Thoughts on eating all organic

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Replies

  • dfwesq
    dfwesq Posts: 592 Member
    Francl27 wrote: »
    That's why I don't bother either, unless it's actually cheaper (which happens!).
    I've seen it too! :) I don't know why or how, but it does happen.

    There are certain fruits and vegetables that I try to buy organic because I just like the taste better. I don't know why they taste different - maybe it's a different strain of plant, or where they're grown, or maybe what they use on it is different. I'd rather eat organic strawberries, carrots, or celery than non-organic. Organic bananas also taste different to me, though not necessarily better.

  • rosebarnalice
    rosebarnalice Posts: 3,488 Member
    For ethical reasons, I try to support local agriculture, participate in a CSA, and "vote" for organic food production by buying it.

    But for budgetary reasons, I do still purchase some mass-produced packaged foods, although the percentage of my cupboard and fridge that are produced by Food, Inc shrinks on a regular basis.

    I ALWAYS buy organic celery, carrots, bok choy, napa cabbage, almond milk, and chicken. I USUALLY buy organic tomatoes and fruit (and avoid them completely when out of season.) I NEVER buy organic diet soda :-)
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    edited April 2017
    I'll admit I buy organic veggies we eat a ton of them with vegan/vegetarian/pescatarians in the family. We have a local farmers market where I get most of them cheaper than I can get regular at the grocery store. I get eggs from my son who has chickens but I also buy store bought when he doesn't have enough and I go for the cage free, non hormone blah blah.

    When my granddaughter is here my son only likes her to have organic cheese among other things but I do not buy organic cheese for myself.

    So maybe I'm wasting my money but it does seem like my organic food spoils much faster than non organic. And I think there is a placebo effect in that I feel like its better for me:)

    ETA - I always make spelling and typo's.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    I don't think organic tastes different than non organic (and I'm not sure why it would unless different varietals, which is possible but should be apparent in the store). However, I do think local tastes better usually and in season and there are varieties I like better. It's most dramatic with tomatoes, but it's a big difference with strawberries too -- I used to never buy strawberries since I thought I didn't like them much, until I started growing some and buying them at the green market and then I found the strawberries of my childhood again. (Plus I like being able to get different varieties and compare them like one does with apples.) Out of season, though, I think all strawberries one can get at the grocery store are mediocre, so just get the frozen ones, which are fine and quite a bit cheaper.

    Never noticed much of a difference with celery or carrots, personally, beyond the joy and freshness of a carrot one pulls up from the ground oneself.

    On the other hand, the pork I buy from a local farm is more delicious than anything I've gotten from a store, but I know that's nothing to do with "organic" (although the farm is) or even local, but the breed of pig. Unlike the beef, which tends to be leaner, the pork has more fat, but it's worth it.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
    I'm a fan of organics. I will always choose organic if it's of at least similar quality and price. I prefer to grow much of my own organic produce because then I know exactly what has and has not been used in the growing.
  • bienemajamfp
    bienemajamfp Posts: 32 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    I eat a lot of USDA organic foods. But not because they are supposedly healthy. IMO they taste much better. Much more flavor and not loaded with added sugars.

    So an organic apple has no added sugars, but a non-organic one is loaded with them? Sounds legit.

    Eeeehm, did I talk about organic fruits? There are plenty of foods like cereal etc with the organic label, that taste better than regular ones. I don't even eat any fruit!
  • bienemajamfp
    bienemajamfp Posts: 32 Member
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    I eat a lot of USDA organic foods. But not because they are supposedly healthy. IMO they taste much better. Much more flavor and not loaded with added sugars.

    So an organic apple has no added sugars, but a non-organic one is loaded with them? Sounds legit.

    Eeeehm, did I talk about organic fruits? There are plenty of foods like cereal etc with the organic label, that taste better than regular ones. I don't even eat any fruit!

    You said "organic foods" without any further specification. Fruit is a food and if it's grown organically, it's an "organic food". Which illustrates the problem with sweeping, generalized statements.

    True, I should have listed each product individually and not have said "A lot of organic food". Holy .....!
  • sarochka85
    sarochka85 Posts: 103 Member
    Yuppie food.
  • BusyRaeNOTBusty
    BusyRaeNOTBusty Posts: 7,166 Member
    I didn't read all the replies, but no, I don't think eating organic is better for you.

    https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2012/09/little-evidence-of-health-benefits-from-organic-foods-study-finds.html
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    I eat a lot of USDA organic foods. But not because they are supposedly healthy. IMO they taste much better. Much more flavor and not loaded with added sugars.

    So an organic apple has no added sugars, but a non-organic one is loaded with them? Sounds legit.

    Eeeehm, did I talk about organic fruits? There are plenty of foods like cereal etc with the organic label, that taste better than regular ones. I don't even eat any fruit!

    Lots of cereals without an organic label lack added sugar. I'm a fan of oatmeal (hate cold cereal) and eat steel cut oats that aren't labeled organic, but have no other ingredients. I don't know why you'd think that being organic says anything about sugar content.
  • bienemajamfp
    bienemajamfp Posts: 32 Member
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    I eat a lot of USDA organic foods. But not because they are supposedly healthy. IMO they taste much better. Much more flavor and not loaded with added sugars.

    So an organic apple has no added sugars, but a non-organic one is loaded with them? Sounds legit.

    Eeeehm, did I talk about organic fruits? There are plenty of foods like cereal etc with the organic label, that taste better than regular ones. I don't even eat any fruit!

    Lots of cereals without an organic label lack added sugar. I'm a fan of oatmeal (hate cold cereal) and eat steel cut oats that aren't labeled organic, but have no other ingredients. I don't know why you'd think that being organic says anything about sugar content.

    Just comparing nutrition labels a lot and pick the food with the least amount of sugar. Very often organic is the winner. But not always!
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    crazyycatlady1 wrote: »
    stealthq wrote: »
    I only buy organic if it's the only option or I just happen to like the product better.

    I just realized - this usually happens because I'm looking for smaller fruits and veg. Apples of certain varieties that also fit the USDA's 'medium' standard or sweet potatoes that aren't the size of a baby's head. Those are worth it to me because I don't end up with as much spoilage. And in the case of the sweet potato, don't have to wait for hours for the damn thing to bake.

    Slice it up into fries and it cooks a lot faster (around 20 minutes).

    Yes, of course, but I don't actually like sweet potato fries either baked or fried.

    I like loaded baked sweet potatoes loaded up with salty and/or spicy, savory goodies. This is pretty much the only way I like sweet potato.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    AnvilHead wrote: »
    bienemajamfp wrote: »
    I eat a lot of USDA organic foods. But not because they are supposedly healthy. IMO they taste much better. Much more flavor and not loaded with added sugars.

    So an organic apple has no added sugars, but a non-organic one is loaded with them? Sounds legit.

    Eeeehm, did I talk about organic fruits? There are plenty of foods like cereal etc with the organic label, that taste better than regular ones. I don't even eat any fruit!

    Lots of cereals without an organic label lack added sugar. I'm a fan of oatmeal (hate cold cereal) and eat steel cut oats that aren't labeled organic, but have no other ingredients. I don't know why you'd think that being organic says anything about sugar content.

    Just comparing nutrition labels a lot and pick the food with the least amount of sugar. Very often organic is the winner. But not always!

    People likely to look for "organic" in a packaged product are probably more likely to read labels and care about sugar than the average consumer, so that many of them might be lower than average sugar for the product makes sense, but if you want to avoid added sugar it's pretty easy to do it and still eat all conventional produce/products. I don't eat a lot of packaged stuff (and that I do, like plain oats and dried pasta and plain greek yogurt, etc., has no added sugar anyway), so when you were talking about sugar I also assumed you meant produce and was confused/interpreted it as AnvilHead did.
  • dbanks80
    dbanks80 Posts: 3,685 Member
    First thing that comes to mind...expensive
  • livingleanlivingclean
    livingleanlivingclean Posts: 11,751 Member
    dfwesq wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    That's why I don't bother either, unless it's actually cheaper (which happens!).
    I've seen it too! :) I don't know why or how, but it does happen.

    There are certain fruits and vegetables that I try to buy organic because I just like the taste better. I don't know why they taste different - maybe it's a different strain of plant, or where they're grown, or maybe what they use on it is different. I'd rather eat organic strawberries, carrots, or celery than non-organic. Organic bananas also taste different to me, though not necessarily better.

    I used to eat bok choy a lot in stir fry.... Until I bought some organic ones and realised it actually had a taste, and the taste was horrid. Never again...
  • misskarne
    misskarne Posts: 1,765 Member
    sarochka85 wrote: »
    Yuppie food.

    This.

    I can't afford organic food and I'm quite convinced that most of it is the same bog-standard stuff anyway, they just whacked a label on it to get more money out of the snobs who think they're superior by eating "organic".
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,149 Member
    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    I just binged on the three pink grapefruit. They were from a neighbor's backyard and I could not stop at one. I think backyard fruit is even better and tastier than organic! Yay me!

    I used to love eating food I stole from the neighbors.
  • leanjogreen18
    leanjogreen18 Posts: 2,492 Member
    zyxst wrote: »
    Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »
    I just binged on the three pink grapefruit. They were from a neighbor's backyard and I could not stop at one. I think backyard fruit is even better and tastier than organic! Yay me!

    I used to love eating food I stole from the neighbors.

    Free food does taste best!:)
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
    No difference in nutrition of conventional vs. organic but there IS a difference in pesticide residues.

    y2tuiadu96wp.jpg
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
    livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
    dfwesq wrote: »
    Francl27 wrote: »
    That's why I don't bother either, unless it's actually cheaper (which happens!).
    I've seen it too! :) I don't know why or how, but it does happen.

    There are certain fruits and vegetables that I try to buy organic because I just like the taste better. I don't know why they taste different - maybe it's a different strain of plant, or where they're grown, or maybe what they use on it is different. I'd rather eat organic strawberries, carrots, or celery than non-organic. Organic bananas also taste different to me, though not necessarily better.

    I used to eat bok choy a lot in stir fry.... Until I bought some organic ones and realised it actually had a taste, and the taste was horrid. Never again...

    I like bok choy! I get it from a local farm and the taste is a plus.

    (Of course, people have different tastes, I realize this. ;-) I am pretty much a fan of all members of the cabbage family. It really doesn't taste that different than the boy choy I sometimes buy at the grocery store, though.)
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    ryleenicholeee wrote: »
    I've noticed that I have been eating mostly organic foods.. including boxed food like cereals,oatmeals, and crackers. I was wondering what people thought about eating organic vs processed foods!
    More cost. Nutritionally, there's no significant differences. The body can't tell if you pick a fruit off a tree yourself or if you bought it from a grocery store.

    Well, since the taste buds are part of the body I'm going to have to disagree. The bananas I picked in Costa Rica were far superior to what I can buy at a supermarket, even when I was in South Florida.

    When in season, I buy apples and stone fruit like peaches locally and again, big difference. I won't buy out of season stone fruit. I have to wait a few months to buy apples or they will be a big disappointment.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,989 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    ninerbuff wrote: »
    ryleenicholeee wrote: »
    I've noticed that I have been eating mostly organic foods.. including boxed food like cereals,oatmeals, and crackers. I was wondering what people thought about eating organic vs processed foods!
    More cost. Nutritionally, there's no significant differences. The body can't tell if you pick a fruit off a tree yourself or if you bought it from a grocery store.

    Well, since the taste buds are part of the body I'm going to have to disagree. The bananas I picked in Costa Rica were far superior to what I can buy at a supermarket, even when I was in South Florida.

    When in season, I buy apples and stone fruit like peaches locally and again, big difference. I won't buy out of season stone fruit. I have to wait a few months to buy apples or they will be a big disappointment.
    Taste is subjective though. Nutritional value wise, really no difference. I do get that some MAY eat more of something if it tastes better to them though.

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  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    misskarne wrote: »
    sarochka85 wrote: »
    Yuppie food.

    This.

    I can't afford organic food and I'm quite convinced that most of it is the same bog-standard stuff anyway, they just whacked a label on it to get more money out of the snobs who think they're superior by eating "organic".

    Not one single person I know who buys organic does it to feel superior. O_o They are concerned about pesticides.

    I grow kale. I use the approved-for-organic pesticide Bt. Still, it is very difficult to keep the cabbage worms away. And so during the winter when I buy kale at the supermarket I buy organic.

    Compare Bt:

    http://www.bt.ucsd.edu/organic_farming.html

    Bt proteins has been used in many organic farms for over 50 years as a microbial pest control agent (MCPA). Bt proteins are allowed in organic farming as a insecticide because Bt is a natural, non-pathogenic bacterium that is found naturally in the soil. Bt has also been found to be safe to all higher animals tested.

    To how potatoes were conventionally grown at the time of the following article. (One of the pesticides, Monitor, has since been voluntarily removed from the market after California signaled increased regulation to protect farm workers was forthcoming. It had "been found to cause neurological damage.") One of the potato farmers in the article grows organic potatoes for his family's use and does not eat those that he grows conventionally.

    http://www.nytimes.com/1998/10/25/magazine/playing-god-in-the-garden.html
    Danny Forsyth laid out the dismal economics of potato farming for me one sweltering morning at the coffee shop in downtown Jerome, Idaho. Forsyth, 60, is a slight blue-eyed man with a small gray ponytail; he farms 3,000 acres of potatoes, corn and wheat, and he spoke about agricultural chemicals like a man desperate to kick a bad habit. ''None of us would use them if we had any choice,'' he said glumly.

    I asked him to walk me through a season's regimen. It typically begins early in the spring with a soil fumigant; to control nematodes, many potato farmers douse their fields with a chemical toxic enough to kill every trace of microbial life in the soil. Then, at planting, a systemic insecticide (like Thimet) is applied to the soil; this will be absorbed by the young seedlings and, for several weeks, will kill any insect that eats their leaves. After planting, Forsyth puts down an herbicide -- Sencor or Eptam -- to ''clean'' his field of all weeds. When the potato seedlings are six inches tall, an herbicide may be sprayed a second time to control weeds.

    Idaho farmers like Forsyth farm in vast circles defined by the rotation of a pivot irrigation system, typically 135 acres to a circle; I'd seen them from 30,000 feet flying in, a grid of verdant green coins pressed into a desert of scrubby brown. Pesticides and fertilizers are simply added to the irrigation system, which on Forsyth's farm draws most of its water from the nearby Snake River. Along with their water, Forsyth's potatoes may receive 10 applications of chemical fertilizer during the growing season. Just before the rows close -- when the leaves of one row of plants meet those of the next -- he begins spraying Bravo, a fungicide, to control late blight, one of the biggest threats to the potato crop. (Late blight, which caused the Irish potato famine, is an airborne fungus that turns stored potatoes into rotting mush.) Blight is such a serious problem that the E.P.A. currently allows farmers to spray powerful fungicides that haven't passed the usual approval process. Forsyth's potatoes will receive eight applications of fungicide.

    Twice each summer, Forsyth hires a crop duster to spray for aphids. Aphids are harmless in themselves, but they transmit the leafroll virus, which in Russet Burbank potatoes causes net necrosis, a brown spotting that will cause a processor to reject a whole crop. It happened to Forsyth last year. ''I lost 80,000 bags'' -- they're a hundred pounds each -- ''to net necrosis,'' he said. ''Instead of getting $4.95 a bag, I had to take $2 a bag from the dehydrator, and I was lucky to get that.'' Net necrosis is a purely cosmetic defect; yet because big buyers like McDonald's believe (with good reason) that we don't like to see brown spots in our fries, farmers like Danny Forsyth must spray their fields with some of the most toxic chemicals in use, including an organophosphate called Monitor.

    ''Monitor is a deadly chemical,'' Forsyth said. ''I won't go into a field for four or five days after it's been sprayed -- even to fix a broken pivot.'' That is, he would sooner lose a whole circle to drought than expose himself or an employee to Monitor, which has been found to cause neurological damage.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I've never bought organic because I perceived it to be more nutritious, but because of my concerns about pesticides, food additives, and the environment.

    http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/organic-food/art-20043880?pg=2

    Organic food: Is it more nutritious?

    Probably not, but the answer isn't yet clear. A recent study examined the past 50 years' worth of scientific articles about the nutrient content of organic and conventional foods. The researchers concluded that organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs are not significantly different in their nutrient content.

    Organic food: Other considerations

    Many factors influence the decision to choose organic food. Some people choose organic food because they prefer the taste. Yet others opt for organic because of concerns such as:
    • Pesticides. Conventional growers use synthetic pesticides to protect their crops from molds, insects and diseases. When farmers spray pesticides, this can leave residue on produce. Organic farmers use insect traps, careful crop selection (disease-resistant varieties), predator insects or beneficial microorganisms instead to control crop-damaging pests. Some people buy organic food to limit their exposure to these residues. Organic produce typically carries significantly fewer pesticide residues than does conventional produce. However, residues on most products — both organic and nonorganic — don't exceed government safety thresholds.
    • Food additives. Organic regulations ban or severely restrict the use of food additives, processing aids (substances used during processing, but not added directly to food) and fortifying agents commonly used in nonorganic foods, including preservatives, artificial sweeteners, colorings and flavorings, and monosodium glutamate.
    • Environment. Some people buy organic food for environmental reasons. Organic farming practices are designed to benefit the environment by reducing pollution and conserving water and soil quality.
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