Do you buy organic?

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24

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  • zrmac804
    zrmac804 Posts: 369 Member
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    No, it's too expensive where I live. I do buy free-range eggs and eat mainly vegetarian meals because I don't want to abet animal cruelty
  • ShaunMc1968
    ShaunMc1968 Posts: 204
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    Things like stocking density and access to pasture are not "organic" issues, but are simply welfare standards. There are several certification schemes that cover that too.

    Yep, you are right most assurance schemes have set stocking densities for example RSPCA Freedom Foods allows laying hens to be stocked at 9 birds per square metre of housing - That is the Freedom Foods Standard (put 9 items of similar size to a hen in a metre square and see the amount of room they have). Organic Standards allow no more than 6 birds per square metre. Therefore,technically this is an organic issue.
  • ShaunMc1968
    ShaunMc1968 Posts: 204
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    Further, despite what most people believe, comprehensive government field testing to ensure the integrity of certified-organic crops and livestock does not occur. I have a problem with this.

    Simple.:bigsmile:

    Who pays my wages then?

    Organic Integrity is given by Certification - if you go to a farmers market and something is advertised as Organic ask to see their Organic Certifcate or ask for their Certification details. It is illegal to sell anything as Organic which is not produced on Registered Organic Land. It is a legal claim and prosecutable under Trading Standards Legislation if someone sell a product without proper Certification.

    Regards,
    S.
  • nhhartmann
    nhhartmann Posts: 30 Member
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    This is my job - I inspect organic and conventional farms for a living. There are certain things which people should definately buy as organic:
    1: Eggs - conventional and free range egg farmers use chemicals in the feeds called Synthatic Amino Acids - some of these are banned in the human food chain as they are carcinogens (can cause cancer) - ironically they can be used in monogastric (single stomach) animal feeds. These chemicals are banned from organic animal feeds.
    2: Milk - conventiol farmers have no restriction on the amount of processed compound feed given to dairy cows - in fact they do not even have to have access to pasture - this means on some dairy farms cattle never set foot in the fields. On orgnaic farms they have to have a minimum of 60% forage on a daily basis and they have to have access to pasture when weather permits. Due to the 60% forage rule most organic dairy farmers feed red clover silage which is high in protein but as a side health benefit this also generates more omega oils in the milk produced.
    3: Fruit and veg if you can afford it - some conventional lettuce for example can be sprayed 10 x - sprays banned in organic production systems.
    4: meat if you can afford it especially pork and chicken - if you have ever seen a broiler house containing 30 - 100,000 birds you would never buy conventional poultry again. Organic birds have to have access to pasture and the stocking densities are massively different. Also pigs in conventional intensive systems is awful - fed and live on slatted floors with a slurry pit underneath them. Organic pigs ahve to have to have access to pasture, wallows and shade - their is nothing finer than seeing an organic pig rooting around a field.
    5: GM depending on your belief and morals. 90% of conventional animals feed will contain GM modified organisms. These are outrightly banned in organic production. Use will result in instant de-certification of all production enterprises in contact with the GM product including fields which the animals have been on.

    Hope this helps to enlighten your decisions,
    S.

    Thanks for this and it's good to see there are people inspecting these for a living. I have heard a lot of people comment "how do you know it's organic" and "you're just paying for a label" - so it's nice to see you are out on the front lines.

    There are also lists of fruits and veg that should be organic versus those that don't necessarily need to be (like broccoli and asparagus).

    http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02984/Foods-You-Dont-Have-to-Buy-Organic.html
    http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/ART02985/Foods-You-Should-Always-Buy-Organic.html
  • txlissa62
    txlissa62 Posts: 128
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    I've started buying more organic in the past year or so. It coincided with my decision to incorporate more fruits and vegetables in my diet, and cut way back on processed foods.

    I buy my eggs from the farmers market. Bonus - pretty colors, and the yolks are incredibly rich. I can definitely tell a difference. I've recently been buying bacon there, too. It's incredibly lean and tastes so much better! Plus it doesn't have nitrates added. I buy almost all my veggies there, too, and have gotten to know the people who grow them, which I really enjoy.

    For the rest of my produce and meat, I buy organic whenever possible. Lately I've been buying grass-fed beef, and really love it. It's better for us, much leaner, and really tasty. The chicken I buy is raised in humane situations (no overcrowding), 100% vegetarian fed and no antibiotics or hormones added, but is not certified organic. Our local Fresh Market frequently has it on sale for $2.99/lb, so I stock up.

    A while back, my husband was looking for a snack. He opened the pantry door and said, "There is no food here - only ingredients." (He was joking - he eats even healthier than I do.)
  • ZeroWoIf
    ZeroWoIf Posts: 588 Member
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    I am not honestly concerned with organic food. With that said, there are many products out there that are attractive to me based on what is inside of them. WIth that said, I find that those products contain less crap than the rest of the products that I see. Such as organic/whole meal pasta for example. Or pasta sauce made from tomato sauce with low levels of sodium.
  • alladream
    alladream Posts: 261 Member
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    YES, always when I can get it. I want to support farmers that do not use the chemicals that are killing us and the plants etc. off and making us weird and fat and unhealthy.
  • Hezzietiger1
    Hezzietiger1 Posts: 1,256 Member
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    I buy organic milk because it lasts about 2-3 weeks longer in my refrigerator. I also buy organic fruit if the fruit does not need to be peeled. If it needs to be peeled, like bananas, I don't worry about it. I know I should buy organic chicken-but my dad is in upper management at a Tyson plant and so we get gigantic discounts and I pay about 10% of what you do for my chicken. So I stick with the regular stuff and pretend like I don't know anything about it. Veggies I tend to buy frozen.
  • NewLIFEstyle4ME
    NewLIFEstyle4ME Posts: 4,440 Member
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    This is my job - I inspect organic and conventional farms for a living. There are certain things which people should definately buy as organic:
    1: Eggs - conventional and free range egg farmers use chemicals in the feeds called Synthatic Amino Acids - some of these are banned in the human food chain as they are carcinogens (can cause cancer) - ironically they can be used in monogastric (single stomach) animal feeds. These chemicals are banned from organic animal feeds.
    2: Milk - conventiol farmers have no restriction on the amount of processed compound feed given to dairy cows - in fact they do not even have to have access to pasture - this means on some dairy farms cattle never set foot in the fields. On orgnaic farms they have to have a minimum of 60% forage on a daily basis and they have to have access to pasture when weather permits. Due to the 60% forage rule most organic dairy farmers feed red clover silage which is high in protein but as a side health benefit this also generates more omega oils in the milk produced.
    3: Fruit and veg if you can afford it - some conventional lettuce for example can be sprayed 10 x - sprays banned in organic production systems.
    4: meat if you can afford it especially pork and chicken - if you have ever seen a broiler house containing 30 - 100,000 birds you would never buy conventional poultry again. Organic birds have to have access to pasture and the stocking densities are massively different. Also pigs in conventional intensive systems is awful - fed and live on slatted floors with a slurry pit underneath them. Organic pigs ahve to have to have access to pasture, wallows and shade - their is nothing finer than seeing an organic pig rooting around a field.
    5: GM depending on your belief and morals. 90% of conventional animals feed will contain GM modified organisms. These are outrightly banned in organic production. Use will result in instant de-certification of all production enterprises in contact with the GM product including fields which the animals have been on.

    Hope this helps to enlighten your decisions,
    S.


    Wonderful post--thanks so much OP for asking and for you S. for this answer/reply!


    YES! I buy just about everything I eat organic...it's expensive as all get out though to do so (but I look at it as helping the organic farmers/businesses as well as myself and my family) and many times the foods listed here on the MFP food diary data-base doesn't always have "organic" option listed (and I'm sometimes too lazy to enter the organic food myself--like the cantaloupe I had yesterday), but I try to eat exclusively organic foods and wild American (sometimes Canadian) caught fish and also only eat poll and troll caught tuna too .

    Sometimes I do wonder though, companies like various fruits/veggies that regularly sell non-organic foods, have organic foods too....sometimes I wonder--is that food REALLY organic--how could we REALLY know for sure.
  • ZeroWoIf
    ZeroWoIf Posts: 588 Member
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    I buy organic milk because it lasts about 2-3 weeks longer in my refrigerator. I also buy organic fruit if the fruit does not need to be peeled. If it needs to be peeled, like bananas, I don't worry about it. I know I should buy organic chicken-but my dad is in upper management at a Tyson plant and so we get gigantic discounts and I pay about 10% of what you do for my chicken. So I stick with the regular stuff and pretend like I don't know anything about it. Veggies I tend to buy frozen.

    Are referring to organic soy milk? You usual Dairy milk that comes from cows usually goes through a similar pasteurization process. I'm surprised that such milk can last in my refrigerator for any longer than 2 weeks usually.
  • babycook
    babycook Posts: 172 Member
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    I use to. We have one health food store that sells organic. A supermarket in town has limited selection of organic produce. This health food store treated me like crap once. I was so angry I refuse to shop there anymore. I still buy a lot of things in the organic section of my local grocery store but not produce as it's so limited.
  • Superchikanthem
    Superchikanthem Posts: 362 Member
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    I've started on the dirty dozen list first then I'm moving more and more over to fully organic. I am hoping that I will be able to have my own chickens for egg laying soon (Soon meaning within the next 2-3 years)
  • yerfgirl
    yerfgirl Posts: 65 Member
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    Yes and I started making the switch this year. I am lucky to be able to take advantage of an organic CSA (community supported agriculture) for my produce. If there's one near you it might be a good way for you to start incorporating organic into your diet. I pay a little more for my produce but not as much as I thought I would. There may even be a CSA for livestock and dairy...

    I think it's worth it in the long run.
  • kingkong247
    kingkong247 Posts: 55 Member
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    Yes!! I am buying organic food 99% of time for me and my family!
  • earthsember
    earthsember Posts: 435 Member
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    I buy organic.

    I don't think I'm over paying.

    The money I save on conventional food will be later need to be used on environmental care.
    This. I don't think the prices are outrageous - you get what you pay for. I'm willing to give some things up because it is better for the environment and better for my health. We also subscribe to a CSA and receive a box of seasonal produce once a week for $22. My family eats a lot more veggies this way and it's fun to try new things (we don't know what will be in the box but we're able to give them a list of "won't eats" so they substitute if one of these items is on the delivery for that week). Check out local farmers too for cheaper prices on eggs, meat, and dairy.
  • yogagirl1111
    yogagirl1111 Posts: 45 Member
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    bump
  • dawnp1833
    dawnp1833 Posts: 264 Member
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    This is my job - I inspect organic and conventional farms for a living. There are certain things which people should definately buy as organic:
    1: Eggs - conventional and free range egg farmers use chemicals in the feeds called Synthatic Amino Acids - some of these are banned in the human food chain as they are carcinogens (can cause cancer) - ironically they can be used in monogastric (single stomach) animal feeds. These chemicals are banned from organic animal feeds.
    2: Milk - conventiol farmers have no restriction on the amount of processed compound feed given to dairy cows - in fact they do not even have to have access to pasture - this means on some dairy farms cattle never set foot in the fields. On orgnaic farms they have to have a minimum of 60% forage on a daily basis and they have to have access to pasture when weather permits. Due to the 60% forage rule most organic dairy farmers feed red clover silage which is high in protein but as a side health benefit this also generates more omega oils in the milk produced.
    3: Fruit and veg if you can afford it - some conventional lettuce for example can be sprayed 10 x - sprays banned in organic production systems.
    4: meat if you can afford it especially pork and chicken - if you have ever seen a broiler house containing 30 - 100,000 birds you would never buy conventional poultry again. Organic birds have to have access to pasture and the stocking densities are massively different. Also pigs in conventional intensive systems is awful - fed and live on slatted floors with a slurry pit underneath them. Organic pigs ahve to have to have access to pasture, wallows and shade - their is nothing finer than seeing an organic pig rooting around a field.
    5: GM depending on your belief and morals. 90% of conventional animals feed will contain GM modified organisms. These are outrightly banned in organic production. Use will result in instant de-certification of all production enterprises in contact with the GM product including fields which the animals have been on.

    Hope this helps to enlighten your decisions,
    S.

    thanks for posting this. I'm using this to vindicate myself after being ridiculed by a coworker for spending more on organic. It hasn't caught on much in our area and a lot of people think you're paying more for the same thing.
  • I_love_frogs
    I_love_frogs Posts: 340 Member
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    We get a CSA box once a week. I raise our own chickens for eggs, tho I cannot for meat yet since my husband gets way too attached. I buy us organic when I can <usually veggies and some packaged stuff like Annies mac and cheese etc>.

    But always milk. The milk just tastes better to us and we can tell the difference between the organic and non organic. As for meat...I try to when it is cheaper but frankly I cannot afford the difference. I buy the chicken on sale and freeze it, and I get the sustainable fish and freeze it. The other meats tho...I just don't eat often cause of the price and when I do (its on sale only) and I try to make sure it was humane and the healthiest I can get.
  • jnhu72
    jnhu72 Posts: 558 Member
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    If I can make it to the farmer's market I will buy veggies there, otherwise no I don't buy organic veggies. I have stopped buying meat from places like Wal-Mart and Hy-Vee because their meat was always so gray/brown and nasty looking. I started going to meat markets which cost more but I prefer my meat to be red.
  • jenbusick
    jenbusick Posts: 528 Member
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    I buy as much as the budget will support, and as much as I can find available. I wish I knew where to get organic pork! I can get organic beef and poultry, sometimes lamb, but I have NEVER seen organic pork/ham/bacon anywhere.

    I'm trying to switch my family to whole foods/unprocessed foods, and organic food is basically "invisible" to them -- they don't care whether their milk is traditional or organic, just so there's milk. They don't care whether they ground beef is traditional or organic, just so there's something to put in their tacos. The hard part is getting them to give up the stuff in the boxes with the purty labels, like Ding Dongs and Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, sigh.

    I do believe the health claims. I think it should not surprise anyone that there would be more micronutrients in produce grown in healthy soil than in produce grown in soil blasted to sterility with chemicals.

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