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Should We Buy Organic?

by jughandle

Yes and No.

Wikipedia defines Organic Food as follows:

“Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.”

Wikipedia goes on to add that the only time in human history that man hasn’t grown organically is during the 20th century.

 

 

www.organicfoodinfo.net says that we are eating over 30 pesticides when we eat an apple.  Even after washing it.

Organic.org  says that… “organic farmers don’t receive federal subsidies like conventional farmers do.  Therefore, the price of organic food reflects the true cost of growing.”

I’m starting to find that the reasons to buy organic are increasingly lame and hard to support.  Prove me wrong here, but I believe that if we buy organic food that don’t have a hard protective shell (ig: lettuce, celery, strawberries, grapes, apples, pears, etc) then we are protecting ourselves from ingesting potentially harmful toxins.  I’m not going to was money on food grown organically whose shell should protect the contents such as avocados, nuts, lemons, limes, melons, etc.

Read “Ten Reasons Why You Should Not Buy Organic Foods”  Then write me and let me know what you think. – jughandle

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4 comments

Mittie Wooden July 25, 2011 - 10:17 am

I don’t think the article proved it’s case. It was persuasive, but I just was not convinced by the arguements. I think the “facts” were pretty losoe. I don’t think that you necessarily HAVE to buy organics, but this article was trying to convince you NOT to so. Why? I don’t buy organics exclusively. I don’t have that option. I choose to buy organics when I can. I am supportive of the organic movement because I believe in it, & I want choices.

Heather July 27, 2011 - 5:17 pm

I agree with Mittie that the article was really loose (and 5 years old). One example – #6 argued that produce grown non-organically is more colorful than organic produce. This is very true but doesn’t have anything to do with the actual merits of produce–taste and nutrition. And I also agree with you that many of the reasons FOR buying organic in the article you posted are lame. It seems that the author was just trying to come up with some new content for the organic argument, when really we don’t need any more “fluffy” reasons. Stick to the basics….what does it do to our bodies? (and maybe a little bit of concern for the environment as well) For us as a family we decided if we are against eating preservatives/chemicals in processed foods, why wouldn’t we eliminate that coming into our diets from produce as well (the largest portion of our diet). I agree with you that thick-skinned fruits & veggies would be at the bottom of the list when considering what to buy organic. But I still wonder what is in their water content (limes, lemons, melons) and what do those chemicals do to the workers/harvesters that come in contact with those chemicals on a daily basis. I think as global citizens, we have to be concerned if farmers in another country get cancer or become in-sterile because of our eating habits; I think it is partly our responsibility to “vote with our dollar” and not purchase such products (Just as we would not purchase blood diamonds). But it is hard to find good information about things like that because Big Ag/Big Pharma control so much of the research studies in the US (not to mention the revolving door between those companies and the FDA). I think in general I am just against supporting those “big guys” and would prefer to support small local farmers (I know you are probably the same way). I think a small portion of organic products could just be clever PR, but for the majority I like to err on the side of less chemicals coming into my body. My biggest concern is the lack of long term research, I don’t want my family (or any other family) to be the guinea pig so that Big Ag can continue to make large profits by producing more product that lasts longer on the shelf. 10 years ago none of us thought anything about HFCS, yellow dye #5, sodium nitrates, aspartame and MSG, but now that those chemicals have been tested on US for a few decades and the truth is coming out, we are all learning to avoid it. I can’t take the same risk of feeding pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer to my family and 15 years down the road find out the “chemical cocktail” causes all sorts of medical issues. Not worth the risk to me. I like using these clean/dirty lists to prioritize organic purchases. http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/summary/ And I’m pretty big on organic for all of our dairy. Sorry that was so long….still some incomplete thoughts there to keep it short, but just wanted to share my thoughts since you asked. Your post reads as if you are against buying organic (although I know that’s not what you meant because you have a sentence in there about buying non-hard-shelled produce as organic), but I think since the emphasis in your article was on NOT buying article, it may have had a different affect for the reader than what you were going for. I think most people would agree with you that buying thick-skinned produce as organics is low on the priority list, but like Mittie said, sometimes it’s about supporting a movement.

jughandle July 28, 2011 - 7:48 am

Wow, thanks, Heather and Mittie for the strong replies to the the story on buying organically. For the record, I am for organic food as long as the added expense can be justified. This is a much larger and more important topic than I had imagined when I wrote my half-assed story. I must apologize to my readers for putting an out of date, poorly researched story on line for my readers. After all, my intention for this blog is to help my readers understand the important topics of healthy living and eating. I promise I will address all the questions and concerns that Heather and Mittie brought up, and I would like to offer both of them a forum on my blog to write as contributing editors any time they would like to. Thanks again from a grateful Fat Farm – Jughandle

More Reasons to buy Organic | Jughandle’s Fat Farm March 4, 2012 - 3:40 am

[…] you haven’t gotten on the organic band wagon, I’ve got some more convincing to do.  The following is largely from an article in Organic […]

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