Organic or 'conventional'?

[indranee]

I never buy bananas, avocado, mangos, garlic, oranges or onions organic. Stuff like lettuce/spinach leaves, red/green pepper, carrots and apples etc yes I do buy organic. Anything you peel and eat, there's no point buying them organic. The prices are too g-d high.

I don't buy farmed salmon etc. I do buy fish from a local fishery once or twice a month. And I don't eat meat much... at the most I'll have chicken twice a month. Those I do buy organic.

I've let milk and dairy go. Instead, I buy organic almond milk. I do love yogurt so I'll buy that organic eveyr once in a while. But I've actually made yogurt out of almond milk. It's delicious!

 

[trekkiedane]

I never buy bananas, avocado, mangos, garlic, oranges or onions organic. Stuff like lettuce/spinach leaves, red/green pepper, carrots and apples etc yes I do buy organic. Anything you peel and eat, there's no point buying them organic. The prices are too g-d high.

Especially foods that contain compounds which are health-beneficial (as opposed to being merely nutritional), like garlic and onions, I make a point in buying organic

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Just this Saturday I went to the local 'farmer's market' where I had the choice of locally grown tomatoes (it's winter here, darnit!) or organic ones from Spain... which ones would you buy -those that are grown conventionally in heated green-houses or those that come from thousands of kilometers away?

Local every time.

I had a local place that sold organic vegies. They cost sometimes triple what the supermarket charged and all looked like they'd been run over. I'm also put off by having heard from a radio program in which a greengrocer admitted that he just picked out the dirtiest most irregular produce at the markets, labeled it organic and tripled the price. I personally know people who have a cafe that claims everything is organic: this is a complete lie. They buy most of it from the supermarket and use any old butter etc..

The only possibly organic stuff I buy is from my local health food store that sells produce people in the area have brought in.. home grown garlic, honey, oranges, eggs. I don't know what those people used to grow things but I do know the produce spent 5 minutes in the back of a car to get to that shop and that's nice. The stuff has always been excellent too.

As to free range meat--I don't bother, costs too much. I mainly eat kangaroo which is pretty free range anyway and dramatically cheaper than steak.

http://www.macromeats-gourmetgame.com.au/

 

[Showdown]

Conventional, but it doesn't matter to me.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I don't buy many organic vegetables mainly because I have my own organic vegetable patch.

 

[bigdaddy]

Wow.. The OP must be an American, I can't believe how misinformed they are. Stunning.

Organic means nothing, there is no official meaning to it and you can still use 126 chemicals on food. Those chemicals are weaker and need to be used more.

Best thing to do is buy from a local farm, if they use chemicals or not.

 

[Small White Car]

I, for one, am shocked that quite a few people on the Trek BBS aren't concerned by the fact that more girls are growing breasts as early as age 7 than ever before.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2010-08-09-1Apuberty09_ST_N.htm

You all can keep eating and drinking the chemicals they pump into animals, but that stuff scares the %*#@ out of me. I'd feel terrible if my daughter started going through puberty that early because it's pretty clear that it's the food we're eating that causes such problems.

That's preventable and I really am surprised so many of you just don't care.

(And for you men that can't be bothered to worry about what happens to women, there's a whole part in there about tiny penises too.)

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Hormones have not been used in chicken production in Australia for over 40 years. So I'm good on that front.

 

[indranee]

I've noticed more and more locally grown vegetable and fruit products in my local Giant and Safeway... so that's good.

 

[thestrangequark]

Wow.. The OP must be an American, I can't believe how misinformed they are. Stunning.

Oh give me a break. This anti-Americanism is so tired and passe and it certainly doesn't make you sound intelligent or well informed, just prejudiced.

Anyway, to the topic: It's true that "organic" as a marketing buzzword doesn't have any real meaning, so it is unwise to assume that something labeled as such was actually grown/raised/produced in a way that meets one's own standards of what is natural, safe, and healthy. Personally, I like to know what I'm putting in my body, so I simply stick with whole foods from trusted sources. I try always to buy hormone free meat products and stick with packaged foods with fewer than 5 or 6 ingredients, all of which I can easily pronounce.

As to the article about early puberty, it is interesting, and clearly the possible side-effects of chemicals in food production and agriculture are alarming. However, (to play the Devil's Advocate) it is inconclusive. There are a number of theories as to why girls are going through puberty early, one mentioned in the article being the relation to overweight and obesity. Another interesting theory I read about was that the proliferation of sexual imagery in our culture (on TV, in ads, etc.) is to blame.

 

[TEACAKE'S PLEATHER DOME]

Menses is triggered by weight as I understand it.

 

[trekkiedane]

Wow.. The OP must be an American, I can't believe how misinformed they are. Stunning.

Organic means nothing, there is no official meaning to it and you can still use 126 chemicals on food. Those chemicals are weaker and need to be used more.

Best thing to do is buy from a local farm, if they use chemicals or not.

While I am a bit confused by the term "organic" -if it means the same as "økologisk" (which is an officially sanctioned word that is controlled by the state) does in my language, it actually means a lot. If, however, it is the wrong term for 'poison-free farming' then why don't you inform me about the right term to use?

 

[Bears Discover Fire]

Wow.. The OP must be an American, I can't believe how misinformed they are. Stunning.

Organic means nothing, there is no official meaning to it and you can still use 126 chemicals on food. Those chemicals are weaker and need to be used more.

Best thing to do is buy from a local farm, if they use chemicals or not.

"Organic" in the US is a regulated term, and must meet USDA standards outlined in the link below before a grower/producer can label their products 'organic'.

"Natural" OTOH is an unregulated marketing claim, and is therefore meaningless.

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/ofp/ofp.shtml

Not a good idea to be slandering Americans and slinging the word 'misinformed' about when a 5 second google search* debunks your claims in the very next paragraph. I'm kind of embarrrassed for you right now.

*Brought to you by an American.

 

[Aurian]

I prefer to buy ecological stuff (organic), and fair trade but I certainly dont manage to do so all the time. What I do look out for though is too many unnatural additives.

 

[indranee]

Menses is triggered by weight as I understand it.

Not really. But it *is* genetic. You're more than likely to "get it" when your mother did and also have menopause around the same age.

 

[An Officer]

I have gone organic whenever possible to avoid the low-level antibiotic exposure as well as the growth hormones and pesticides. I want to live more ethically and to take personal responsibility and action against the awful treatment of plants, animals, and our planet in general.

Air miles are the last thing I think about. I think this planet has far worse problems than Planes right now. Organic costs more, but I would rather forego other things. Instead of relying on cars, buses, and trains for example, I walk or cycle, and I do think that's a bigger individual contribution than avoiding organic food from other countries, which I do think encourages good practice around the world. One step at a time for me.

 

[Niorah]

I do try to buy organic whenever I can, and actually go out of my way to choose the organic option when looking at a supermarket shelf.
Unfortunately I have found a few articles in the news about organic farms producing "less than organic" produce and I do wonder just how tight the inspections are and how easy it could be to bribe your way to an Organic label permit.

 

[scotpens]

I, for one, am shocked that quite a few people on the Trek BBS aren't concerned by the fact that more girls are growing breasts as early as age 7 than ever before.

You all can keep eating and drinking the chemicals they pump into animals, but that stuff scares the %*#@ out of me. I'd feel terrible if my daughter started going through puberty that early because it's pretty clear that it's the food we're eating that causes such problems.

“Pretty clear”?

A growing number of researchers also are concerned about hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment. Animal studies suggest that many environmental toxins can affect the age of puberty, although scientists aren't yet sure exactly how they affect people. Suspect chemicals include pesticides used in farms and lawns, flame retardants found in furniture and electronics, and bisphenol A, or BPA, an estrogen-like ingredient found in plastic bottles, the linings of metal food and beverage cans, Biro says. He notes that researchers are collecting blood and urine samples from girls and will be able to analyze their exposure to toxins.

In other words, at this point, it’s all speculation.

And, BTW, I wish people would stop misusing the word “toxin.” Strictly speaking, a toxin is a poison produced by living things, like rattlesnake venom or botulin.

(And for you men that can't be bothered to worry about what happens to women, there's a whole part in there about tiny penises too.)

Fortunately, that’s never been my problem.

Hormones have not been used in chicken production in Australia for over 40 years.

Good — at least we don’t have to worry about Australian chickens growing boobs.

 

[Robert Maxwell]

Hormones have not been used in chicken production in Australia for over 40 years.

Good — at least we don’t have to worry about Australian chickens growing boobs.

I refuse to eat a chicken without an ample breast.

 

[RoJoHen]

I eat what I want for as cheap as I can get it. Ergo, I do not buy organic food.