Organic Foods

[IndorilTheGreat]

I've slowly been getting more and more organic food, so much now that my entire diet consists mostly of food grown and harvested in an organic environment.

 

Ever since I've been eating organic food, I've felt better, had more energy and (in general), I find that the food tastes better.

 

Now, for the disadvantages of organic foods:

 

It costs more, and it's quite difficult to find (good) organic foods in all grocery stores.

 

Any other opinions on this?

[marharth]

Organic foods are grown the same way non organic foods are.

 

I don't think there is much difference, maybe it feels better knowing where the stuff you are eating comes from.

[HeyYou]

Organic foods are grown the same way non organic foods are.

 

I don't think there is much difference, maybe it feels better knowing where the stuff you are eating comes from.

 

Organic foods supposedly don't use artificial fertilizers, pesticides etc....... so crop yields aren't as good as the 'other' stuff.

 

Of course, organic foods aren't as well regulated either..... and the definition of 'organic' is rather mutable. You never really know what you are getting. Is it better without all the chemical assistance? Jury is still out on that one.

[marharth]

Organic foods are grown the same way non organic foods are.

 

I don't think there is much difference, maybe it feels better knowing where the stuff you are eating comes from.

 

Organic foods supposedly don't use artificial fertilizers, pesticides etc....... so crop yields aren't as good as the 'other' stuff.

 

Of course, organic foods aren't as well regulated either..... and the definition of 'organic' is rather mutable. You never really know what you are getting. Is it better without all the chemical assistance? Jury is still out on that one.

Growing large crops without pesticides won't work so well.

 

I am pretty sure even organic foods use chemical assistance.

[Balagor]

No, growing large crops is difficult, without chemicals, that´s why organic farmers and nurseries grow smaller crops, with a less profit, thus the bigger price.

Should someone be tempted to use some "enhancement" like pesticides, chemical fertilizers, at least her in Europe, they will get taken their licence, and will be out of buissnes very quickly.

I do believe that you in some, I say some crops can taste the difference. I am nebourghring a nursery with tomatoes, that do both conventionel and organinc tomatoes. The organic tomatoes stay longer on the plant, thus get more nutritment, more sun and more taste.

Healthy? I am old and know several gardeners who suffered from cancer too early. Too much pesticides, perhaps?

[HeyYou]

Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.^[1]

 

 

Ok, so, they use non-synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers??? I don't see how that would be any healthier...... quite the opposite really.....

[marharth]

Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.^[1]

 

 

Ok, so, they use non-synthetic chemical pesticides and fertilizers??? I don't see how that would be any healthier...... quite the opposite really.....

That's what I thought as well.

 

They do use pesticides and other chemicals, they are just not synthetic. I could be wrong though.

[draconix]

Organic foods are pretty much the same as "non-organic" food, usually tastes just as good but it's sold at a premium, and it has an alarmist and unethical marketing campaign. It's less effective at providing large yields, which is the opposite of what we need when we still have people starving to death in this world.

 

Seems every other day I'm linking to Brian Dunning, but the fact of the matter is he's actually done a pretty good job of summarizing what can be said about this topic, from a scientific perspective. I've linked to the transcript of an episode of one of his podcasts, the transcript has cited sources for those interested.

[McclaudEagle]

Organic Food

 

Advantages:

 

• Healthier due to the lack of chemicals
  
• Natural, again due to lack of chemicals
  
• Generally tastes much better
  

 

Disadvantages:

 

• Expensive
  
• Crop yield is much lower than non-organic
  
• Can contain lots of unwanted pests
  

 

Non-organic Food

 

Advantages:

 

• Cheaper to produce
  
• Better crop yield
  
• Much longer shelf life
  

 

Disadvantages:

 

• Not as healthy as organic
  
• Usually not as fresh as organic (can be weeks old before being sold)
  
• Generally doesn't taste as nice as organic
  

 

I actually worked on a farm for about a year a while ago, and I have seen just how much is wasted in organic crop yields. When it was time to harvest the courgette, we'd be dumping around 3 pickup loads of failed crop every morning.

[draconix]

Organic Food

Advantages:

• Healthier due to the lack of chemicals unproven
• Natural, again due to lack of chemicals Natural != Healthy. Anthrax is natural. Not an advantage.
• Generally tastes much better a matter of opinion, see the first post.
  

Disadvantages:

• Expensive Not always the case, but usually true
• Crop yield is much lower than non-organic
• Can contain lots of unwanted pests

Non-organic Food

Advantages:

• Cheaper to produce True
• Better crop yield Usually
• Much longer shelf life Some things are, due to added preservatives

Disadvantages:

• Not as healthy as organic unproven
• Usually not as fresh as organic (can be weeks old before being sold) not true, most of all similar crop types come from the same area, and are subject to the same methods of shipping.
• Generally doesn't taste as nice as organic opinion