Fascinating! Are there any rebuttals to the comments available? I'm particular interested in the replies to:
Synthetic insecticides may or may not be worse, part of the problem is that synthetic pesticides do not primarily work by mutagenesis like many natural ones to. They are neurotoxins (organophosphates, pyrethrins, DDT, carbamates), endocrine disruptors (juvenile hormones).
As I'm more concerned about neurotoxicity (if any) than carcinogens
The claim is a bit misleading. Pyrethrin is in fact a natural pesticide, derived from chrysanthemums; the pyrethroids are semisynthetic derivatives of pyrethrin and work similarly. Phytoestrogens are a huge class of natural endocrine disruptors, although they are probably not nearly as potent or specific as the ones used for insect control.
It's also worth noting that insects have very different neurochemistry from vertebrates, and some of the neurotoxic pesticides affect receptors that vertebrates don't seem to have at all.
I've been wondering whether there's any solid evidence that organic food is healthier than conventionally produced food-- the arguments I've seen on the subject have been theoretical/aesthetic.
I'm interested in anything in the range from personal stories to scientific studies, but would prefer to avoid extremely general arguments or claims that people who prefer one or the other are demonstrating character defects.
Edited to add: Thanks for the replies. I'm hoping for experiments which test the effects of food produced in various ways on organisms, especially multi-cellular organisms. It was interesting to find out that plants which have to fight off insects for themselves have more mutagens.
The mutation experiment is very cute, but it leaves out the possibility of damage that isn't related to mutation-- for example, hormonal effects. Also, if it's done on a standard bacteria acquiring the ability to make a particular nutrient, this might not be a test for mutation in general.
I realize experiments on organic vs. conventional would be difficult, especially if you're tracking human health. It would be very hard to avoid confounding factors like other lifestyle factors and income.
"Conventional food" is actually a large blob of a concept-- different pesticides, fertilizers, etc. are used on different foods at different times, so finding out what people are actually exposed to would be difficult.