Organic food not healthier...not a surprise.

[Sukerkin]

There is a lot of hoo-haa about 'organic' foodstuffs I do agree. It's one of those cases where you have to use a bit of common sense to decide whether over-use of pesticides and fertilisers are causing more damage to the environment than the benfit gained from the crop yields. I have never understood why organic food has been 'advertised' as being better for you, other than it not being full of hormones or covered in pesticides.

What really matters for food is it's freshness, even tho' it is true that food is 'made' from what feeds it, a natural chemical is the same as a manufactured one as far as the plant is concerned.

That said, I just had a cheese and tomato sandwich made with tomatoes that were growing in my neighbours greenhouse this morning - they taste fantastic; the supermarkets red-bags-of-tasteless-water just do not compare!

 

[cdunn]

There is a lot of hoo-haa about 'organic' foodstuffs I do agree. It's one of those cases where you have to use a bit of common sense to decide whether over-use of pesticides and fertilisers are causing more damage to the environment than the benfit gained from the crop yields. I have never understood why organic food has been 'advertised' as being better for you, other than it not being full of hormones or covered in pesticides.

What really matters for food is it's freshness, even tho' it is true that food is 'made' from what feeds it, a natural chemical is the same as a manufactured one as far as the plant is concerned.

That said, I just had a cheese and tomato sandwich made with tomatoes that were growing in my neighbours greenhouse this morning - they taste fantastic; the supermarkets red-bags-of-tasteless-water just do not compare!

One of the (unfortunate) reactions to the Industrial Revolution has been the embrace of the naturalistic fallacy; the easy to embrace idea that the closer something is to 'nature', the better it is for you. There is in society, especially when it comes to food, a certain level of conservative technophobia, and this is not always bad, the first fruits of new knowledge aren't always the best path. The organic movement is a counter reaction to a number of very real problems in the food supply - pesticide, herbicide, and antibiotic abuses, seed monopolies, depletion of genetic diversity, the general poor nutrition in prepared foods, all of these are things that do or can bite us on the *** very, very hard. The problem is that it's an over reaction, throwing away the efficencies of commercial agriculture, (the baby in the bathwater) and it's being pitched with fallacious arguments.

The way we grow food needs addressed. What the total solutions are, I haven't a clue, at least not yet; like energy, it's probable that the long term best solution is a blend of technologies and skills that are only half developed, but developing them in the face of both the entrenched corporate dollar and the overreactionary is going to be difficult.

 

[Buka]

I don't know how this applies to other things marked "organic", but if you buy regular milk today, it's sell by date will be a week from tomorrow. If you buy organic milk it's sell by date with be a six weeks from next Tuesday. I've kept it in my fridge longer than that, it still didn't spoil.

I'll take anything marked organic, any day. Perhaps I'm a chump, but, hey, the retail world needs some of us, too!

 

[Carol]

My perception was that the value in organic foods -- esp. produce -- was not that they were healthier, but that they tasted better. I'm more likely to eat a greater portion of veggies with my meals if they taste good, rather than bland and flavorless.

I haven't noticed that much of a difference buying produce from the farmer's market, but I see a huge difference in taste produce from the grocery, especially for vegetables that are eaten whole, such as tomatoes and leafy greens.

 

[granfire]

My perception was that the value in organic foods -- esp. produce -- was not that they were healthier, but that they tasted better. I'm more likely to eat a greater portion of veggies with my meals if they taste good, rather than bland and flavorless.

I haven't noticed that much of a difference buying produce from the farmer's market, but I see a huge difference in taste produce from the grocery, especially for vegetables that are eaten whole, such as tomatoes and leafy greens.

well, they won't taste better if they have to be shipped in from the other side of the world.
What makes them taste better is that to be grown in that way you have to pick different varieties. The big shiney tomato that has to be pampered in the greenhouse, picked when green so it is at the peak of redness when it's in the store won't taste like much.

That's where the niche market for farms on the urban fringe comes from. The produce can ripen on the vine as nature intended, because the transport is only a few minutes, not several hours or days.

Meat...not THERE you have the potential in big taste improvement.
But that is not so much because of the 'organic' but again, organic farms tend to be smaller. They also tend to run different breeds than the big producers (and btw...there aren't enough angus cows in the world to supply all that 'Black Angus' meat in the stores...if the cow is black it's 'Angus' on the table...)

One lady I sometimes talk to runs a flock of heirloom birds. Naturally, they don't sell for a dollar a pound...and they don't get as big...but most people need to eat less anyhow....

The only redeeming quality of iceberg lettuce is that you can keep it in the fridge for a week and never know the difference...so naturally it's a prime candidate for commercial growers.

There are only a few things that are really better 'organic': carrots and green leafy things, and only when you have to consider the delicate nature of a developing child (infant) as those can store unhealthy amounts of nitrates that can have severe impact on infants. (they found that out in Germany in the 80s...in some areas the ground water was loaded with that...probably part why the 'eco' movement has a head start there...)

 

[Makalakumu]

It's an evolutionary test. If you're dumb enough to eat it, you probably shouldn't pass your genes on into the next generation.

Pass the twinkies.

:redeme:

 

[Sensei Payne]

http://www.infowars.com/media-begins-attacking-organic-food-consumers-following-flawed-study/

 

[Makalakumu]

Who is George H. Poste?

http://www.monsanto.com/whoweare/Pages/george-poste-bio.aspx

George H. Poste, Ph.D., D.V.M., 67, is chief executive of Health Technology Networks, a consulting group specializing in the application of genomics technologies and computing in health care. In February 2009, he assumed the post of Chief Scientist, Complex Adaptive Systems Initiative at Arizona State University. From May 2003 to February 2009, he was director of the Arizona Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. Dr. Poste is a former member of the Defense Science Board and the Health Board of the U.S. Department of Defense. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Royal College of Pathologists and the UK Academy of Medicine and Distinguished Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. Dr. Poste is also a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He has served on the Monsanto board since February 2003. Dr. Poste chairs the Science and Technology Committee and is a member of the Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility Committee. Dr. Poste also serves on the boards of Exelixis, Inc. and Caris Holdings.