Thoughts on eating all organic
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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".0 -
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.3 -
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!:)1 -
No difference in nutrition of conventional vs. organic but there IS a difference in pesticide residues.
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livingleanlivingclean wrote: »
I've seen it too!That's why I don't bother either, unless it's actually cheaper (which happens!).
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.)0 -
Recent polling suggests that publicizing the dirty dozen over recent years has actually caused people to reduce the amount of produce they eat. They are so afraid of pesticides they just avoid eating any of it rather than spending more for organic. Which is counterproductive and sad
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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.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!
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.0 -
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.kshama2001 wrote: »
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.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!
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.
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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.htmlDanny 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.0 -
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.
1 - 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.
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geneticsteacher wrote: »No difference in nutrition of conventional vs. organic but there IS a difference in pesticide residues.
Yup, the Dirty Dozen I buy organic or locally. We just have small family farms here - nothing like in the Michael Pollan article I linked above.0 -
I refuse to buy organic.
I'm in a Facebook group called GMOLOL which provides the many, many reasons not to buy organic food.
+1! Although I don't have a Facebook, I forgo anything that says organic. It's such a marketing scheme that does little more than help people lighten their wallet.3 -
There's pros and cons, neither of which have anything to do with nutrition.
Pros: A lot of small organic farmers make an honest effort to use responsible practices. When you're buying locally, it's good to support your local people who are trying to do the right thing. Many heirloom varieties are gosh darn delicious and should be tried for fun and to encourage crop diversity.
Cons: Big companies cash in on the organic craze and use lousy though technically qualifying practices, the results of which they can charge inflated prices. Additionally, organic pesticides are often non-biodegradable, unlike their synthetic counterparts. Food grown the old fashioned human interventionist ways are fine and often better than fine--sometime the organic crowd can be distressingly anti-science.5 -
Wow thanks for all the replies! Definitely learned a lot here ☺️1
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stevencloser wrote: »lynn_glenmont 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.
The guy who got sued that everyone heard about was proven to have done it on purpose.
It's about more than one guy and more than one case. And even if you think the courts have developed a fair way of deciding whether there is patent infringement liability (I don't), farmers who want to market their products as non-GMO can lose that ability when their crops are pollinated from nearby GMO fields, and have little or no recourse.
If somebody walks onto my property and paints my house puke green without my permission, I'd want to be paid damages, not told that I have to pay them for the paint and their labor.3 -
I refuse to buy organic.
I'm in a Facebook group called GMOLOL which provides the many, many reasons not to buy organic food.
Just a note to anyone reading this. Organic and nonGMO are different.
Just because you buy a food with a nonGMO label doesn't necessarily mean it's organic.
Back on topic. Ideally I want foods with the least amount of interaction with pesticides and hormones. Realistically? I don't really google every food before I purchase.
Sometimes GMO food is the better option.
Some organic foods taste better. Like milk.
Fruit from the farmer's market seems to taste better than fruit from the supermarket. But then the fruit is more likely to be small or have had a bug chewing on it at some point.
I don't know. It depends on the food. I'll continue buying organic milk and chocolate.2 -
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.
That's what had me puzzled.
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We buy organic or non-GMO (organic has to be non-GMO, but Non-GMO does not have to be organic) as much as possible (which amounts to about 80-90% of the time). We do so to avoid the worst pesticides (organic uses some) and with meat, the hormones and/or antibiotics often given to the animals. If I have to choose local vs. organic, I buy local. But that is almost always "organic" anyway even if they aren't certified (a lot of farmers/people use organic practices but don't want to pay for the organic label - it's expensive). Our beef is local raised, grass fed, non-hormone and antibiotic (we buy a half every year) - but not "organic" by certification. Our chicken is organic only. Our pork is not organic, but local and free range (yes, there is such a thing as free range pigs
). We are very picky. We've seen the pesticides and hormones in produce and meat directly affect the health of family so we are very careful. We grow and preserve as much of our produce as possible (using organic practices) and we have chickens we free range and feed organically for their eggs. To us, organic/Non-GMO foods taste better, but more importantly, our health is affected and we care more about that. 1 -
lynn_glenmont wrote: »stevencloser wrote: »lynn_glenmont 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.
The guy who got sued that everyone heard about was proven to have done it on purpose.
It's about more than one guy and more than one case. And even if you think the courts have developed a fair way of deciding whether there is patent infringement liability (I don't), farmers who want to market their products as non-GMO can lose that ability when their crops are pollinated from nearby GMO fields, and have little or no recourse.
If somebody walks onto my property and paints my house puke green without my permission, I'd want to be paid damages, not told that I have to pay them for the paint and their labor.
https://www.geneticliteracyproject.org/2016/01/04/gmo-patent-controversy-3-monsanto-sue-farmers-inadvertent-gmo-contamination/0 -
ronjsteele1 wrote: »We buy organic or non-GMO (organic has to be non-GMO, but Non-GMO does not have to be organic) as much as possible (which amounts to about 80-90% of the time). We do so to avoid the worst pesticides (organic uses some) and with meat, the hormones and/or antibiotics often given to the animals. If I have to choose local vs. organic, I buy local. But that is almost always "organic" anyway even if they aren't certified (a lot of farmers/people use organic practices but don't want to pay for the organic label - it's expensive). Our beef is local raised, grass fed, non-hormone and antibiotic (we buy a half every year) - but not "organic" by certification. Our chicken is organic only. Our pork is not organic, but local and free range (yes, there is such a thing as free range pigs ). We are very picky. We've seen the pesticides and hormones in produce and meat directly affect the health of family so we are very careful. We grow and preserve as much of our produce as possible (using organic practices) and we have chickens we free range and feed organically for their eggs. To us, organic/Non-GMO foods taste better, but more importantly, our health is affected and we care more about that.
Would you mind sharing how much your weekly grocery bill is eating this way? Back when I did my paleo experiment I really focused on organic/locally raised as much as possible and it doubled our grocery budget-and that was just me eating that way. I can't imagine feeding my family of 5 the way you do, with my $100 a week grocery budget, but maybe there's a way to do it that I'm not thinking of
eta: we do get free eggs from a relative that are free range during the warmer months, unfortunately they slow down producing eggs in the winter so I have to buy eggs at the store (which do have a different taste, yuck!).0
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