The Truth about Organic Food?

[Angel"EL DIABLO"Diaz]

Ive always been skeptical about organic food in general (doesn't mean I don't try it now and then) mainly because of the price since it can cost twice as much as regular or conventional food for half the product but recently I have been trying (and failing) to find research on both sides of the argument to come with up with a research and evidence and fact based conclusion of if organic is all its hyped up to be

In this article it claims organic food is NOT is healthier
http://www.cfact.org/a/1074/The-trut...-organic-foods

Yet there of course articles that claim that it IS healthier for you
http://www.rodale.com/health-benefits-organic

So Ive come up with the conclusion that the only way organic food can be better for you is if you grow your own damn food and that means all of it(including your milk).Apparently most if not all organic food is produced by the SAME freaking companies who make your non organic food so your basically just paying the same rich corporation either way ( You didn't think some random country family from Texas is handling a $2 Billion a yr industry all by itself did you?) and also organic food does not mean its safer for you.Organic Chickens in 2007 have been found to have %300 more salmonella than regular . But I will say this again it does not mean we shouldn't eat organic all I'm saying is don't believe all the hype BEFORE doing your research . I would like my fellow nibirus to debate this and show me evidence (and real evidence) for both sides of the argument of course although I will admit if it is true that organic is better than that's great but I don't want to believe it until someone shows me hard concrete evidence (that I couldn't find hopefully someone can)

[Brandon Jeffries]

The USDA doesnt say that Organic food is HEALTHIER. If you do the math your self though, its common sense. Our bodies are not meant to digest the processed food like McDonalds and Taco Bell. It take millions of years to evolve, and as a species we havent been around for very long. Definatly not long enough to evolve our diet to eat shitty proccesed food and pesticides and herdicides that farmers spray on plants. That is the least of the arguements though. The Pesticides are turning the frog population into females, and a few independent studies have shown that they are doing the same thing to human populations in rural areas. To be Organic you cannot use anti biotics or rBGH on livestock. Scientists in Canada have proven many times that rBGH is a direct cause of cancer. Not only do you avoid all the harmful side effects of crappy foods, by eating organic you no longer promote the abuse of animals by industrial farms. Watch the video on the forums. Farm to Fridge. Think about it. If the USDA officially said "Organic food is healthier for you than proccessed food" that would imply that proccessed food is bad for you, (which I firmly believe it is) If the general public believedthat non organic food was bad for you then the major food companies like YUM would lose billions. As you know USDA is in the pockets of the major food companies, just like they are with Mansonto. Not to mention, Organic food is local, so you no longer promote importing apple juice from china. it doesnt make sense to export apples to china then import them back as apple juice. You waste sooo much oil/gas doing that. Im sure all of us know that gas is running out, so way waste it exporting apples when we can make the juice in the USA. (The apples are just a reference, but 90% of all apple juice in America is imported from China.) Food should not be an Industry.

Truth is Organic food is better for you, but not only better for you, its better for the environment and well being of humans as a race. We have to keep foods local and organic. Dont use Pesticides, herbicides, fuck giant monocultures that ruin the soil, dont Ingest High Fructose Corn Syrup, or rBGH. I have done alot of reasearch on this. I actually feel better physically and spiritually since I became vegan and eat organic foods.

[miketubbs]

Well first...most studies that claim organic food is not healthier, or is the same nutrient wise only looks at protein carbs and fat and never looks at antioxidants, minerals, vitamins etc, much less pesticides, herbicides, fungicides etc...Potatoes no longer contain vitamin A because of the depleted soil they are grown in.

New studies have also proven that mid scale organic farming produces better yields and enough food to feed the world. With organic livestock you don't have near the problems with pollution or safety issues like e.coli and salmonella. Organic meat is not treated endlessly with antibiotics the way conventional meat is. AND the meat that is contaminated with bacteria is mostly antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Also as mentioned above it's better for the environment and the ecosystems around it.

And one last nail in the coffin is that the Hudson institute which did the study you cited is funded by Monsanto, Dow, Cargill, ConAgra, ADM, EliLilly etc...This is like the tobacco companies telling you how safe and wonderful smoking is.

[AJ Camacho]

I'm more concerned about the self sustainability of regional crops and livestock rather than the potential health benefits of organic foods. It just happens that good local produce tends to also be organic.

[Angel"EL DIABLO"Diaz]

Well I completely agree with you that eating junk food is bad for you but as for the pesticides argument I found two artcles

http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~lhom/organictext.html
This one says that even though half of "synthetic" pesticides are carcinogenic even half of the "natural" pesticides are also carnogenic and also that "natural" pesticides (rotenone- pyrethrin mixture) needed 7 applications of it to have the same protection result as "synthetic" pesticides (Imidan) which only need 2 application

http://www.quackwatch.com/01Quackery...s/organic.html
and this articles says that even though pesticide residue can be found on BOTH organic and non organic foods there is miniscule amonts to really affects but that there arent studies to show what the long term effects would be but experts agree that you should wash your fruits and vegetables no matter if its organic or not.

Again Im not trying to encourage nor convince people to not eat organic food just that Im trying to find the truth in total not parts of whether not organic IS actually worth paying twice as much for when so far it doesnt have more nutritonal value and it does have pesticides that are still potentially harmful .I would appreciate if you guys can please cite where you got your research or info from so that not only I but other people can read them instead of having to believe someone word of mouth or worst typing of finger lol. Brandon I am not trying to disprove your pesticide argument but rather show you what a just a little research showed me based on what you said if you or someone show me evidence saying otherwise than I will completely believe it , I am a very open minded person I am not against organic food I am against the idea that Im paying more for nothing or even worst lies manufactured by these "Organic" complanies who are just out to make money like every other evil coporation anyways

[AndyK5]

Organic food tastes much better than non-organic. Go buy an organic orange and a non organic one, eat them back to back and you will understand what I am saying. The non organic orange will have a thicker skin and the white fibers that separate pieces of fruit inside would be also thicker and gummier. The orange will be overall larger, dry compared to organic and if seeds present, they will be also much larger, limiting your overall experience of eating an orange to something like drinking SunnyD.

[Angel"EL DIABLO"Diaz]

Well to be honest I have tried both organic and non organic and even tried my own little test (actually saw it on TV)of not knowing which is which till after I eat it for example I bought organic and non organic apples washed them both and cut them up and served them in two different plates and tried to see if I could figure which is which by taste and it was nearly impossible they taste nearly the same unless your some connoisseur of apples than you cant tell the difference I even tried with some of my family and they couldn't tell either now this was only for apples (although I have compared organic oatmeal to non organic and both can taste like shit)but if something as simple as apples don't taste any better organic than just saying or claiming organic taste better is just an opinion not fact its like for me I HATE whole milk its just taste way to fattening and greasy which i why i drink no fat or skim milk sometimes almond but that doesn't mean that skim or no fat milk tastes better its just my palette so taste isn't a good indicator I'm looking more for Facts or physical evidence .

[AndyK5]

Well, your body is all the physical evidence you need. If after eating one or the other, you feel better, healthier, you have more energy, tastes better in your mouth, well than that is the best option for you. You don't feel the difference, than organic maybe a waste of money in your case. Here is how your taste buds and you brain actually work. When your body is in need of a certain nutrition, it will usually make it very hard to resist for you. Like that great carb craving you get after a workout since your blood sugar is so low. There was a documentary about this on discovery channel showing how raw fish can taste amazing and be very desirable if you are dying from hunger etc... The point is that if your body needs something it will ask for it. When feeding yourself, it is usually a better approach to go by how you internally feel than listen to the facts of other people.
Another example is fruit sugar. It is highly debated and there are some researchers who insist that fruit sugar which is pure sucrose is bad for you and you should be careful eating it. Well, when I eat fruit I feel much better than when I don't eat fruit. It keeps my weight low, tummy full, does not slow me down and gives me energy to train. I also know that human's ate fruits and nuts as their primary diet for millions of years ( organic by the way) and their bodies evolved around digesting those types of foods. Therefore i give the finger to those doctors and scientist who think they can explain everything by a study or a formula and eat my oranges, kiwi, watermelons by the pound everyday.

[stlnl]

Regarding how both taste, I suggest watching Penn and Teller's Bullshit, they had an organic food episode, it was pretty interesting, esp how many people in a blind taste test DID NOT pick the organic stuff.

[AJ Camacho]

Regarding how both taste, I suggest watching Penn and Teller's Bullshit, they had an organic food episode, it was pretty interesting, esp how many people in a blind taste test DID NOT pick the organic stuff.

I'd believe it. A lot of preference in taste comes from consistent expectation (ie. McDonalds). Take an apple that was engineered to be consistent, bushel after bushel, and then compare it to an organic apple, with a natural variance of flavor and shape. Some organic apples might be more tart or sweet compared to the next apple let alone the next tree, because that's how real fruit is supposed to work.

The real interesting crops though are the heirloom crops that people are growing. I'm not Captain Planet or anything but there are a lot of great options popping up in the market place. Sure, I can probably survive eating a pesticide sprayed apple but I don't have to take that chance if the option is right in front of me. So for that option I thank the more concerned shoppers out there who's initiative allowed for these organic products to appear more readily on the market.