Organic

Do you strive to buy organic products -- food items and otherwise? Do you find it worth the extra money? Do you notice a difference in organic vs. non-organic products? Do you question the standards for how organic foods are and other products are certified "organic" in your country?

 

The word organic does not mean much in the United States anymore . Alot of food clams to be organic but is really gmo food. last time I checked gmo was not organic.

 

Honestly the only way to know if its organic is if you know the person who grew it.

When i worked for safeway i ran the frozen foods section. I ordered everything, stocked, ran the whole section as it was a one man job. I had a lot of product that would say 'organic' or 'natural' or 'real chesse!' ect ect ect. Not just my section but through out the store. After a while, though we couldnt prove how organic it was, nothing seemed right...After a year working there, it was hard to believe anything was organic because of how it was treated in shipping before it was on the shelf...

The word organic just comes across as a selling gimmick...i stalked 'organic mixed veggies' which came from california...and later i read about how once veggies are in the freezer for (i cant remember the amount of time but it was not long) a certin period of time they lose all their nutritional value...then you look on the expiration date and it says it has a shelf life of over 3 years....

If my neighbor gives me a head of lettuce...that is organic...if i go to the grocery store and it says 'organic made in USA' i just don't believe that anymore....

Like when big apple orchards say organic then you drive 100 miles down the road and all the hispanics are in yellow suits spraying chemical pesticides...

 

I mostly agree. One thing I like to always buy in organic are eggs (local if and when possible), but with a lot of the big brands, that, too, is a joke. When a lot of the big-name egg brands (Eggland's Best, etc.) advertise their eggs as being "cage free," most people don't know they're from big, nasty factory farms, too, and the hens are kept in equally bad conditions as the ones used for regular eggs. For eggs to be sold as "cage free" in the US, all the hens need are small concrete platforms attached to their "houses" to walk out on to. This fits the "cage free" label in America. So yeah, a lot of it is all a marketing gimmick.

It's also sad how the US is like the only developed country in the world where items that are GMO or contain GMOs don't have to be labeled as such.

 

I have gotten eggs from my neighbors coop and thoe eggs are unreal...when you split the egg open the yoke is orange..not a light yellow..but orange...and the taste is amazing. Ive never seen anything like that in the store.

A lot of products might say that the animals have a good life and are healthy...but i think the bigger question is what the animals are being fed.

 

Why i question what animals are being fed....
http://www.hipforums.com/newforums/showthread.php?t=429215&f=614

 

http://youtu.be/-2ET7Xv2m9k

 

I buy a lot of locally produced food at the weekly fruit and veg market but can't be 100% sure if it's organic or not. One stall holder though sells organic food for sure because he is part of a local organic growers collective. At least the stuff I buy at the market has only come a few kilometers - often the earth on the root veg is still wet. It's a case of doing the best you can. I buy an organic goats yoghurt from the supermarket and i can only take what it says on the label on trust.

 

One of the problems is some of the growers don't even know they are growing gmo's ,they fall for the same its organic bullshit, I am not sure on the number 100% but it was something like 65% of all seeds sold in the United States are gmo tainted.

 

to my knowledge, i've never bought anything labeled "organic."

i can't really tell the difference between my parents' freshly grown veggies or eggs and their store-bought counterparts.

 

i have a friend who raises "free range" chickens and sells "organic" eggs

ive seen the farm and will never eat a thing from there..free range basically means they are allowed to freely attack and cannibalize each other..."organic" means the place is filthy and nothing gets cleaned

 

ya i would rather eat organic, but i only really buy it as a treat once in a while since im poor. Also like everyone else is sayin its hard to tell whats real organic.
Hopefully il grow my own food one day.

 

I have been doing a lot of research on organic and have been studying nutritional health.

Organic IS the best way to go, however, buying organic is a myth now. Nothing is really organic anymore.

If you want to eat organic, you'd have to live like our ancestors in the days of farming and hunting and never visiting a market.

 

nah im pretty sure like half of it is really organic.

 

There is a lot that goes into making something TRULY organic, though.

NO pesticides, preservatives (sodium, sugar, wheat, etc can be considered preservatives), waxes (like you see on apples, peppers, etc.), fertilizers in soil. If its not completely natural, there are health hazards.

If you look at a nutrition label on something that says its organic, read the ingredients...if you don't know one, don't buy it.

But, most of it isn't truly organic. Things are bleached, flavored, and preserved by all the wrong things.

 

I do a lot of juicing and tend to pick up organic/local produce for the juicer so I am not eating waxes and pesticides.

 

We have 2 local places that I TRUST and go to frequently. I only trust them because I've been through the greenhouses where they grow things and I've known the owners my whole life.

 

fruit flies dont just materialize from thin air


the eggs are already on and in the fruit

 

I do mostly buy organic, but buying local is more important to me than buying organic. I usually get a CSA from one of the local farms... luckily they also happen to be organic and since I live on the coast they are even available during the winter.

Here is some information for people who are worried about buying GMOs

Here are the basics of what you should know:

If there are only four numbers in the PLU, this means that the produce was grown conventionally or “traditionally” with the use of pesticides. The last four letters of the PLU code are simply what kind of vegetable or fruit. An example is that all bananas are labeled with the code of 4011.

If there are five numbers in the PLU code, and the number starts with “8″, this tells you that the item is a genetically modified fruit or vegetable. Genetically modified fruits and vegetables trump being organic. So, it is possible to eat organic produce that are grown from genetically modified seeds. A genetically engineered (GE or GMO) banana would be: 84011

If there are five numbers in the PLU code, and the number starts with “9″, this tells you that the produce was grown organically and is not genetically modified. An organic banana would be: 94011

 

Maybe if you live in some awful backwards place... but even the chain grocery stores where I live feature fruits and vegetables from local farms and they are most definitely organic.