Organic Food, Pesticides And Cancer

Steven Novella has posted on organic food, pesticides and cancer risk.  His conclusion:

While the overall issue of organic farming is complex with many sub-issues, the question of health benefits is perhaps the easiest to answer at this time. After decades of research there is no evidence for any health benefits to eating organic vs conventional food. Nutritional value is either slightly higher or not significantly different in organic produce, but even with a generous interpretation is not clinically significant.
The issue of pesticides has not been completely resolved, but at present the levels of pesticides in conventional produce is likely to be below safety limits, and there is no real reason to conclude that “organic” pesticides are any safer. Further, the most effective means of minimizing pesticide exposure is simply to thoroughly wash your fresh produce.