Organic food - I buy it, but why?

[il d00d]

Taking some thread jackage from the John Deere thread...

Whenever possible, and especially with the food for the kiddos, I buy organic.  I am completely OK with the idea that the advertised benefits do not necessarily equal the actual benefits. I buy it because I like the idea of sustainable agriculture and husbandry, fewer or no pesticides, and because I love the tangy smell of patchouli.   But, it is something I'll admit that I probably haven't spent enough time researching.

So, venerable contributors to the DMF, please inform me of the benefits of organic, both to me the consumer and farmers, land, environment etc.  Or why you think it is flim-flam.

[Triple J]

I don't know about vegetables...I do buy the organicc baby food though. The extra cost is minimal.

I buy hormone free milk, because cows shouldn't be pumped full of shit to produce milk.

Organic, or Natural, meats have more/better flavor in my experience, so I buy those when I can. Here that means I just go to the nice grocery store for my meats, as that is what they carry...and their meat is far superior in every aspect. I will also only buy ground beef that has been ground by the butcher at the store...not the mass produced crap that comes from the slaughterhouse.

Some people will bash it...whatever. I figure the less shit/chemicals you put in your body the better off you are. I purposely avoid products with ingredient list that I can't pronounce and/or that take up half of the box.

Local is always better as well.

[lethe]

I eat only hormone laden, irradiated, pesticide and MSG filled processed foods.
When they release the disease and pestilence from the labs, my body will be immune but you organic eating weenies will all die off quick.

[triangleforge]

Unlike motorcycles, a topic on which I actually have some relevant experience! Back when I worked on Capitol Hill, my boss offered the House-side amendment to the 1990 Farm Bill that became the Organic Foods Production Act -- those little green and white stickers that read "USDA Organic" represent a couple of years of my working life!  (Senator Leahy of Vermont was chair of the Senate Ag committee and the author of the bill; I was in charge of negotiating similar language on the House side that could win in a floor fight over the objections of the leadership of the House Ag Committee.)

Seeing the word "natural" bludgeoned into meaninglessness by the mass market gave the farmers who'd spent 40 years developing organic practices a strong incentive to try to codify use of the word organic. Our big objective with the legislation was this: how do you ensure that the word "organic" in retail trade between strangers (as opposed to face-to-face, farmers market sales) really means something?

The basic thing to know about the organic standard in the U.S. is that it is a production standard, requiring farmers to use only certain practices on their farms and be verified as such by an independent, third-party certifier. While research is indicating some differences in the final product between organic & conventional products, that green and white label only guarantees that the food inside was produced in accordance with a particular set of standards. The USDA's description in their consumer literature is actually pretty good: What is organic food? Organic food is produced by farmers who emphasize the use of renewable resources and the conservation of soil and water to enhance environmental quality for future generations.  Organic meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy products come from animals that are given no antibiotics or growth hormones.  Organic food is produced without using most conventional pesticides; fertilizers made with synthetic ingredients or sewage sludge; bioengineering; or ionizing radiation.  Before a product can be labeled ‘organic,’ a Government-approved certifier inspects the farm where the food is grown to make sure the farmer is following all the rules necessary to meet USDA organic standards.  Companies that handle or process organic food before it gets to your local supermarket or restaurant must be certified, too.

Note that organic farmers still use pesticides & fertilizers -- they're just restricted to a list of approved, non-synthetic substances (some natural substances - arsenic is the one I remember - are also explicitly forbidden by the organic standard). Just as important, the standards push farmers toward sustainable practices instead of sprays or other products; for example, tillage instead of herbicides, cover crops, integrated animal/plant systems & rotations instead of synthetic fertilizers, and all kinds of wild things (mesh row covers, co-cropping, beneficial insects/birds/etc.) instead of synthetic insecticides.

If your biggest concern is chemical residues in the food you're eating, yeah, organic is PROBABLY lower, but there aren't any guarantees of that, mainly because pesticide residues in U.S. food are generally pretty low to begin with (in our rivers & surface water? that's a whole 'nother thread...). Low enough that it's not something that occupies much or any of my limited brain power, since I'm neither pregnant nor an infant.

Generally (but not always), organic produce can be more flavorful; shortly after the legislation passed, I was on a panel with Nell Newman and other organic food luminaries (my star only burned bright for a month, maybe...  ) speaking to organic retailers. I tried to get across the message that if they managed to produce an organic tomato that tasted like styrofoam, they'd have failed. While there's some pretty unpalatable stuff out there, I'd say most organic producers and retailers understand that their price premium is partly because of flavor.

Personally, I buy organic when the price differential isn't too outrageous and if I think it'll taste better than the conventional alternative. I do that because I prefer the practices that go into organic production. My favorite way to buy is local, at farmers markets and the like, where I know the growers and can talk to them about how they grow their produce or meat -- hardly any of them are "certified" organic under the federal program, and I'm just fine with that.

[NoisyDante]

Wow, thanks for that response triangleforge.  I've been making the choice to buy organic when possible for the last 10 years or so, my reasons were for potentially lower levels of or weaker pesticides.  Even if it isn't as much of a difference as I thought, I'd imagine there is still some benefit in going organic.

[Grappa]

Generally speaking, I think there isn't any concrete evidence that organic produce is better for you.  Doesn't mean that it isn't, just that nobody has conclusively proved that it is better for you.  However, there is much research, I believe, that organic/sustainable farming is better for the soil and the ground water, streams, creeks, rivers, and eventually the ocean.  The best tasting produce that I have had has always been the stuff I grow in the backyard.

[RAT900]

I dunno...I guess it makes us feel good to opt for the healthier item

speaking personally for me to eat organic is like taking an aspirin to mitigate a brain tumor

I was born in 1951 so my level of craptamination makes switching to pesticide-free organic healthy foods near about as moot as it can get

[Howie]

My preference is organic, and, if possible , local.  If the organic stuff is not good I don't buy it.  Much of the flavor in the fruits and vegetables comes from the nutrients the  crop contains.  No flavor, no nutrition. 

[Popeye the Sailor]

The best tasting produce that I have had has always been the stuff I grow in the backyard.

+1. I grow as much stuff out back as I can.



It's worth the effort, if you have the space.

[cyrus buelton]

I buy whatever is on sale.


5.99$ for a pound of broccoli at Whole Foods is make the beast with two backsing assnine.

[ducpainter]

Everyone has their reasons to buy whatever they choose..

Locally produced foods, many of which are organic many not, are generally better tasting, fresher, and have more of the vitamins that whatever that food is noted for left in the plant.

Vegetables that are picked before they're ripe, packed in a box, and spend 2 or 3 weeks in a refrigerated trailer on their way to your local wholesale market and then another week in your grocers cooler are about as good and good for you as cardboard IMO.

Lot's of people are fine with that.

Make your choice.

[RAT900]

I like locally produced White Castle sliders

good for you too!!! see link to nutritional values!!!!   


http://www.whitecastle.com/nutrition

[SacDuc]

I dunno...I guess it makes us feel good to opt for the healthier item

speaking personally for me to eat organic is like taking an aspirin to mitigate a brain tumor

I was born in 1951 so my level of craptamination makes switching to pesticide-free organic healthy foods near about as moot as it can get

Then you should eat it solely for the taste. There is a reason the best restaurants in the US use fresh organic veggies when ever possible. They taste better.

Don't take my word for it. When you stop at the grocery store this week buy an organic tomato and a conventional tomato and eat them side by side.

My wife and I are starting to take this one step further and are growing/preserving some of our food ourselves. I know I can grow a tomato that tastes better than anything I can get in the stores.

sac


/our chickens show up in May 

[Speedbag]

I eat only hormone laden, irradiated, pesticide and MSG filled processed foods.
When they release the disease and pestilence from the labs, my body will be immune but you organic eating weenies will all die off quick.

And, once you do finally die, you'll never decompose! 

[lethe]

And, once you do finally die, you'll never decompose! 

I can be my own monument.