lipped about the findings. "Since those results have not yet been published, I unfortunately can't go into detail on that topic," she said.

Is organic always more environmentally friendly

The studies reveal a dilemma: while organic farming is environmentally sustainable as a method of production, in the context of school meals it may not necessarily result in a smaller environmental footprint. In Tartu schools, the share of organic food has reached exceptionally high levels — at times up to 80 percent — raising concerns that local farmers may not be able to meet this demand year-round.

This is pushing catering providers to look beyond Estonia's borders. "Already today, menus often include organic bananas, lentils and rice, which are not locally sourced," Ave Kutman noted. This creates a situation where food is transported thousands of kilometers in the name of organic labeling, even though locally produced conventional food would be just as clean and have a significantly smaller carbon footprint.

As part of the same research project, scientists surveyed nearly 500 parents of Tartu schoolchildren to better understand their attitudes and willingness to pay. While 47 percent of parents believe organic food is healthier and regular organic consumers are willing to pay more for it, the organic label was not a decisive factor for most. Interestingly, one in five parents was unaware that their child's school even served organic food.

Kutman added that in a blind taste test, no one can tell whether a soup was made from organic or conventional carrots. "Parents value most that the food is tasty, varied, healthy and fresh — not necessarily that it's made from organic ingredients," the junior researcher said.

Based on the results, Kutman called on stakeholders to avoid extremes when developing the school food system. On one hand, offering organic food is a welcome goal. On the other, it should not come at the expense of affordability or environmental logic. If locally grown conventional food is, according to lab tests, as clean as organic, then favoring imported organic products may be a waste of resources. "I don't want to draw a rigid line that one is bad and the other is good — what matters is finding a golden middle ground," the junior researcher concluded.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and X and never miss an update!