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If money was no issue... organic.

just_Tomekjust_Tomek Posts: 6,830Member Member Posts: 6,830Member Member
in Debate: Health and Fitness
I go to Whole Foods here in Mississauga for meat only. No other market around has better quality meat. None. Its the only thing I buy there unless I see something on a crazy good sale because of prices. As I walk around I see ppls carts and at checkout spending 100s of $$$ for what could be had for half at local grocery store. Im pretty sure people are willing to spend their money there on everything because of labels such as organic, healthy etc.

My question is.... if money was no issue for you, would you be buying organic, grass fed, pastured etc.? Or would you still stick to what you buy now. I will be honest, I dont know and I only shop for myself.
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Replies

  • PhirrgusPhirrgus Posts: 1,891Member Member Posts: 1,891Member Member
    I honestly don't know. I can be a bit of a spend thrift at times so probably not.

    Unsure
  • PapillonNoirePapillonNoire Posts: 48Member Member Posts: 48Member Member
    If money were no object, I think I would just buy whichever item I saw first whether it be organic or not. My goal would be to get out of the store as quickly as possible. Though I suppose if money is no object I could probably pay someone to go for me. And in that case I would leave it to their discretion on buying organic since I can't taste the difference.
  • PhirrgusPhirrgus Posts: 1,891Member Member Posts: 1,891Member Member
    PapillonNoire wrote: »
    If money were no object, I think I would just buy whichever item I saw first whether it be organic or not. My goal would be to get out of the store as quickly as possible. Though I suppose if money is no object I could probably pay someone to go for me. And in that case I would leave it to their discretion on buying organic since I can't taste the difference.
    That's a good point to. The wife and I are not fans of being stuck in a crowded market. Nope.
  • lemurcat2lemurcat2 Posts: 3,165Member Member Posts: 3,165Member Member
    just_Tomek wrote: »
    I go to Whole Foods here in Mississauga for meat only. No other market around has better quality meat. None. Its the only thing I buy there unless I see something on a crazy good sale because of prices. As I walk around I see ppls carts and at checkout spending 100s of $$$ for what could be had for half at local grocery store. Im pretty sure people are willing to spend their money there on everything because of labels such as organic, healthy etc.

    My question is.... if money was no issue for you, would you be buying organic, grass fed, pastured etc.? Or would you still stick to what you buy now. I will be honest, I dont know and I only shop for myself.

    I'd buy what I do now, but I already spend more than I have to on some stuff, for reasons that make sense to me.

    For what it's worth, I often buy produce at WF during the off-season (when I can't get much from the green market and don't get a farm box), and it's not inherently expensive. You can buy conventional at WF and I usually do. It has a better overall selection of produce than most other groceries that I go to, so when I'm there I tend to pick up a bunch of stuff (I tend to go on the weekend with my car, vs. my closer stores where I am always on foot).

    I don't get meat there, however, since one of my closer stores is a really good meat market with a decent selection of produce and a bunch of specialty items. I buy there because I like their sourcing and they are a genuine local business. (I buy the majority of my meat from farms, however.)

    WF also has a wider variety of things in some areas than my main grocery, but then the grocery has a wider selection in some other areas (like middle eastern things). I get oil and vinegar mostly from another local store, same with many speciality items. (I live near a good local shopping area with lots of shops and prefer to shop there as much as possible.)

    I am not motivated by organic (or labels, I think the 365 label is on some good things that are not totally expensive in reality, but I don't think it's a status symbol, obviously). I am motivated by other things that I wouldn't assume everyone cares about or should.
  • zeejane03zeejane03 Posts: 993Member Member Posts: 993Member Member
    savithny wrote: »
    I shop at my local farmers market and take a number of steps to buy local (and sometimes organic) produce, locally-raised meats (that are grassfed but not organic, because organic meat farming is a complex process for small local farmers), etc. And I buy organic milk, but not other dairy, for various reasons.

    I don't believe there's any benefit to organic processed foods like cereal, chips, breads etc. I'm not convinced that the benefits to either me or the planet are worth the costs of buying organic bread, flour, sugar, etc. So I don't do that.

    I'm doing this while feeding my family on USDA Thrifty Food Plan budget levels. It's possible. It requires a lot of meal planning, shopping from a specific list, and some up-front purchases like joining a CSA to pre-buy my veggies from a local farmer from June to October (and then eating what I get rather than going out to buy different stuff). The meat from local farmers is all frozen because they freeze immediately after slaughter/butchering, so you have to plan in advance to thaw what you need. We also stretch meat with greens and legumes. And we make a lot of stuff ourselves from scratch instead of prepared meals or pre-prepped ingredients.

    So: Money is a huge issue for us right now, and I'm still choosing to spend more of it than I might otherwise to get *some* organic/local/free range/etc products. But I wouldn't go to Whole Foods to do it, because there are much cheaper ways to get there -- I'm probably spending less for the food I buy than many people spend on all-conventional groceries.

    I haven't looked at that in a while so just took a peek, I wish lol. The Thrifty plan puts our family at 194.80 a week. Our grocery budget is $100 a week and that includes non-food items like pet food, cleaning/laundry supplies, tp/paper goods etc. My kids also do their schooling at home so they do not receive subsidized hot lunches etc. Some of those numbers are nuts!
    edited March 25
  • Sunshine_And_SandSunshine_And_Sand Posts: 1,217Member Member Posts: 1,217Member Member
    I wouldn't buy organic just for the sake of buying organic. I occasionally buy Amy's Organics TV dinners because I think they taste good, and I feel organic or not has nothing to do with that.
    If money was no consideration, I MIGHT consider buying some organic meats and produce IF they were the ones that look the best. I also might still refuse to buy it because of the overly jacked up prices.
    We are in a position to have our house paid off soon, and there are still a lot of "Dream vacations" I'd prioritize over insisting on organic stuff all the time, so I'm not sure I'll ever get to the point of money not being a consideration.
  • quiksylver296quiksylver296 Posts: 25,473Member Member Posts: 25,473Member Member
    daltontf wrote: »
    quiksylver296 wrote: »
    I would not buy organic. I do already buy "hormone-free" chicken breast because it seems to have a better texture.

    All chickens in the US have no added hormones: http://extension.msstate.edu/publications/publications/chickens-do-not-receive-growth-hormones-so-why-all-the-confusion

    Any feedback about antibiotic free chicken?

    Maybe it's antibiotics. That's how much attention I pay to that kind of stuff.
  • aokoyeaokoye Posts: 2,817Member Member Posts: 2,817Member Member
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    PapillonNoire wrote: »
    If money were no object, I think I would just buy whichever item I saw first whether it be organic or not. My goal would be to get out of the store as quickly as possible. Though I suppose if money is no object I could probably pay someone to go for me. And in that case I would leave it to their discretion on buying organic since I can't taste the difference.
    That's a good point to. The wife and I are not fans of being stuck in a crowded market. Nope.

    I like to shop later at night because of this. Maybe an hour or an hour and a half before closing. Everything is quieter and the employees seem happier despite being very much ready to go to home (in part because there are fewer people but probably also because they see the light and the end of the tunnel). There is just a sheer lack of people and the people who are there seem to have the same idea as I do - get groceries quickly and leave.

    Farmers market on the other hand...now that's chaotic - especially in the summer. In the winter it's not nearly as bad, but the summer is a joke.
    edited March 25
  • aokoyeaokoye Posts: 2,817Member Member Posts: 2,817Member Member
    Remoth wrote: »
    Nope, organics is an example of how marketing can affect the way people think into paying more for pretty much the same stuff. It feeds the whole "natural is better" fallacy when we should really be concerned with how to produce more and better food with the available resources and advances in technology while moving to be ever more sustainable in the long term. Instead, they would rather concentrate on fear-mongering campaigns that make people believe that just because you can't pronounce an ingredient/product with a "scary name", that means it's bad for you. Guess what? All foods can be broken down into chemical compounds which are hard to pronounce, "scary even".

    The organic industry/supporters has harmed the production of helpful products in the past that can improve the quality of and save many lives around the world. (Eg, golden rice with the increased beta-carotene levels to help prevent blindness in third world countries) This industry should not be endorsed in any way. May scientific advancement triumph over fear of the misunderstood and misrepresented.

    I'm almost positive people who opposed golden rice did so because of their opposition to genetic engineered food, not because of their opposition of conventionally farmed food. I did a quick google search and this seems to be the case. Being anti GMO and pro organic farming practices are two different things. For the sake of clearing up some potential misunderstandings, there are people who are opposed to both "conventional" farming practices and GMOs, but they are ultimately two different issues.

    And no, I don't have strong feelings about either of these issues.
    edited March 25
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