Training & Nutrition - Do you eat Organic?

I'm talking about no pesticides or herbicides on your fruits, veggies, in your milk and dairy, etc. Organic foods. You know, that thing that seems to be catching on slowly but surely.

Also, how available are organic foods in your area? Are you in an ignorant community? Is it just catching on?

I eat organic when I can but refuse to pay twice as much just to have certified organic.I feel other factors such as grass fed ,unpasturized and no pesticides being used even though not certified organic are actually more important because toxins have such a long half life three years of pesticide free soil doesn't really mean much.Bottom line if not outragously expensive I will buy organic but usually it has to be grass fed pesticide free(beef )for me to pay up.It is hard to get grass fed unpasturized products in Fl. but Ca. is a mecca for such products so you ought to check them out as you go through.Wish I could join you I have fond memories of a high school summer bus/camping trip out west and down the Ca. coast as far as Tiajuana.

Wow, I am feel like I am a sitting duck after read 'ignorant community'. But here goes. No I don't eat organic. The odd time I may buy organic food but refuse to double my grocery bill. I already eat more than everyone I know and I don't want to double my bill for organic food.

As for community. Whistler is an old school hippy town (once you get past the forefront of tourism) So yes there are tonnes of organic shops and setups in this town.

I do most of my grocery shopping at the local co-op, so much of what I buy is organic. Most of the produce they sell there is locally grown, so it tends to be chemical-free. I do not go out of my way to buy organic, but since I try to eat whole foods and I buy as much as I can from the bulk bins, I usually end up with an organic filled grocery cart.

Is it more expensive? Yes. But, the people that usually tell me this are eating a bag of doritos and drinking a coke, which I would say is more expensive than a glass of water and an apple.

Everything i eat has a good dose of carbon in it. Lately I've been having a little too much CH3-CH2OH though.

Originally posted by MKRG
Everything i eat has a good dose of carbon in it. Lately I've been having a little too much CH3-CH2OH though.

:rolleyes: Good one, don't get too drunk! But CH3COOH tastes really bad!

A lot of what I buy is organic, mainly because I live just 100 metres from the best fruit shop on the Gold Coast. I also grow my own passionfruit (which will soon be in season again if the number of flowers on the vine is any indication).

Nope.
It just seems kinda pointless to me.
I'm actually hoping to make sure all my food gets irradiated as well as doused with a good rinsing of Polyethylmethylquarkinol Dihydride.
I am all for "Better Living thru Chemistry and Technology".
:)

I have occasionally tried organic foods. I don't buy them regularly as they are a bit expensive.

I buy a fair bit of organic produce, and some seem to have more flavour (particularly organic carrots) but prices can be a little steep.

Richard

Well, think of it this way, if you buy organic produce, you will know your food is free of chemicals like pesticides and herbicides. You will also support the market for organic produce, which will help increase the demand. The growers and sellers will see this and make it more available. More competition will occur and the prices will drop.

I think a main problem with organic produce is the cost. If a community is lucky enough to have access to a natural foods market, most of the time, it is the only one and they go a long time unchallenged by competition because there probably isn't enough demand for two or more shops.

I am seeing though, that the chain supermarkets are starting to carry organic products. As much as I hate supporting large chains like this, it is better than none at all. Unfortunately, these chain supermarkets have the money to squash out small time natural foods places, but that is just the nature of us as consumers.

Hopefully as time goes on, people will start to see the benefits of supporting organic and more locally grown produce. Bananas taste good but dang there is a lot of energy spent to get this great fruit out there. Then there is free trade coffee, shade grown coffee, oh man. The list goes on.
I guess everyone has to find a balance. But the best thing is to be AWARE.

Dave

Originally posted by Dwagenheim
Well, think of it this way, if you buy organic produce, you will know your food is free of chemicals like pesticides and herbicides. You will also support the market for organic produce, which will help increase the demand. The growers and sellers will see this and make it more available. More competition will occur and the prices will drop.


I know supply and demand is the rule but I think this is one area where if they want quicker response they have to take the time and money to drop the prices on purpose to a more competetive level. People will buy the product I am sure (generally I find it tastes better) and then keep buying hence increasing the demand quicker. At the pace we are going at now and the prices as high as they are I don't think organic will move much past the 'you must be a hippy at heart' stage.

I like organic but really can't afford to eat like that. That and I refuse to give up my steroid induced beef ;)

Anyone read the recent story about a major slip up in packing house procedures.. A huge amount of contaminated meat almost got out to the markets last Spring.. Packing house procedures such as line speed ups and poor inspection are common is my understanding.. Packing houses' have been pushing this self inspection crap..
I for one do not trust our food.. Sometimes I think our government is intentionally trying to kill us all off so we are not around to collect Old Age benefits! I am mostly serious..?
Why do we not eat organic, maybe we are too cheap or suicidal..

I think its more a matter of capitalism which the government is in bed with requiring informed consumers not mindless consumers to work optimally.In the example of feedlots they are fattened up there on grain which causes the high saturated fat content (and also more lbs of beef to sell)but worse the crowding and conditions are so bad this is the cause of cause of the diseased animals so large scale restructuring or better avoidance of the process is what is needed not regulation.But this won't happen unless consumers become informed enough to demand it.As for the high prices I find the small private health food stores to be some of the biggest price gougers around and natural food needs to make itself more competitive with acess to more people at better prices instead of relying on price guoging well to do trendy consumers and those for who food choices are more a religious/political statement.I find it amazing at the local Whole Foods if I ask if something is grass fed etc. they will invariably say but its "organic" with such emphasis as if that fact alone is suppose to allow me to reach nirvana and reach for my wallet to pay double.The best alternative that many informed consumers are starting to do is buy straight from the farm from local producers that meet their criteria but many in urban areas this is not possible and mail order is an expensive alternative.

Pesticides and Herbacides? Hell no pests or Herbs living
in ME. . . :roflmao:

Honestly tho, I attempt to buy organic, but it isn't my highest
priority. There are 2 largish chains here that provide
"certified" organic foods, but some of it is really expensive
(read up to 4x as much as uncertified). I seem to recall that
to get the certification is really difficult and that some producers
are going to lose the "organic" in their product designations.
Some new Gov't regulation? I don't recall.
Hey Maelstrom, just because they're "aging hippies" don't
mean they ain't out to make a buck (even in deflated CDN! :lol: )

Marty

I do not consider regulation and inspections to be one and the same.. With people dying from Samanalia there is no other conclusion but that inspection of meat packing plants is not up to par.. Consumers boycotting contaminated meat is not the answere since dead consumers all boycott meat.. But then again, I am one of those who think restricting meat intake is a good idea. If we just had the determination. Hamburgers and ham sandwiches are so easy when you are in a hurry..

Organic, orschmanic. Its a passing fad. Farmers of course (at least in the UK) have to jump on the bandwaggon because they are going bankrupt hand over fist. So any thing that will give them a new market is worth a try.

Personally I don't subscribe to the notion that our 21st century lifestyle is killing us. In the western world we are living longer and growing taller than ever before.

Anti-pesticide press is often hyped up by luddites that want to drag us back to pre green revolution.

Its pesticides and fertilisers that allow us to grow so much on less space. Organic farming requires more land, so kiss the green fields and hedgerows goodbye.

Remember the poison is in the dosage, not the substance.

Stew

What I am saying is the feedlots are causing the disease laden animals prone to salmonella outbreak.If you avoid feedlot beef and buy grassfed you avoid the salmonella,greatly reduce the saturated fat content and get lean beef with proper fatty acid balance including a good dose of omega 3 fats. While I am not familiar with packinghouse procedure it sounds like inspections are a necessary but basically bandaid approach .If consumers avoid feedlot beef I am sure they will get the message to produce healthy as well as profitable beef however that is a big if .

Originally posted by stewartp
Personally I don't subscribe to the notion that our 21st century lifestyle is killing us. In the western world we are living longer and growing taller than ever before.

Anti-pesticide press is often hyped up by luddites that want to drag us back to pre green revolution.

Its pesticides and fertilisers that allow us to grow so much on less space. Organic farming requires more land, so kiss the green fields and hedgerows goodbye.

Remember the poison is in the dosage, not the substance.

Stew

Of course whilst our experiments with DDT and other pesticides didn't manage to kill us off, we did severly reduce the wildlife population.

I think the idea that organic farming uses greatly increased land area is if not a myth, a bit of an exaggeration, and at least in the UK we still over produce in many areas using conventional methods.


Richard

I just read a timely article on CNN/health where a study showed country males having about half the sperm counts as city males which the researchers believed to be due to agricultural chemicals.

As far as any land use issue goes if less land was used to grow grains to fatten animals at fedlot and the animals allowed to graize more on grass in the fields they already use as a food source while overweight sedentary consumers also cut back on grains(used to fatten themselves up) and upped the organic fruits &veges resulting in a diet of less grains and beef and more fruits&veges it would go a long ways to solving chronic health problems and freeing up vast amounts of agricultural land at the same time.Now if we could just figure out how to keep this freed up land from being eaten up by urban sprawl.lol

On the way back from a great weekend in the desert, both my wife and I eat organic... An outstanding A&W double cheeseburger, onion rings and a coney island hotdog... Meat, wheat and vegies with flavoring :eek: this can't be bad can it:D

I just made my first purchase of organic food this week. It was a bag of romaine lettuce already chopped up for a salad. The thing is though it was actually cheaper and greener than the other stuff that they sell in bags. I think I'm gonna make more of an effort to buy organic after reading some of these posts.

Congratulations on finding reasonably priced organic food lol and also for choosing a nutrient dense food.Generally darker or more colorful foods are more nutrient dense meaning you have to eat less to get your required nutrition.

I didn't know that color had anything to do with the nutrient content. Thanks for the tip, I'll remember it for my next trip.

When I was still living in the U.S., I watched our local grocery co-op go from selling a 50-50 mix of organic to non-organic to a 80-20 mix over the course of several years. At the start, the organic was typically 2-3 times as expensive. But, a few years later, the prices were nearly equal on average, with plenty of organic items beating their non-organic cousins. (And yes, the organic prices were getting cheaper, not the other way around.) The store also had a massive increase in their customer base.

So, supply and demand works. And it would work even better if the government would quit subsidizing the large producers, who just happen to be the same people who donate to political campaigns.

Given the more rigorous controls here in Europe, I don't worry about it as much here (although I try to buy organic as much as I can). But, were I to move back to the U.S., I would make quite a few compromises in my budget to eat organic. I have read far too many articles on the topic to ever trust the mainstream U.S. food industry.

Cheers,
Jamie

Originally posted by ChipRGW
Nope.
It just seems kinda pointless to me.
I'm actually hoping to make sure all my food gets irradiated as well as doused with a good rinsing of Polyethylmethylquarkinol Dihydride.
I am all for "Better Living thru Chemistry and Technology".
:)

i second that. i am convinced MY BIKE will kill me, not the food

I don't go out of my way to buy organic, so I voted "no". However, I do try to avoid most processed or prepared foods. I check the labeling and steer away from those items that have a lot of 5-syllable words that remind me of my college chemistry course.:)

Veggies grew before chemicals and they grow just fine without 'em now.

i try to grow a few of the easier to grow type vegies my self (not always with succes), companion planting helps i.e. tomatoe plants with african marigolds keeps a lot of the pests away.

Originally posted by SteveE
I don't go out of my way to buy organic, so I voted "no". However, I do try to avoid most processed or prepared foods. I check the labeling and steer away from those items that have a lot of 5-syllable words that remind me of my college chemistry course.:)

Remember some of those 5 syllable words may be natural and good for you

Wow, I have read some great replies to this thread. I think it is frustrating to know that the big agriculture companies have such close ties in the government. This leads me to my next point that I think Labeling is a key issue regarding how consumers make choices.
If you saw food that was labeled with the chemicals used on it during its growth, or saw words like "Genetically Modified", I think it would change your food buying habits.

It is really too bad that labeling iniciatives get voted down because of the influence of big business. I also have issues with packaging and the lack of responsibility of companies that will wrap food in as much colorful non-recyclable material as possible just to grab the attention of the consumer. I think these companies should be taxed extra if their product packaging is not recyclable. The money should go to support recycling programs.

I think there is a time when you cannot put all the responsibility on the consumer whose knowledge might be limited in agriculture and packaging issues. The government has a responsibility not to roll over for these companies.

I think we need more consumer education just through labeling of products. Just think about how much you have read the nutritional info on food. And that info is relatively new in the food industry. I think we can go much farther.

I would like to know where my produce has been grown, what was sprayed on it, and how it got to the store in addition to the already required nutritional info. And that is just a start. Sure there is a cost to more labeling, even possibly more packaging, which contradicts my previously stated ideals, but I think the main hesitation to more labeling is shifting consumer habits.

Companies probably realize their flashy advertising and packaging works well on us, and they'd like to keep it that way.


Dave

I like organic apples. You don't have to scrub them with detergent to get the sticky pesticide coating off.

I like organic apples. You don't have to scrub them with detergent to get the sticky pesticide coating off.

Yeah but you do have to scrub them to keep that nasty ecoli off them :D

I imagine that organic food is better for the economy than for your health, and for that reason I like it, but I don't eat it with a few exceptions, I prefer non feed lot beef, and I like Nature Sweet tomatos (are these organic?). I don't buy the argument that we have an unsafe food supply, unless you are talking about the obesity it causes. Its funny that people think all natural in intrinsically better than the other stuff, I just don't see it.

Dave, I understand that you have reached Panama but not riding any further.is this true ? why ?

Temp, organic food is better for the enviroment because there is no pollution of the soil and the water resources and usage of harmful chemicals.

But you can grow a lot more in a given area with chemicals than with organic, which would lower environmental impact, erosion etc. Also is it that great to be spreading cow poop all over the place? I'm just skeptical because we all live so long eating this stuff and the environment is cleaner than it has been in decades. I also think it is great organic farmers are bringing more options to the market.

Food is the one thing worth getting quality. I eat it every single day, and I want what goes in to my body to be healthy. The chemicals and additives used in processed foods is just appalling. On top of the personal health issue, chemicals involved in the process of foods are destroying our soil, our rivers, and our air. Yes, almost all of my food is organic.