organic???

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wendyba626
wendyba626 Posts: 18
in Food and Nutrition
Does Organic food makes a difference in your diet?

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  • LittleNell107
    LittleNell107 Posts: 71 Member
    edited March 2015
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    Depends what you mean by "make a difference".

    I think it's fairly well known that there is no difference in nutritional profile between organic and non-organic produce - any difference will lie the in possible amount of chemical residues to which you subject your body.

    I live in the UK where the pesticide residue legislation is pretty strict - but I have to say, it's shockingly bad in the US! If your total artificial chemical load is of concern to you then, yes, eating organic will "make a difference"... but as for losing weight - I don't know, I'm not aware of any weight loss/gain implications from eating non-organic.

    If you're concerned and you eat non-organic just make sure you give any fruit and veg you plan to eat with the skin a good scrub :)

    EDITED TO ADD: I personally chose organic where possible, but I'm not religious about it. Having worked in food safety testing in the past, I know a bit too much about it for my own good ;)
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I don't bother with organic. I refuse to pay the higher prices for inferior produce just because the company that grew it were wealthy enough to go through the years of testing and were able to pay the fees needed to get certified. I do buy direct from small farmers when possible and many grow with little to no herbicides and pesticides, but cannot afford to get certified.
  • vixtris
    vixtris Posts: 688 Member
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    I get organic in some things, and some not. Its not really for weight loss, its more about not eating the chemicals used in the process of growing/preserving the food. I feel like the less chemicals I take in like that the better. I don't really 'feel any difference' between choosing organic, I just like to know that those organic things I did choose aren't putting any harm on my body.
  • neanderthin
    neanderthin Posts: 10,017 Member
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    earlnabby wrote: »
    I don't bother with organic. I refuse to pay the higher prices for inferior produce just because the company that grew it were wealthy enough to go through the years of testing and were able to pay the fees needed to get certified. I do buy direct from small farmers when possible and many grow with little to no herbicides and pesticides, but cannot afford to get certified.
    Where I live it's all small independent farmers selling produce and many are organic, but that doesn't effect my buying. Most specialize in a particular crop or 3 and if they're organic I'm buying organic from them, but most are not but they all practice responsible farming, so it's a non issue really. Price is always (most of the time) cheaper for organic compared to the stores organic and sometimes cheaper than the non organic is the box stores. Winter is a tough time buying anything that resembles the taste of summer.

  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    neanderthin wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    I don't bother with organic. I refuse to pay the higher prices for inferior produce just because the company that grew it were wealthy enough to go through the years of testing and were able to pay the fees needed to get certified. I do buy direct from small farmers when possible and many grow with little to no herbicides and pesticides, but cannot afford to get certified.
    Where I live it's all small independent farmers selling produce and many are organic, but that doesn't effect my buying. Most specialize in a particular crop or 3 and if they're organic I'm buying organic from them, but most are not but they all practice responsible farming, so it's a non issue really. Price is always (most of the time) cheaper for organic compared to the stores organic and sometimes cheaper than the non organic is the box stores. Winter is a tough time buying anything that resembles the taste of summer.

    That is like where I am too. You can only get fresh produce directly from the farmers for 4 months out of the year, otherwise you need to rely on the stores.

  • apparations
    apparations Posts: 264 Member
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    I try to buy organic where possible, however many times the quality is much poorer than the rest-- at least when it comes to produce at the grocery store. So if you're concerned about pesicides and etc, use your best judgement. I don't want to pay twice as much for wilted veggies just because they're labelled organic. But this is the off season, during summer selection is much better around here. I have an organic farmers market in my neighbourhood and it's wonderful and local.
  • wizzybeth
    wizzybeth Posts: 3,578 Member
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    I used to go out of my way for organic stuff...and I do like to buy local veggies and stuff at the farmer's market (though they may NOT be organic!! Just because they're local!) And a lot of the things that are packaged in stores as organic may not be as organic as you think...government follow up and inspetctions of organic providers is not that great...

    http://www.alternet.org/story/94146/is_your_organic_food_really_organic

    http://www.abc15.com/news/local-news/investigations/is-organic-produce-really-chemical-free-abc15-investigation-puts-organics-to-the-test

    http://www.cornucopia.org/2014/02/leading-organic-brand-horizon-blasted-betraying-organics/

    I'm not willing to pay more $$ for something that "might" be organic and depends on the integrity of the food supplier to live up to the label. I buy some things labeled organic because I like the product for some treason, like Stonyfield Farm Low Fat French Vanilla Yogurt - I like it because it does not have artificial sweeteners. Not because I think it's really organic. I have no idea if it is or if it isn't.
  • lynndot1
    lynndot1 Posts: 114 Member
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    There are a lot of misconceptions on organic food. Probably one of the biggest is that organic food = no pesticides. While some brands may not use any pesticides, many do - organic pesticide. So people only wanting to buy organic because "they don't spray anything" are way off the mark, haha. Especially big brand organic companies I promise you they spray plenty, they just spray "certified organic" chemicals, and use organic fertilizer and herbicides. It's funny because you end up using more of the organic chemicals to achieve the same effect you would with smaller concentrations of conventional products.

    Anyway regardless of that, any residue that ends up on your food is negligible, organic or conventional. There's a fun website http://www.safefruitsandveggies.com/ where you can look up just how much of something you'd have to eat before experiencing any effects from pesticides. Spoiler alert: You'd need to eat more food than you could ever eat in one day, haha. The danger just isn't there...

    If you want to discuss the lasting effects of pesticide on the environment, and the fact that they take a long time to degrade then yes, that is an issue. But unfortunately, it's an issue for organic pesticides as well, and as of yet we haven't come up with a system to feed 7 billion people without some help.

    I also have serious issue with the organic regulations in regards to livestock, mostly that you aren't allowed to treat animals if they fall ill, which means you either wait for them to die, kill them, sell them, or treat them and then have to sell them as conventional which kills any profit for the farmer...but that's for another discussion.

    Long story short, if you want to eat organic because you like the taste/brand/whatever, hey cool. There are some foods I buy the organic versions of because they have what I want. Trail mix for instance, it's hard to get trail mix that doesn't have salt and added sugars in it, but the organic section usually pulls through. Same with some cereal we like. But if your only reasoning for organic food is "it's healthier" I suggest you look up some articles before making that decision and taking the hit on your wallet.

    Some reading:

    http://www.safefruitsandveggies.com/
    http://extension.arizona.edu/sites/extension.arizona.edu/files/pubs/az1603.pdf
    http://www.eufic.org/page/en/show/latest-science-news/fftid/no-difference-nutritional-value-organic-vs-conventional-foods-systematic-review/
    http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/organic-food-no-more-nutritious-than-conventionally-grown-food-201209055264

  • shaumom
    shaumom Posts: 1,003 Member
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    lynndot1 wrote: »
    ...Anyway regardless of that, any residue that ends up on your food is negligible, organic or conventional. There's a fun website http://www.safefruitsandveggies.com/ where you can look up just how much of something you'd have to eat before experiencing any effects from pesticides. Spoiler alert: You'd need to eat more food than you could ever eat in one day, haha. The danger just isn't there...

    A word of caution on that website - it's probably not the best source of information on pesticide residue. The group that sponsors it is called the Alliance for Food and Farming and is essentially a group funded by primarily conventional fruit and vegetable grower associations plus groups like the Produce Marketing Association. They make money if more people buy conventional produce, in other words. So definitely not objective, and in arguments, they seem more focused on studies that show how people react to the idea of pesticides more than studies on the pesticides themselves.


    The nutritional value thing - yeah, not really that much difference. It's mostly pesticide residues to avoid, antibiotics, and such. Organic foods have a ton of chemical residues as well, which can be pretty nasty, and because it's a business, there's always exceptions and exemptions and regulations that add chemicals IN to organics, too.

    Like organic almonds - they all have a rather nasty anti-fungal used on them, just like conventional. It's nationally mandated that they have to. Imported organic almonds do not, however. Organic bananas are allowed to use a ripening gas that no other organic produce is. Organic and conventional strawberries are grown in fields that have a really nasty anti-fungal used on them - one that our country had an agreement to BAN, with a few rare exceptions...that basically became a ton of exceptions because all the farming companies wanted to keep using it and our regulatory agencies are pretty craptastic - because they have an exemption for it.


    At this point, I interview farmers and find out what they use. Most of the time, you'll find really organic produce with these small farmers that are not certified, because they have to pay a few thousand a year to GET certified. Admittedly, they make a huge difference in my diet, but that's because I have a sensitivity to some of the chemicals used in pesticides AND in organic pest control agents, so I kind of had to figure this out. :-)

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