Organic food

[Rasputin]

Do you swear by it/eat it more often than "non organic" alternatives?

Personally I always choose organic when there is an alternative (milk and eggs come to mind), but refusing to eat something like meat because you can't buy an "organic" variant in a grocery store just seems to be pushing it.

 

[Bambi]

Can't say I'm fussed about organic food, an organic cucumber tastes the same as a regular cucumber to me, and yet it costs more. I'm not dead yet from eating non-organic produce, so I'm not about to go out of my way to start picking the stuff out

Folk that are obsessive over it are just...mental. Just get your food and fuck off out of my way

 

[Rapture]

I don't personally swear by organic food...but I have a couple of friends who swear by growing their own veggies with no pesticides or during the winter, buying organic vegetables. They hate the idea of pesticides on their veggies at any time and claim that even if you do rinse the non-organic ones that there is still residue on them that you end up consuming. I've been rinsing and eating the non-organic veggies all my life and I don't see what the big deal is, as organic things seem to have become more popular in the last decade (are people taking a healthy lifestyle to the next level?).

Regular groceries are only getting more and more expensive so for some people its hard enough to be able to buy food to eat, much less afford organic. So I think it boils down to what you can afford. If you can afford organic and are happier knowing there are no hormones, pesticides, or steroids used at any point than good for you :dave:

 

[Rasputin]

Well... a lot of people eat organic dairy products not because of the pesticides, but because the cows are actually allowed to free range. They don't like the idea of farm animals being squashed into little cages and being fed gruel all of their lives.

Just saying.

 

[Bambi]

I buy free range stuff, always have done, its never said organic on my eggs or whatever til recently

It's about the only thing I'm funny on. As for the veggies, its not like they are suffering getting sprayed with shit. So I couldn't give a rats

 

[CassinoChips]

Except that in a lot of cases, all you have to do to be considered to have "free range" cows is open the barn door. Not necessarily to allow them out of their "cages." And that's part of the problem with a lot of so-called "organic" food. It's not really organic like you or I assume it would be. The FDA has very loose requirements that a grower/farmer/company has to meet to have its food be considered organic. So it's up to the consumer to do his/her research on each individual company to see if they are truly organic or not.

 

[Ewan]

If I could, I would buy organic food all the time because at the end of the day, I'd rather support organic food because it's more natural (no pesticides etc.) and the animals can run around the grass and be 'happy'. I've seen some of the chicken farms where all the chickens are cooped up in tiny cages where they shit themselves and get ammonia burns from it being in their cage. I don't wish that for any animal so yeah organic is the nicer choice. Plus, I know when you grow your own vegetables (I have done so in the past) they do actually taste better than the mass produced stuff you get in the supermarkets because you put some care into it. Organic food kinda works along those lines I guess. Especially if it's from a local farm.

At the end of the day though, I live on a student budget. If I have to pay a couple quid more on some chicken, on a cucumber or whatever, then I'll go for the cheaper option because I need the money. Plus, I've never done a side by side comparison between inorganic and organic food so I wouldn't be able to describe the difference anyway.

EDIT: Like Jesse said, you'd have to make sure it's organic in the first place.

 

[Rapture]

Well... a lot of people eat organic dairy products not because of the pesticides, but because the cows are actually allowed to free range. They don't like the idea of farm animals being squashed into little cages and being fed gruel all of their lives.

Just saying.

That I understand. I was saying organic, generally speaking...as there are many other organic things out there besides dairy items. I know they give Gh to the cows and steroids to them as well...and i work with someone who will only give organic milk to her young daughter because of the possible risks of the hormones on her kids. Yes, I agree that they don't always treat the animals fairly....and if I had to eat gruel and mush every day, I would be pissed too :dave:

 

[Valvalis]

Except that in a lot of cases, all you have to do to be considered to have "free range" cows is open the barn door. Not necessarily to allow them out of their "cages." And that's part of the problem with a lot of so-called "organic" food. It's not really organic like you or I assume it would be. The FDA has very loose requirements that a grower/farmer/company has to meet to have its food be considered organic. So it's up to the consumer to do his/her research on each individual company to see if they are truly organic or not.

This is very true. Actually, if I remember correctly, a lot of the farms who grind up live male chicks to get rid of them claim to be "organic" or "free range" or something So most likely, you probably can't rely on anything to be animal-friendly unless it comes from a local family-owned farm, and even then it's still worth looking into. "Organic" seems to be growing in popularity in a lot of places, and sells for a higher price than regular products, so I wouldn't put it past a lot of companies to try to put the word on as many products as they can get away with.

That being said, I agree with what a lot of people have said about not obsessing over buying organic food. I end up eating some of it by default sometimes because I'm vegetarian and a lot of vegetarian foods are prepared that way, but I don't go out of my way to buy organic. Organic foods (where I am, anyway) are always at least $1 more than regular items in the stores I go to, and if you buy 20 items then that can really add up. It'd be nice to be able to buy food with no pesticides and that comes from happy animals, but I also don't want to be ripped off by organic companies who may not be doing as good of a job as they claim, and who think it's okay to charge higher prices for something that should be an industry standard to begin with.

 

[Shu]

Meh, this should be short. I don't like organic food for the most part. I do tell a difference, especially in my salad fixings. The leafs are a bit dryer and taste sort of bland, it's almost like eating a leaf outside. I have to drown it with Italian dressing. I don't understand why I would spend more on a product, when the only fuss is about being healthy and pure. The fact is, there are other ways.

 

[Rydia]

I try to buy organic food when I can becuse I do not like eating preservatives and I find that when I eat organic food I have more energy and feel better. But, organic food is more expensive and right now that I am in clinicals, I really don't always have them money to buy it. So I can't exactly say that I swear by it.

 

[ShinkuHiro]

I never buy organic food. It's not because I don't like it, but I don't see the difference and every time I go to the doctor for a checkup I have no health problems (maybe the occasional cold or ear infection but no more) and I'm at a healthy weight so non-orgainc foods are not killing me apparently. I also watched a newscast explaining that organic foods have little to no differences than non-organic foods. I don't know how true it is, but I do know that it's very unlikely to cause premature death unless the food is contaminated.

 

[CHIP]

I used to but organic food obsessively because I'm extremely health-conscious until I discovered that it essentially has all the same goodness as non-organic food, the only difference is, it just has a higher price tag attached to it. The lurid appellation 'organic food' makes a person think they're buying something that's healthier than non-organic food; but that's not true, as people are slowly finding out. If these organic food promoters and corporations came out with the truth and told their loyal customers that organic food is not any more physiologically healthier than non-organic food people would probably stop buying it overnight. The vast majority of people have been truly hoodwinked. I buy free-range eggs though, not because they're better for me, but because I have moral aversions to seeing chickens cooped up in small cages all today, being fed crap. All animals should be allowed to roam free as nature intended.