Organic vs. grocery store food

[redsquirrel]

I'm well aware of how great organic food is supposed to be for you. And, I'm also aware of the risks involved with hormone injected chicken and beef, pesticides, etc.

My question is- is it really worth the money? I mean, are the risks that are associated with processed food, that much greater than that of organic? I've thought seriously about moving to an all organic diet for these reasons.

This leads me to my second question- what about protein bars & powders? Aren't they chuck full of preservatives?? :hmmm:

[bad14u]

RS...I wouldn't buy into the BS about organic foods. It is just something that someone, somewhere come up with to get an edge on the market and make money. Organic this and that, may be free of pesticides and hormones but that is not what is killing people that eat non-organic foods. People consuming too much food, leading to obesity is what is killing people. Is it worth the money? Not IMO. Americans have been living to a ripe old age long before organic sh!t came onto the market. Just another ploy by the tree-hugging people out there to save the world.

[bonebreaker]

Originally Posted by bad14u

RS...I wouldn't buy into the BS about organic foods. It is just something that someone, somewhere come up with to get an edge on the market and make money. Organic this and that, may be free of pesticides and hormones but that is not what is killing people that eat non-organic foods. People consuming too much food, leading to obesity is what is killing people. Is it worth the money? Not IMO. Americans have been living to a ripe old age long before organic sh!t came onto the market. Just another ploy by the tree-hugging people out there to save the world.

Yup! Plus, just because it says "organic", is it really? Who knows what really takes place until it gets to the market? IMHO, the only way you'd really know it was totally "organic", would be for you to grow it yourself? Want to tackle that, lol. BB

[Scrumhalf]

Originally Posted by bad14u

RS...I wouldn't buy into the BS about organic foods. It is just something that someone, somewhere come up with to get an edge on the market and make money. Organic this and that, may be free of pesticides and hormones but that is not what is killing people that eat non-organic foods. People consuming too much food, leading to obesity is what is killing people. Is it worth the money? Not IMO. Americans have been living to a ripe old age long before organic sh!t came onto the market. Just another ploy by the tree-hugging people out there to save the world.

I won't be so sure to dismiss organic so lightly.

Remember that large scale agriculture with intense use of pesticides and insecticides is not that old, maybe 50 or 60 years. I would posit that the long range effects of these chemicals is not that well understood.

That being said, spending extra on organic is I think a personal decision. While it certainly can't hurt, I suppose the jury is still out on what the tangible effects are on personal health, longevity, etc. I would certainly take precautions with non-organic vegetables like just washing them well before cooking, etc. so that most of the surface treatment with pesticides, etc. is washed away. The systemic treatment however one can do nothing about since it will be inside the fruit/vegetable.

The use of hormones on meat is something else completely. I am vegetarian but if I were consuming meat, there is no way personally I would eat stuff full of hormones and antibiotics. It is not just a personal thing - misuse of antibiotics is probably the biggest public health threat of the future. There are already many bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and use of antibiotics in meat/poultry is a contributing factor to this.

[bowbow]

Organic farmers are just that, farmers. Not tree huggers. Farmers cut down trees to have more useable acreage. The food your talking about that people lived so long on was organic. It just wasn't labeled that way because thats all there was. Like scrumhalf said pesticides, hormones and antibiotics that are going into the food now hasn't been around very long at all.
Organic food costs more because it takes so much more work to produce. It is worth it in my opinion. My family eats organicly as much as we can afford to. I don't want my daughter to have size d breasts when she's 15. Thats from all the damn hormones.
It's easy to tell if it's organic because it will have a USDA certified organic label on it. Pretty easy. The taste of organic food is also much better than non organic, Not even comparable.
So redsquirrel, If you can afford it I say do it.

[bonebreaker]

"Organic" may not be as "organic" as you think. http://www.quackwatch.org/01Quackery...s/organic.html

BB

[bowbow]

I operate a grain farm and have considered going organic myself I have a certification pamphlet with me now. It says no where that I can use any synthetic fertilizer or pesticide for any reason. I'm not going to argue. It's like everything else, Some people believe one way and others believe another. I agree with the reader in protest. I personally don't beleive some of the studys. There is no way organic food could contain 25% pesticides. Not with the standards I received. If it did you would lose your certification.
Common sense would tell you organic would have to be healthier for you. I do have my own garden and grow all my own vegetables. They do taste much better than grocery store food. Alot of that is probably because it 's so fresh. But let me tell you that if it sits around to long it will start to look terrible, Unlike the grocery store food that LOOKS fresh for like ever. I don't want to eat all those preservatives. We weren't meant to eat all this artificial crap we are putting in foods these days
I am one that believes it's better and I think that we will see more and more of it.

[bonebreaker]

Originally Posted by bowbow

I operate a grain farm and have considered going organic myself I have a certification pamphlet with me now. It says no where that I can use any synthetic fertilizer or pesticide for any reason. I'm not going to argue. It's like everything else, Some people believe one way and others believe another. I agree with the reader in protest. I personally don't beleive some of the studys. There is no way organic food could contain 25% pesticides. Not with the standards I received. If it did you would lose your certification.
Common sense would tell you organic would have to be healthier for you. I do have my own garden and grow all my own vegetables. They do taste much better than grocery store food. Alot of that is probably because it 's so fresh. But let me tell you that if it sits around to long it will start to look terrible, Unlike the grocery store food that LOOKS fresh for like ever. I don't want to eat all those preservatives. We weren't meant to eat all this artificial crap we are putting in foods these days
I am one that believes it's better and I think that we will see more and more of it.

Hey bro, I'm not at all saying that organic food isn't better for you, it certainly is. I know food stores and growers do what they can to keep the produce as yummy looking as possible for as long as they can, with whatever chemicals they need to use. More bucks and less loss due to aging out, or just downright spoiling. My biggest problem is trusting government officials not to accept payola to certify what may not be up to specs, re: being "organic". Honest folks who use these certifications, I'm sure are in the majority. But there are bound to be many who will cheat and use the old "dollar under the table" so they can represent their products as something they aren't. I guess I'm a cynic when it comes to anything the government is SUPPOSED to control. I hope you get my drift. If I knew, 100% absolutely, that something which was marked "organic", would and always be so, I'd probably get on the wagon and start using it. BB

[bowbow]

Your probably right about a few bad apples. lol That goes with anything I guess.
It's all good

[dreamgirl]

i think that if the pesticides from 50-60 years ago were really super harmful, you'd already see MAJOR illness and deaths from it.

[Alin]

Originally Posted by redsquirrel

I'm well aware of how great organic food is supposed to be for you. And, I'm also aware of the risks involved with hormone injected chicken and beef, pesticides, etc.

My question is- is it really worth the money? I mean, are the risks that are associated with processed food, that much greater than that of organic? I've thought seriously about moving to an all organic diet for these reasons.

This leads me to my second question- what about protein bars & powders? Aren't they chuck full of preservatives?? :hmmm:

just be sure to wash all your fruits and vegetables,,,fruits,,,well before eating regardless of supplier. I like to make sure all my chicken and beef are cooked well to now.

[Shibby]

Here's my take on organic, sure some things being more natural are better. But there is an organic equal for just about every product out there. I think the more we try to steralize everything, we will become more susceptible to illness and people will start having crazy complications from something like the common cold. I know this is the extreme, but our bodies need a strong immune system and have a plethera of antibodies.

[redsquirrel]

Originally Posted by dreamgirl

i think that if the pesticides from 50-60 years ago were really super harmful, you'd already see MAJOR illness and deaths from it.

Well, in all honesty I think that because of these pesticides, carcinogens and preservatives that are so common these days, that it does contribute to illnesses. I think it also is directly related to why so many women have such a hard time getting pregnant vs. 50 years ago. It may not be directly related, but it is related. Heck, my grandmother smoked and drank with all 3 of her children and didn't have any problems. I think it has a lot to do with why now we are seeing so many new illnesses and advanced diseases. These weren't around 50 years ago.

[redsquirrel]

Originally Posted by Shibby

Here's my take on organic, sure some things being more natural are better. But there is an organic equal for just about every product out there. I think the more we try to steralize everything, we will become more susceptible to illness and people will start having crazy complications from something like the common cold. I know this is the extreme, but our bodies need a strong immune system and have a plethera of antibodies.

Hmmm. Interesting. I agree with your point of view. In fact, I do remember reading somewhere not too long ago, that due to the fact of all of this anti-bacterial soap and what not, that our bodies' immune system needs more antibodies than ever because our immune systems are becoming just that-immune.

[Scrumhalf]

I don't think you can compare bacteria and chemicals. As Shibby suggests, the body benefits from exposure to bacteria by building resistance to them, but there is no such mechanism for chemicals. If you ingest carcinogenic chemicals, you won't build resistance to them - you will get cancer! And the problem is that at low dosage levels, the impact of chemicals in pesticides and fertilizer is not fully understood. Maybe nothing will happen, but I don't think dismissing proponents of organic farming as kooks is really fair or correct. The future may determine that they were right after all.

[Remington]

The prices of the food in organic stores will eventually come down as more people are getting into it. Right now there's not enough competition to drive the prices down.

There's Whole Foods, Trader Vics... but they're few and far between, not like the big chain grocery stores. And the big chains don't have much organic and are slapping organic labels on food that doesn't qualify so they're not competing at all against the few organic stores.

[fOCuSd1]

Originally Posted by dreamgirl

i think that if the pesticides from 50-60 years ago were really super harmful, you'd already see MAJOR illness and deaths from it.

Umm...have you ever heard of "cancer?"