Do You Do Organic Food?

[Kajikit 65]

I'd love to eat more naturally... but alas DH insists we can't afford it and he won't let me! The closest I get is trying to buy bread with no junky additives in it, just wheat, yeast, and water usually... that costs a bit more but I don't eat a lot of it so I figure it's worth it! I'd love to buy the free-range organic eggs but we eat a lot of them so I close my eyes and eat the el cheapo ones...

[chri'stina 190]

I probably have it a couple times a month. But I am doubtful to whether just because things say organic means it really is, sometimes it's hype. Once in awhile if I have to buy something and if the price happens to be low I'll try organic instead. But we don't really want to spend the money to buy organic everything.

[Queen Jenn 0]

I have several chemical sensitivities, so most of the food I buy is organic so I don't get the chemicals from the pesticides. I also have to be careful or artificial flavorings and colorings and preservatives.

[Nessa 23]

Obsessed with health foods? Are you obsessed with eating only the 'right' kind of health food. Then you are suffering from Orthorexia nervosa.

link

[bora bora 1]

Oh if only they weren't so expensive...I organic foods.

[KarenCee 3]

Right now, no we don't deliberately go out and buy organic but we plan to grow our own veggies once we get moved onto our property, along with an herb garden. When I have the time I make my own bread from freshly ground flour...no preservatives but then it doesn't last long enough to go bad. We're also going to be looking for a source of hormone free beef. I have a friend who raises free range chickens and the eggs are yummy! When she does give them chicken feed, it's hormone free. The chickens aren't huge but then they're the size nature intended, not some mutant sized chicken.

[Elphie 0]

I sometimes buy the organic bananas at the store b/c they look better than the regular ones, but I that is the only organic stuff I buy.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

Why does organic food cost more?

• There is mounting evidence that if all the indirect costs of conventional food production were factored into the price of food, organic foods would cost the same, or more likely be cheaper than conventional food.

• The cost of organic food is higher than that of conventional food because the organic price tag more closely reflects the true cost of growing the food: substituting labor and intensive management for chemicals, the health and environmental costs of which are borne by society.

• These costs include cleanup of polluted water and remediation of pesticide contamination.

• The intensive management and labor used in organic production are frequently (though not always) more expensive than the chemicals routinely used on conventional farms.

• Organic growers, for the most part, do not receive the same level of governmental support in the form of farm subsidies and research that other farmers receive. The prices of organic products, therefore, more directly reflect the actual costs of production. As production capacity and demand for organic products increases, organic growers and processors will be able to take advantage of economies of scale, which may result in lower prices.

http://www.downtoearth.org/articles/organic_facts.htm

[Jason-Sasha 1]

Organic food is overrated, IMO.

[SteveLaura 0]

After reading 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', I'm more skeptical about the 'organic' label.

Unless it's celery.

[AtlantiCat 0]

After reading 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', I'm more skeptical about the 'organic' label.

Unless it's celery.

I haven't read the book, but out of curiousity, what about the book specifically makes you more skeptical? And what about celery?

I know perfectly well that the "organic" label isn't perfect and that there are currently dozens of work-arounds being employed to have the word "organic" in the title or the USDA stamp on the product and it not being truly organic in the sense that the organic movement intends. For example, Aurora was marketing milk for years as organic when it frequently came from cows raised on feedlots with no access to pasturage and no freedom to move. While there were no pesticides in the cows' food and no hormones in the cows, the circumstances are still against the spirit of the organic movement. So, while I'm not skeptical per se, I do pay attention to what is and what is not truly organic by keeping up on the news stories and such and avoid things that aren't truly organic when possible.

[Krikit 1,165]

I have several chemical sensitivities, so most of the food I buy is organic so I don't get the chemicals from the pesticides. I also have to be careful or artificial flavorings and colorings and preservatives.

I have the same problems as you, Jenn, so I do organic also. I have such scary allergic reactions to some chemicals that I read every single ingredient on everything I buy. It's definitely been a challenge trying to find products that I can eat here.

[Mrs.J06 4]

If I have a choice and can get it at a reasonable price, I prefer organic over regular stuff any day.

We have some veggies in the garden and don't buy much during summer anyway.

I don't take it to the extreme, though, I saw organic milk in the store the other day, which was about 60% more expensive than the regular milk... I didn't buy that, I have to admit.

[SteveLaura 0]

After reading 'The Omnivore's Dilemma', I'm more skeptical about the 'organic' label.

Unless it's celery.

I haven't read the book, but out of curiousity, what about the book specifically makes you more skeptical? And what about celery?

I know perfectly well that the "organic" label isn't perfect and that there are currently dozens of work-arounds being employed to have the word "organic" in the title or the USDA stamp on the product and it not being truly organic in the sense that the organic movement intends. For example, Aurora was marketing milk for years as organic when it frequently came from cows raised on feedlots with no access to pasturage and no freedom to move. While there were no pesticides in the cows' food and no hormones in the cows, the circumstances are still against the spirit of the organic movement. So, while I'm not skeptical per se, I do pay attention to what is and what is not truly organic by keeping up on the news stories and such and avoid things that aren't truly organic when possible.

I can't remember specific examples now - I would reccomend reading the book (it is excellent). But the gist of it was that if one aspect of the farming was organic, then the label was applied - not dissimilar to the example you gave, actually.

Regarding the celery - I was on a quest to add the word 'celery' into every post I made that day. What can I say. It helps my day go quicker.

[Cécy 44]

Well my husband is vegetarian so we buy a lot of soy food therefore we often go organic because that's usually the kind of soy that is non GMO.

We also try to get organic milk and eggs (or at least cage free and local), same for the fruits and veggies we go for local or organic. I feel better knowing that there is less pesticide on my food and less hormones as well.

Now I know there are some things for which it doesn't really matters: Bananas are one. They have such a thick peel that pesticide actually don't affect the fruit itself (or so I heard). We also don't bother getting organic cheese because it's hard to find and gets really expensive and I like cheese too much.

But on average we choose to spend a bigger part of our income into food because to us it's important to eat things we feel good about. I don't want to be scared about the food I eat. We still don't know the possible results of GMO on the human body and I don't intend to be a guinea pig for it, and as for hormones (not to mention all the antiobiotics) we already know they are not a good thing for us.

I barely eat meat, but if I was to buy some I would rather go organic for the same reasons.