Thoughts on eating all organic

stealthq

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.

MichelleWithMoxie

three words: waste of money.

crazyycatlady1

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).

JeromeBarry1

The lowering life expectancy for 40-64 y.o. white Americans is due to narcotic drug addiction, not anything in any food. When ADM (A giant American commodity agricultural firm) is the root cause of a human die-off, we'll have abundant early evidence of it.

savithny

Yeah, when you can get "Organic" cheerios and cereal bars and hot dogs? The comparison is not "organic" vs. "Processed." It's "Organic" vs. "conventional" meaning conventional agriculture.

I eat a fair amount of organic food, but not because someone slapped a label on a box of English muffins.

From June to October, most of my veggies are organic because I am a member of a CSA that is run by an organic farm. I get a weekly box of whatever is in season from a local farm. But I'm doing this to support local agriculture and eat fresh and seasonal foods, not because its "organic."

A lot of my meat, eggs, and dairy also comes from local farms. In this case its not "organic" because most of the meat producers around here have not chosen to get certified for various reasons. It's truly free range and pasture-fed, and I buy it for both ethical and health reasons.

At the grocery store I am unlikely to bother with "organic." I dont' think the differences in vegetables and grains are noticeable or worth the additional costs, and the benefits to animals of small farms are very much reduced if you're trying to produce "organic" pork or eggs for Walmart or Costco.

daltontf

I appreciate people looking seriously about what is in their food and where it came from, however just like other aspects of fitness and nutrition subject to zealotry and quackery (e.g. "Food Babe").

karahm78

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

mazdauk wrote: »

Actually this is based on my long service for Defra - the UK agriculture department - including 3 years in the department dealing with additives and "novel foods" (their title at the time). I have no objection to GMOs for beneficial purpose such as disease resistance, but not to allow the rest of the plant life to be blasted out of existence with expensive pesticides herbicides (from the same company) and the consequential detriment to insect life and ultimately the planet. If that is too complicated, watch "The Bee Movie"

FIFY.

Although I do agree about the point of the same companies selling the herbicide and the herbicide-resistant crop seed (and then suing for patent infringements when non-GMO crops get "infected" by being pollinated from nearby GMO fields). I also have concerns about the effects this approach has on biodiversity.

I buy a mix of organic and traditional foods, although I prioritize buying local over buying organic. When available and affordable, I'll buy organic dairy and meat partly for me, partly for animals (theory, if they can't maintain health through massive dosing of prophylactic antibiotics and foster growth through hormones, then they have to maintain health and foster growth through healthy living conditions); cage-free eggs partly for me (better omega 3 to omega 6 ratio) and partly for chickens; some organic produce, mostly for farm workers exposed to non-organic herbicides and pesticides, partly for the environment, although for large-scale farming, I doubt it makes much difference.

Yes this! Except for we have our own eggs from our backyard hens, as "local" as you can get and these chickens live like kings LOL.

AnvilHead

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.

The_Enginerd

mazdauk wrote: »

Most of the arguments against organic are orchestrated by the big pesticide/GMO companies - many GMOs are developed to allow heavy applications of pesticides without killing the crop.

LOLOLOL! Yes, there is no scare mongering of traditional agriculture and GMOs by the organic industry, and dubious (and debunked) claims of nutritional superiority of organic products by the organic industry.

BedsideTableKangaroo

organic is a buzzword so people will accept the higher price. simply marketing.

BlueSkyShoal

I mostly eat organic food. Partly out of health concerns, partly because I think it's generally better for the wildlife that live on or near farmland.

Also a lot of the small farmers who show up at the farmers market grow organically, and I like supporting local business.

nutmegoreo

amr4job7410 wrote: »

Hey guys, sup? I think you can grantee organic food than non organic specially in fruits and vegtables. Some farmers do inject the fruits with special type of hormons.

Say what?

lemurcat12

crazyycatlady1 wrote: »

I don't purposely seek out organic, unless it's on sale for cheaper than the conventional option. I do like supporting local farmers though, so when possible I buy locally grown/raised (usually during the summer months).

This, and the farms I mostly buy from are organic, but I don't particularly care about organic on its own. Off-season, like now, I rarely buy organic produce.

Nothing to do with processed, obviously.

MichelleWithMoxie

nutmegoreo wrote: »

amr4job7410 wrote: »

Hey guys, sup? I think you can grantee organic food than non organic specially in fruits and vegtables. Some farmers do inject the fruits with special type of hormons.

Say what?

lol. right?

ndj1979

"organic" is just a ploy to get people to over pay for something that they don't need and provides zero additional benefit...

VioletRojo

I think it's more important to buy locally grown, than it is to buy organic. I grow as much of my own food as I can, and I raise chickens for eggs and meat. If I had more space I'd do more. As it is, I have to buy most of my produce, so buying it from local farms means that it hasn't lost all it's nutritional value being transported from South America. But I realize that I'm very fortunate to live in a place that grows most of the produce for the country.

cross2bear

I think its a magnificently effective marketing tool, to call something organic. Unless you have medically or ethical reasons to do so, I dont think its worth the money. You will never be able to absolutely quantify the benefits (or lack of) by eating one way or the other. For a lot of people, it simply represents a status thing, as organic stuff is often far pricier than the non organic.

BlueSkyShoal

I wanted to add that to me buying ethically grown / raised food is more important to me than buying organic. When I buy something, I support it. And there's a lot of crap going on in the food industry that I just don't want to support, even in a small way. A lot of the companies who care enough about ethics to get "certified sustainable palm oil" or whatnot also get organic ingredients anyway, though; so in a way buying organic food is often a side effect of my other choices, even in cases where it's not super important to me.

Rusty740

Once you take off the label, it's mostly the same.

Strawblackcat

I've found that starting topics like this on MFP is roughly equivalent to throwing yourself onto hot coals, but I'd advise not to bother, for future reference. Just personal opinion.

I do try to eat organic foods when I can afford to. My first priority usually goes towards meat, dairy, and other animal products, which I usually try to buy locally first, and then will buy organically if local isn't an available or financially viable option. I do this mostly because organically-raised animals have slightlybetter standards of treatment. At the very least, they can't be given antibiotics while on the farm, so I imagine that conditions must be at least marginally more sanitary. Plus, it's not contributing to antibiotic resistance, which is a plus for me.

After that, I try to prioritize fruits and vegetables that have been studied to contain the highest amounts of pesticide residue. I worry more about things where I eat the peel (ex:apples & grapes) than I do things that I normally peel (oranges and pineapples).

Processed foods get prioritized last. If there's extra money for them, or if I really feel like having a treat, I sometimes treat myself to a box of organic cookies, or a tub of organic ice cream or something. Normally, though, there isn't any extra money left, and I just make similar products myself at home.