A recent study concluded that organic food is not significantly more nutritious than conventionally grown food — but I never thought that was the point of growing food without pesticides.
I don’t particularly trust the American Academy of Pediatrics, but their recent report supports organic produce for the reasons I’d expect:
The pediatricians, who analyzed existing scientific evidence, also said there doesn’t seem to be much difference in the vitamin and mineral content between organic and conventional foods. (Though they say some organic produce does have more vitamin C and phosphorus.)
Still, children may benefit from organic produce because it isn’t grown with synthetic pesticides. The pediatricians cited several studies linking pesticide exposure to, for example, memory problems and cancer in adult farm workers and an increased risk of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in children.
They also noted one study that showed that switching to organic produce for just five days dramatically reduced the levels of pesticide residue in the urine of children who usually ate conventional produce.
They don’t recommend organic milk though:
Many parents buy organic milk because of concerns about growth hormone and estrogen often given to conventionally raised cows. But the pediatricians said growth hormone given to cows doesn’t affect humans. “Ingestion of milk from estrogen-treated cows appears to be safe for children,” they said, adding that there doesn’t seem to be much difference in the sex-hormone concentrations in organic and conventional milk.