Organic food?

[ShaMan]

Some organic things I grow at home - (not my garden and not my photos)

[The Grand Nudger]

Love the cacti and the "textiles" man.

(cacti.....for you ingrates out there, often have exceedingly badass metabolisms - if we could just smuggle that into our row crops we'd have hunger solved - forever.)

-those tomatoes though....they've been damaged.

[Clueless Morgan]

Organic meat certainly is tastier. As to veggies, I can't taste any difference. There is an argument that organic farming for produce is essentially a wash in terms of environmental impact with traditional farming since more energy and land must be cultivated to get the same return.

I tend to parse out "organic" in my head differently than I think a lot of people do, or differently than how the items are marketed, anyway.

To me, organic produce are ones that people widely assume don't have pesticides (they do)

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/scie...riculture/

the actual volume usage of pesticides on organic farms is not recorded by the government. Why the government isn’t keeping watch on organic pesticide and fungicide use is a damn good question, especially considering that many organic pesticides that are also used by conventional farmers are used more intensively than synthetic ones due to their lower levels of effectiveness.

or contain more vitamins or minerals (they don't).
[same article as above]

Just recently, an independent research project in the UK systematically reviewed the 162 articles on organic versus non-organic crops published in peer-reviewed journals between 1958 and 2008 11. These contained a total of 3558 comparisons of content of nutrients and other substances in organically and conventionally produced foods. They found absolutely no evidence for any differences in content of over 15 different nutrients including vitamin C, β-carotene, and calcium. There were some differences, though; conventional crops had higher nitrogen levels, while organic ones had higher phosphorus and acidity – none of which factor in much to nutritional quality.

[snip]

Joseph D. Rosen, emeritus professor of food toxicology at Rutgers, puts it even more strongly. “Any consumers who buy organic food because they believe that it contains more healthful nutrients than conventional food are wasting their money,” he writes in a comprehensive review of organic nutritional claims.

Organic produce, IMHO, is largely marketing bullshit.

So-called "organic" meats and animal products, on the other hand, I'm on the fence about. Free-range, grass-fed, no added hormones and all that may contribute to the tastiness of the final product [I've heard that in blind taste tests people either can't tell the difference or prefer corn-fed beef to grass-fed ], but is that really enough to qualify it as "organic?" Hasn't it been widely understood that looking after the happiness of the animal has a direct influence on the taste of the meat product they eventually become? Do we know whether it's the no hormones and organic feed that's making the meat taste better or the general happiness of the animal since it has access to pastures and mechanized back-scratchers and such?

I'll save my money and buy traditionally farmed produce and preference free-range meat or animal products.

[The Grand Nudger]

It's not "largely" it's "entirely" - and no qualms are made about that - at least no qualms are made by the folks who decide what is or is not organic. The consumer may be misled....but when aren't they?

[Natachan]

I know that in the US to be labeled organic no synthetic substances can be used (with exceptions such as vaccines for livestock). But the general rule according to the USDA is no fertilizers or pesticides.

http://blogs.usda.gov/2012/01/25/organic...ubstances/

[The Grand Nudger]

All the general rules are "according to the USDA" and none of them prevent the use of fertilizers or pesticides. There are more OMRI certified pesticides and fertilizers in existence and use than there are non-OMRI certified ones. Further, pesticides and fertilizers used on organics (and approved for such use) are applied in greater amounts due to their lesser efficacy (in some cases) and purity (in all cases).

The most widely used pesticide, and the one from which tons of others are derived, is "certification neutral". It can be used by both "traditional" and organic producers. Pyrethrin. The manner in which the pyrethrin is secured and processed alone determines whether or not any given source is OMRI certified. To be completely blunt...organics have tested again and again to have higher levels of pesticides present in post harvest handling (and this would be understandable, since they can't use the kind of detergents that traditional producers apply - as a rule). Whether or not the presence of their pesticides bothers you is an issue of how effective you imagine them to be in the first place. I'm not worried - about the organics or the traditional produce, personally. Might have something to do with my being an EPA certified pesticide handling trainer. This stuff isn't magic (it's certainly not mysterious - and it's very easy to approach), it's simple organic chemistry.

What - the fuck....have my fellow producers been feeding people of late, and when did we become so gullible?

[Zen Badger]

Are there any inorganic foods?

Macdonalds.

[Natachan]

I'm sure McDonald's has one or two carbon based molecules floating around in the food.

[Bibliofagus]

According to Wikipedia, there are no taste or health benefits to organic food. Agree?

I think this is an oversimplication.

- Eating organic food is often a life style thing, and I think it should be viewed as that when considering 'health benefits'. This means there is a ton of context. Organic foods eaters are generally more likely to grow it themselves (which means exercise), and/or buy it locally (which means better contacts). It's also a hobby and thus provides a sense of fulfillment. Another thing is that being able to provide for your own food, or get it from a person you really know - at least in my country - has been viewed as - very - important for at least 50 years after WO2. Not having a food source that feels/is under control was a source of stress. Right now in The Netherlands - with our endless crisis - I see a tendency of that feeling returning. Hell. I feel it myself.
Our government recently told us that it would be a good idea to have a garden full of veggies, I kid you not.

- In countries where legislation on pesticides is lax the opposite is likely to be true. Context again.

- Environmental consequences, and the impact these can have on my health later on in my life, are generally not included in any consideration of 'health benefits'.

[Mystical]

I'd prefer to have my own garden again, but I am not too worried about where my fruits and veggies are bought so long as its not at WALMART. I'm more concerned with the meats and how those animals are treated. I'll definitely pay extra for the free roam cattle farm products. The Amish around here have some of the best beef, and they treat their animals well so I try to support them. I also boycott places renowned for their unnatural treatment of animals, and I just don't eat out at all.

All in all the only food I will ever truly trust is that which is grown by myself.