Organic food or not?

[wodejia]

What is your opinion on organic food? I just read an article days ago saying organic foods are not scientifically proved to be better than regular food to your health. I am a budget-minded person, but for all these years, I have managed to buy only organic milks, fruits and vegetables for our little girl. what do you think about organic food? I know one thing for sure that organic milk tastes better though.

[SnapDuck]

We buy organic food assuming the price isn't ridiculously high, not for any nutritional benefit but to limit the intake of pesticides, antibiotics and growth hormones. Usually we buy at a farmer's market for produce and local farms for beef and poultry. Plus, it's a lot fresher and better tasting as you said.

[parafly]

I've made the switch to organic foods. I am not sure about this latest study about the health benefits or lack thereof, but I'd prefer not to feed my body with unnatural chemicals and compounds.

I also like supporting local farmers and food producers whose business model tends to focus on providing authentic, natural foods rather than reducing costs and maximizing profits at the expense of food authenticity.

[humandraydel]

I also like supporting local farmers and food producers whose business model tends to focus on providing authentic, natural foods rather than reducing costs and maximizing profits at the expense of food authenticity.

I actually started buying organic when I got my first job out of college 7 years ago. One of the main reasons was that I wanted to add whatever small demand I can to the organic market. Only if there is demand will the organic market grow. Also, I'm vegan so I pretty much have to shop at Whole Foods and/or Trader Joe's. At those places, organic really isn't THAT much more. Plus, I cook about 29 meals out of every month at home and take leftovers for lunch, so my food budget really isn't that high.

[ecoadapt]

Aside from the health benefits that one can get from organic food,we can't deny the fact that we can really save a lot more compared to non-organic. Helping the local farmers and such is an added bonus!

[97guns]

i dont really buy organic but look for it in certain stuff like tofu, i look for the non genetically modified soybeans.

the GMO foods are really scary and will only get worse. look up monsanto corn, petri dish meat, and meat glue, all kinds of weird stuff out there.

did you know human hair is used as a dough conditioner in most breads? subway bread for one, look up L-cysteine

[disneysteve]

it's a lot fresher and better tasting

I think both of those are debatable. Power of suggestion probably plays a part as does personal preference.

I have an employee who insists who buying organic bananas, among other things. She swears that it takes 7-10 days for the organic bananas to start getting brown spots while non-organic bananas from the same store start browning in 2-3 days. So she's willing to pay the extra money for organic.

That's all very nice except for one little detail. I like my bananas ripe. If they don't have brown spots, they aren't ready to be eaten IMO. So why would I spend the extra money just to have to wait longer before I can eat what I've bought? If I had my way, the stores would sell ripe bananas instead of green ones so that I could buy them and eat them the same day.

As for pesticide residue, that may be a valid point but it also varies by what item you're talking about. Something like an orange or a banana that has a thick skin that you discard probably isn't as important to buy organic as is something like grapes or blueberries where you eat the entire fruit. So I could see a reasonable argument being made for going organic in those situations.

[YLTL_Dan]

All that study does is expose the flawed reasoning behind buying organic foods. Many people think that just because they buy things from Whole Foods everything is healthier. Organic foods never claimed to be more nutritious - only fewer pesticides.

We don't buy organic everything, but we do follow the "dirty dozen" rule and try to stay organic with the most sensitive skinned fruits and vegetables. It's definitely more expensive, but at this point, we're willing to take the risk of overspending to try and keep our chemical intake down.

[snafu]

I prefer to buy from local producers but I don't place much credence in labels like 'organic' mainly because there are no enforced standards. I've found myself giggling at shoppers buying 'organic' foods when the bottom of the cart holds boxes of soda and mullti packages of junk foods. It's important to truly soak, rinse, spin dry light skinned fruit/veggies whose outer layer is not peeled off. We've cut back in the size of meat servings and I've noticed the guys only rarely have a 2nd helping. We've been up to four veggies at dinner which is an interesting experiment.

I'm far more concerned about 'composition' foods that are packaged here but have ingredients from China, India etc where they have food rules but no enforcement. I've been trying to figure out where boxed, frozen chicken originated.

[f0rgiv3n]

Is "organic" an FDA standardized/governed classification? I've always been under the impression that the word organic, also the word "natural" is not governed by anyone. Thus, any company can put organic or natural on their packaging?
Just one interesting thing, I looked it up and on the FDA website it shows this:
Does FDA have a definition for the term "organic" on food labels?

No. The term "organic" is not defined by law or regulations FDA enforces.

[PetMom]

Ironically one of the most common organic products may be more apt to have arsenic in it.

Brown rice (white rice has less) even if organically grown has this.

Add also: brown rice syrup - a favorite sweetener of the organic set, brown rice flour and in some protein powders.

This is from where it is grown, the rice absorbs some arsenic from the dirt in fields that had been sprayed.

Supposedly you check where it is grown to find out if it was a sprayed area.

[bjl584]

You need to be careful buying organic food. The definition of "organic" may not be what you think it is or what it seems to imply. Do your homework before buying.

[mydianabaxley]

Organic Food

I'd say Organic!!! Let's save animals

[SMSF101]

Organic food is much better than other foods. Producing organic foods don't involve synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers. They are not processed using irradiation, chemical solvents or food additives. It is proven more nutritious and healthy.

[Like2Plan]

For the most part I don't go out of my way to get organic, but I have found that the produce at Whole Foods (which is both organic and not organic) generally tastes better.
I have switched to organic milk because it tastes better to me. Though, I don't often buy any milk at all.