ORGANIC VEGGIES AND FRUITS__IS IT WORTH IT?

I think it's a scam mostly.

what is the true legal definition, and a little marketing goes a long way for the ride.

(Tyson plays there, and I trust them zero)

marketing

Didnt wanna be the only cynic on this subject. I know that all the wimmins are gonna be all over us like pigeon **** on a park statue

I been crapped on before...

If you want organic, grow it yourself.

Lemme say that I grow most of my stuff in an organic fashion, but for stuff like hay, I use high magnesian limestone dust and some chemical fertilizers . 0-10-10 for alfalfa, and 10-10-10 for grass hays. We also use some gramaxon for intercut wed "burndown" and I edge my fields with some roundup spray in early spring.

The AMish around us grow things "organically" but still use some non chemical weed killers like Dilute cinnamon oil and vinegar (we call it AMISH Roundup). Its a good weed killer but isnt as long lasting.

I buy organic as much as possible. The flavor does not vary that much. Non organic often has the edge over organic in appearance and shelf life. I buy it because I don't want pesticides in my diet. I can't believe it is possible to put poison on plants and wash it back off, particularly with the buildup over years of farming. Many claim organic has more vitamins and minerals. Because I have health problems, I go organic.

Anything I put on my plants or in the ground here is poison free.

I am suggesting that lots of "organic" food has a weak link somewhere in the chain that lets some poison exposure occur. (such as your hay being fed to organic beef to graze)

the honesty system falls down in the face of commerce.

As far as I'm concerned gasoline is an organic chemical. "Organic" as far as foodstuffs was coined in the late 40's meaning free of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers and foisted in the 80's as a marketing phrase for the gullible who don't know the difference between a hypothesis and a theory.

Rap

when I was a mere prat of a child my grandparents farm was in a valley alongside the Arkansas river. the valley ranged from one to five miles wide and was all river bottom loam. there were about 150 truck farms in this valley (%80 first generation Italians) and they grew everything from strawberries to celery, apples, peaches, onions, tomatoes, chickens/eggs. They organized themselves in "canon growers" and established a packing shed and railroad loading platform where the train stopped every day to take on car loads of fresh ORGANIC produce. Noone could afford chemical fertilizers/pesticides/herbicides. all the children worked in the packing shed weekends and school holidays. Hard workers could earn over $1 per day. Noone ever used the term "organic" or "natural" but that's exactly what they sold;
today "organic" or "natural" are simply labels applied by producers and marketers.
Example=apples. when you go to a market and see a really pretty, shiny apple, pass it by, if you want a really good apple look for one that is gnarly and wrinkly.

one elderly lady not far up the road from me raised 5 acres of strawberries (June bearing) she must have worked 14 hours a day during harvesting season as that was her entire yearly income. She knew about 10 words in english.

Once in a while I am hoodwinked into buying "organic" because my girlfriend doesn't like anything else. I have replaced her organic cream for her coffee a couple of times by removing the contents of one and replacing it with the other. Then, as she sipped her coffee with the foul "normal" cream, I asked her why she bought the more expensive organic she said, "I can taste the difference". I didn't have the heart (or maybe it's the balls) to tell her what I had done.

As someone who has worked on chemical farms and organic operations, I can tell you there is a huge difference in how the food is grown and what the effects are to the environment and even to the health of the farmers and field hands. Anyone can do The Google for some facts. Sadly, the word organic has been changed by the last administration and it is no longer as easily defined as it once was. I personally only buy from companies I know to be growing using traditional organic methods and not with the fuzzy allowances that have become a part of BigAgra's version of USDA Organic. Tyson Organic is an oxymoron. I suggest everyone read Michael Pollan's book "In Defense of Food" for an good perspective of why it is important to grow our food organically. None organic food is one of our worst sources of pollution and a fast way to use up our ever dwindling supply of fossil fuel. There is also good evidence now that food grown with chemicals is not as healthy as food grown organically.

I doubt you can taste the difference if the food is fresh. However, you just gave your girlfriend food saturated with hormones, drugs and chemicals that could lead to other problems over time. Sometime you should visit an organic dairy and a factory farm dairy and see where you would rather drink the milk from.

Im in the farming arena. I raise sheep but we have several beef cattle and live near very large dairy operations and several "organic ones". I fail to see the real differences. While "organic dairy" farmers dont use as many meds to treat their sick cows, They also dont seem to have as many well cows. The largest organic dairy farm near me is 60 cows . They grow their grasses by organic mjeans and dont get near the yields of hay or milk. If you do a GC analysis of organic milk , I dont see the health components that the industry is claiming.

Not this wimmin.

Im with you in this handbasket.

I feel, IF there really is an issue for organics, it should be in your super watery foods like grapes . They absorb water. Water is the base for these chemicals.
Grapes from Chili have chemicals that the workers are dying from..

regular veggies? like squash?
Fruits.. ? Apples?

just wash em. Good.

We buy organic as much as possible.

Tomatoes, potatoes, cauliflower - you really taste the difference.

Coffee, bananas - that's more to support fair trading small farmers.

Cheese, milk and milk products - that's if you don't want to buy "artificial" stuff with your food. (Though raw milk cheese is as good.)

We get less jormons in our beef/meat than in America; though we buy only organic sausages and cold meat. But there you really taste the difference!!! (Same story as with the dys' apples.)

I have aquestion to you.
A farmer farmed for 30-40 years and never gave organic vegetables a thought, just sprayed whatever was in at the moment. Then his son takes over and start organic veggies.
How long time does it take till whatever the father spread to completely disappear out of the earth and the ground water?

This is a big topic and if it wasn't my busy season I would dive in for a good mud wrestle. I do know we have created the "sick cows" by weakening them with living conditions and over use of drugs. We now have to rebreed them to have stronger constitutions. Same for chickens. At least farmers are abandoning bovine growth hormone because of how sick it makes the cows. I believe the quality of life for the animal is also important and I just don't see many contented cows eating industrial grains and living amongst industrial metal milking facilities.

My strongest case for organic is for the bigger world. Iowa corn farmers have created dead zones in oceans miles away. Industrial bee keeping has created diseases within our general bee populations. New and stronger diseases are created when animals are housed in inhumane conditions and pumped with drugs. Bird and fish populations suffer in heavily sprayed areas around farms. Farm workers have some of the highest rates of chemical triggered cancers. Products like Roundup create industrial strength weeds. For the biggest failure on industrial farming one can look at what is going with India's so called "Green Revolution". Disaster on a huge scale because people were encouraged to move from traditional techniques to the dictates of companies like Monsanto. I'm not against science and farming, but the profiteers are not in this game for our health.

Depends on what they used. I always tell people whatever they put on their gardens and lawns they will one day be drinking out of their faucet - and so will their neighbor.