do you eat organic?

Do you try to only buy/eat organically raised food?

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20%

 (1) 

no I do not care if my food is organic or not

60%

 (3) 

if they are close in price I chose organic

20%

 (1) 

I always try to eat organic

5 Members voted

[margypops]

Hi grace..well I try I am getting better but a lot of foods are far more expensive , however I am lucky enough to live by a Barons market and they sell organic at good prices , I always go to Farmers markets aswell.

[Piparskeggr]

To clarify, I try and buy as local as possible, and will buy organic, especially the fruits I use in brewing.  However, I like fruits and vegetables all year long, as well as meat, eggs, dairy, bread, grains, beans...many times organic is not an option.

I also try and look at the entire cost-benefit analysis of a situation, even in my food.

Honestly, there are crops, when farmed organically, do more harm to the land in the plowing and tillage than conventional farming.  Excessive tillage disturb the soil and causes more to be lost through run off.

Properly grown, picked and prepared, there is strong evidence that there is no nutritional benefit from organically over conventionally grown food.,,and no greater pesticide residue.

[caregiver222]

The answer Piparskegg, to the fact "there is no evidence that there is nutritional benefit" is, maybe yes, and maybe no.

It depends on the crop, it depends on the pesticide use, and it depends on the farm itself.

For a while I was briefly involved in supervising a 120 acre organic farm producing medicinal herbs. This farm had been growing organic plants for almost a century. The medicinal plants had virtually non-existent levels of contaminents.

When we grew plants on soil from "normal farms", and the medicinal substances were obtained through supercitical carbon dioxide extractions, and we performed mass-gas spectrometer investigations, we found the contaminated soil was transmitting these substances into the plants, despite the fact no pesticides were used.

The question for what is a "safe" level of pesticide use is controversial. A lot depends on the pesticide. It is not possible to simply use the term "pesticide residue".

Having worked as a cropduster (using mostly organophosphates) flying Bell-47G helicopters when I was young and stupid I can state that not one of the farmers nor the agricultural spraying company gave much of a Tinker's damn as to toxicity or how many times you sprayed or with what you sprayed. Paperwork was ignored. As far as the spraying company went, the more spraying the more money, the better.

Some pesticides are neurotoxic and some are known to induce malignancies. One cannot simply state there are no significant hazards from crops treated with pesticides.

Ordinary potato skins, which are night-shades, if fed to sheep, will produce the birth defect known as "sheeps-eye", so many alleged food substances can cause problems.

There is a risk benefit to the use of pesticides and insecticides. Banning of DDT in Africa has caused millions of deaths due to malaria.

On the other hand, organic farming is a good idea, and paying a premium for organically raised food gives a farmer incentive to minimize use of hazardous chemicals.

[Piparskeggr]

Thank you for adding to my knowledge base!

Organophosphates, "Raid" for people when used as "nerve gas."

[gracefromHHP]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/37396355/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/?gt1=43001

someone sent me this yesterday and I thought I'd throw it out there too since I asked this question. interesting reading I thought.

can I afford to eat organic at the grocery store? oh heck no!  I can however afford to eat organic at my local farmer's markets. Many of our local farmers have went organic and one of our doctors quit medicine to be an organic farmer and stand up for what he believes in.  To me if i"m going to pay $2 for a head of locally grown romaine, I might as well buy the organically raised head of romaine over the non-organically raised - it's still all better than giving $4 to my grocery store chain for a bag o'salad that was picked long ago and I only get 2 salads out of  that has been treated with chemicals to keep it fresh longer.    I was thrilled when walmart briefly had their organic "fling" since it meant frozen and canned organic food at a better price but at least at our local walmart, that fling seems to be over...sigh. Back to unhealthy frozen dinners and chips at cheap prices instead of healthier options.  I get queasy just watching the stacks of crap many folks buy when they go there when I'm standing in line.  

In my own garden, I don't specifically try to be organic but I do practice the if it's not broke, don't fix it philosophy. If I have a bug problem or fungus problem I treat it, I don't just spray on chemicals all the time like the farmer who farms the field behind me does.

I've been trying to decrease the chemicals in my food and beauty products in general but of course until I give up my diet drinks I've still got a long way to go...lol.