Organic Foods. Worth the effort?

I'm curious, as always.

Is organic food really worth the extra money? I'm aware that Organic foods lack a lot of the processing chemicals and such that regular food industries use.

I've always liked organic food. Say, organic peanut butter without high fructose corn syrup. That's the best peanut butter I've ever tasted. But I'd like to hear opinions from those of you that have more experience in this area.

 

I work in the fresh produce business and import both organic and non-organic fruit from the same sources.  There are very strict controls on the acceptibility and usage of pesticides and herbicides for conventional and organic products alike.  In particular when it comes to residues left behind.  Most reputable companies cease spraying several weeks before harvest, for example, so that there are as few residual chemicals as possible.  Product with too high residue levels would be rejected.  Most reputable producers don't chuck chemicals around willy-nilly either.... it's too expensive!.... The trend is towards more biological pest-control solutions (sending in the spiders to eat the flies) and orchard management to limit mould with spot-treatments kept for a particularly serious problem.  Certainly where fresh fruit is concerned the gap between the organic and conventional is a lot smaller than it was in the past.   The price premium is now quite low, reflecting exactly that.

When it comes to animal products I think organic is rowed in with welfare and animal husbandry issues.   Whether the food tastes any better is debatable but I certainly feel more comfortable eating meat where I feel the animal hasn't been forced to grow at unnatural rates or live in poor conditions.

The uncomfortable truth at the moment, however, is that if the entire world's food production were to be organic.... we wouldn't be able to produce enough to feed everyone.   GM foods are the bad-guy but could save our proverbial bacon.  So it's a balancing act between pragmatic need and idealism.

   

I like organic celery. I think non-organic celery tastes like chemicals. Organic is not inherently better or worse for you. Many people think that because they eat organic foods they are healthier than those that don't. I think it's a personal preference.

Personally, I couldn't afford to purchase all organic. I do stay away from HFCS though... so I look for natural foods to purchase and sometimes they are organic and sometimes not.

For instance I purchase Dannon Natural yogurt and Smucker's Natural Peanut Butter (not organic but all natural). I also am in love with Newman's Own products. They are usually all natural and a lot is also organic.

When it comes to produce, I found a good list of recommendations for which items you should definitely go organic on:

http://gourmetfood.about.com/od/slowfoodorgan iclocal/a/organicproduce_2.htm

I think they're worth it.  Those extra chemicals slow down your metabolism, among other things, so if you can afford it it's a good choice :)

Not only does it have less chemicals, but organic vegetables have 45% more vitamins than the other vegetables.

Plus, in the end, if enough people hop on, the prices will go down.

I would like to believe in the law of supply and demand, i.e. the more of something the lower the price. However I believe that organic food is like gasoline. Neither seems to be in short supply (I mean when was the last time you went to the gasoline station and found no gasoline or the grocery store and found no organic food?) Instead it is the speculators that keep the price up in the commodities markets. That and a belief on the part of large companies that we will continue to pay whatever they charge.

As long as there is a shortage of common sense on the part of those paying the bills (we consumers) the price of both gasoline and organic food will remain high. As for me I will be eating less organic and driving as little as possible. This also means that we will be eating out less and doing other things away from home less.

"when was the last time you went to the gasoline station and found no gasoline"

Last time that happened was four days ago.  

It happened when I lived in a small town, and still happens that now I live in a big city.  Stupid oil companies...

The definition of organic is no artificial fertilizers and pesticides.   Conventional fertilizers create huge problems with runoff pollution affecting water, and the process degrades the soil after a while. The issue with pesticides isn't just that there is residue in your food when you buy it. It's the impact on farm workers and wild life in the field.

So saying that conventional food doesn't harm you is missing the point, if you also care about the impact of what you eat on the environment.

For folk interested in this topic, I highly recommend the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. He researches food production for conventional, whole foods, and a small local organic farmer.