Is organic food really any better than conventional?

Depends how you define better. For me, it does taste better, I now won't buy meat unless it's from a known supply chain, preferably organic. What drew it out was after having eaten locally source organic beef and then buying a good cut from the supermarket. It was very disappointing, and frankly no more expensive than buying from the farm shop.

The other aspect for me is about sustainability in farming, so again as much as possible from places that I know and understand. Animal welfare is important to me, as is impact of the farm on the environment. Organic farms have their own impact, but it's more acceptable to me than the large monocultures.

You can find surveys that support both the better and no difference camps, so that's a bit moot.

Note that for me organic would mean soil association accredited.

ndj1979 wrote: »

SallyinIL wrote: »

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Depends how you define better.

Good point. By "better" I'm meaning better for my health.

No doubt the organic tomato my husband grows in the back yard tastes worlds better than the conventional one I buy in the store.

Interesting thoughts. Thank you.

why would the tomato from the garden be better from the one in the store??? Please explain the difference...

In general, from my experience, the smaller the produce is, the more flavourful it is.

However, food from the garden would taste better because it ripened on the plant instead of in a box. This alone makes it taste infinitely better.

As for organic vs. non-organic. It's mostly marketing hype. There is no nutritional difference between the two.

The only difference is there is no synthetic pesticides, fertilizer, or anything of the like used in organic food.

However, pesticides are still used. They're just natural pesticides. They are less effective as synthetic and your food is more likely to be contaminated by some sort of bug.

Also remember: Arsenic is naturally occurring. It's organic!

SallyinIL wrote: »

MeanderingMammal wrote: »

Depends how you define better.

Good point. By "better" I'm meaning better for my health.

No doubt the organic tomato my husband grows in the back yard tastes worlds better than the conventional one I buy in the store.

Interesting thoughts. Thank you.

The difference in the tomato you're tasting might not be the "organic" but the locally-grown, ripe from the source difference of your tomato compared to one flown in from abroad, picked when it's not quite ripe, sitting in the supermarket for however many days.

Health-wise? It's sort of TBD.

For example, you will likely get fewer pesticide residues on organic produce but just because something is organic does not mean that it is pesticide-free. The conventional produce you'll find will not have unsafe levels of synthetic pesticides (according to the EPA). And some organic pesticides, like solanine can make you very sick. Organic manure can spread E. coli. Food contains bacteria, and there's always some sort of health risk. Anecdotally, I got salmonella from a locally-grown organic cage-free egg.

As of right now, it has not been determined whether organic foods have more nutrients than non-organic. The studies that say that there are nutritional advantages (more vitamins, antioxidants, etc) to organic have differences that are so small that they are unlikely to have an impact on overall nutrition.

ndj1979 wrote: »

why would the tomato from the garden be better from the one in the store??? Please explain the difference...

Grocery store tomatoes are bred and handled for color and ability to stand up to shipping, not so much for taste. That's why they're often bland and watery.

http://www.exploratorium.edu/theworld/gm/taste.html

ninerbuff wrote: »

Nutritionally, no. Taste, maybe. Supporting your local farming community, definitely.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Yup, this. No extra nutrition benefits. (although, certain veg that tend to carry pesticide residues there can be tangental benefits...I'd peel a conventional carrot, for example, but just wash and eat an organic one, so I get tiny amounts of extra fiber, etc from my organic carrot.)


Organic food in a grocery store is not likely to taste better than conventional. If you are looking for better taste, you'd be better off prioritizing locally grown instead of organics. (Although for people that live in a climate like mine, locally grown is only really an option for a small part of the year.) What makes that backyard tomato taste so good? It was likely bred and hybridized for taste and not for shippability and long shelf life, as the mass-grown grocery varieties generally are. Also, long-shipped tomatoes are generally picked slightly underripe and kept in cold storage. Your backyard tomato wasn't picked until ripe and then was hopefully not refrigerated, so the taste and texture will be far superior.

I live in an area where modern suburbia mingles with centuries-old family farms. I choose to buy from my local organic farmers because I want to support their businesses, because I am glad that there is less environmental impact on our local rivers and aquifer, and, in the case of animal-derived products, because I can see that the livestock is being raised and kept humanely and responsibly.

Magic for my body? nah. but healthy for my community, so, I'm in.

I went through this same questioning a few years back and for me what I decided on-

-focus on locally grown/produced things during growing season and then flash freeze as much as possible (especially blueberries and corn)

-off season months focus on conventional frozen produce because it's frozen soon after it's picked, vs traveling across country and may not be in good condition by the time arrives to my store

-buy a few un-frozen things in off season months, that I can't get frozen (bananas, apples and mushrooms mostly)

-buy organic if it's a similar price. Meijer and Aldi both have decent organic options and sometimes it's the same price or even cheaper. But, organic is a pretty low priority for me-I just make sure to wash everything before using and then don't worry about it

ninerbuff wrote: »

Nutritionally, no. Taste, maybe. Supporting your local farming community, definitely.

This is my take.

I buy local and in-season when possible because I think it tastes better and I do like to support small farmers and the broader surrounding community, and frankly you are better off with frozen than produce carted in from far away, picked unripe, etc., from a nutritional perspective (although I think it's all fine and tend to buy the non frozen from far away stuff in the winter anyway, since I think it cooks better than frozen for how I use it). The sources I use for local also happen to be organic in many cases and that's often part of the marketing efforts for the local farms I like to support, but I don't personally care much about whether it's organic or not and wouldn't go out of my way or pay extra for organic in a grocery store.

It's fun to garden too, but I don't have the space to get too much that way.

There is a difference between organic and being locally grown. I like to purchase organic vegetables that are locally grown and sold at farmer's markets in the area when I can.