Organic or Not Organic?

Miniman

Mini man - maxi food
Gold Site Supporter
Good article - I agree. I have tasted some absolute rubbish stuff. My favourite farm shop goes more by traditional calues rather than being organic and they have fabulous food.
 

joec

New member
Gold Site Supporter
I agree Doug good article and interesting read. I buy most of my produce at the local Meijer's here or Kroger's with Miajer's mostly locally grown produce while Kroger's is I don't know where from. Either way both have excellent produce so I don't worry much about organic or not. On the other hand my meats are a different story in that I buy my beef and pork from a local grower that is organic but for me the idea is to stay away from eating meats that are feed in feed lots and given antibiotics and growth hormones to speed up their growth and weights. I know the meat I'm getting as they grow their own feed crops as well as I see their operation every time I go. I also buy my meats after it has been aged properly as well. Now with that said I will also buy meats from both Meijer's and Kroger's from behind the counter and never the package ones in the isles. Chicken's are my biggest problem in that I get mine from an Amish farmer and are true yard birds. Now with him being Amish there are no phones or Internet so I catch him a couple of times a year at the local farmer's market or no chickens for me.
 

Mr. Green Jeans

New member
This is an excellant topic and I could go on endlessly. That said, the "Organic" USDA label has more than a few loop holes in it. I suggest reading Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food". If you are intrigued by that then go for "Omnivore's Dilemma". I don't always agree with the guy but he is very thorough on his research and his writing is well seasoned with humor.

We are at an interesting crossroads right now in agriculture. The organic stuff that was largely scoffed at in the 50's - 90's is now getting serious research on the university level.

For instance we have amended our cover crop program from corn which was very reliant on fertilizer, pesticides and lots of water in the form of irrigation to using a legume (vetch0 and a cereal grain (barley or oats). The legume produces nitrogen via a symbiotic relationship with bacteria in its roots. The cereal grain loves nitrogen and snatches up all the excess produced by the vetch. The net result is we get the equivalent of 600# of fertilizer to the acre availe to our trees the following year in a natural, slow release form. Sorry for rambling it is a pet peeve of mine. MGJ
 

PieSusan

Tortes Are Us
Super Site Supporter
Yes, I saw the article, too. After having read the rules and regs on organic farming, I saw that a mack truck could be driven through them. I hate the term "organic", too. Whether pesticides are used or not, the produce is still organic. Driscoll for example sells organic strawberries and strawberries. Are we to assume that the pesticides that fly over the strawberry fields do not blow into the organic strawberry fields that are nearby?

I would love to hear more about what you think Mr. Green Jeans.
 

phreak

New member
I try to buy as much organic locally grown produce as possible. I'm not foolish enough to think organic= tastes better, or is more nutritious.

We're way to smart of a species to have to put known carcinogens on our food in the name of food production and profits.
 

CharlieD

New member
I do not buy organic per se, but do shop at the local farmers market whenever I can. I do not believe that product are truly organic even though they marked so. There is just too many loop holes.
 
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