Organic food

[Beirut]

$225 later we finished doing the groceries. I figure it would have cost at least $50 less if we hadn't bought so much organic stuff.

We usualy buy organic milk, eggs, bread, cereal, coffee, yogurt, peanut butter, frozen OJ, oatmeal, flour, and a few other things I forget. Bought organic frozen blueberries for the first time today, $5.99 instead of $4.49 for the ordinary. I go through tons of blueberries on my cereal every morning. I figure they'll taste better. I notice most organic food does. Especially the milk and eggs. You really notice the difference. I can't stand drinking regular milk anymore, it looks... dirty.

Sometimes I buy organic beer, it's not bad and the woman likes it. We always buy organic red wine now. One kind is $12 a bottle the other is about $25 (that one is really good). Low tanins in organic wine, doesn't give her a headache. No point in getting her liquored up if she's going to get a migraine.

Also, just bought some organic Earl Grey for my morning cop. $5 for 16 bags. Not cheap, but I'm looking forward to trying it out.

Anyone else doing the orgasmic food trip? How do you feel about paying the extra cash?

[KukriKhan]

So you estimate a 23% markup on organic. Looks like about a 33% price rise here (higher on packaged stuff).

Do I mind? Not on produce (fruits 'n veggies - especially if they're local-grown).

You make a good point with:

No point in getting her liquored up if she's going to get a migraine.

I don't think I've ever seen "organic" (or orgasmic :) ) printed on a wine label here. I'll have to look more closely.

[GoreBag]

"Organic food" is a redundant statement. When it comes to me eating it, if it looks like hippie health food to me, I refuse to put it in my mouth.

[BigTex]

I tend to stay away from organic food, I like my lettuce without the eccoli. I prefer produce from the farmers market or a farmers stand out in the country. There are a couple things I find organic is better, some coffee's for instance.

I found something comical the other day though, apparently they are now trying to sell "organic" granulated sugar.

[doc_bean]

All food is organic

I don't go for the organic food craze, over here it just means you pay more for an inferior product. Besides, in certain cases, growing something 'organic' can actually be more damaging to the environment than growing it 'normally'.

We don't produce 4 times as much food on the same area today as 100years ago by using "organic" methods.

[Uesugi Kenshin]

Generally I find organic food to be better, especially from relatively small local farmers, in Vermont of course, in Germany I just eat what they give me, which is usually swimming in butter, but anyway...I have found some organic lettuce to be a pain to prepare, and not to my liking though. It is too dirty for someone who likes to prepare food quickly because the salad is never cleaned by the farmer, and the salad itself is way too stringy, but then again it's from New York. A market just over the border has some of the best mozzerella I've ever tasted though.

[naut]

An opinion from Australia:

Organic meat here is disgusting, very fatty and very tough. Why buy a steak like that for $20-$25 when you can buy a normal steak which is not fatty and is tender for $10-$15?

[Fragony]

People aren't really used anymore to organic food, yes the meat is usually tougher, it's like that because it hasn't been injected with water. The fruit looks less good, and the vegetables rot faster. But it tastes a whole lot better, it's not healthier then what comes from the foodfactory though. I prefer organic food, and I also buy it to support the farmers that grow it the way it should be.

[Beirut]

So you estimate a 23% markup on organic. Looks like about a 33% price rise here (higher on packaged stuff).

Do I mind? Not on produce (fruits 'n veggies - especially if they're local-grown).

I don't think I've ever seen "organic" (or orgasmic :) ) printed on a wine label here. I'll have to look more closely.

I think we're in the 1/3 markup as well for most organic foods. I've heard that 1/3 is almost standard everywhere.

The wine labels don't clearly say organic on them. There's some fine print somewhere that does, though. The staff know which are and which aren't. The makers probably don't put it in big letters on the front in fear of putting off the serious wine drinkers who probably think the organic grapes are being squished under the unwashed feet of four stoned guys calling each other "Dude!" the whole time.

As for organic meat, the organic chickens we get here and much, much better than the non-organic. Less fatty and very tasty. Hideously expensive if you don't have a good place to buy them. Close to 100% more.

[naut]

As for organic meat, the organic chickens we get here and much, much better than the non-organic. Less fatty and very tasty. Hideously expensive if you don't have a good place to buy them. Close to 100% more.

Here organic chicken is pretty rancid, unless you get it from a very good (and expensive) supplier or butcher. Then it is divine, (but it will force you to re-mortgage your house).

4

[Fragony]

It's more firm because they can actually move and build better tissue, quite unlike the factorymeat where the animal itselve is nothing but an inconvenience, chickenmeat with a chicken attached.

question to all, in theory we should be able to grow steak without a cow one day, would you eat it?

[Somebody Else]

Because my flatmate likes organic things, we get a fortnightly delivery of fruit and vegetables. I quite like this - no packaging, the food looks 'real', and there's seasonal variety.

Generally, I'm not too fussed about organic food - I won't make a point by not eating it if it's given to me, but I won't go out of my way to be organic either - as has been mentioned, we wouldn't be able to produce as much as we do if we were to revert completely to organic methods.

As is, people are still fed on the 'non-organic' stuff, and people can pay a bit more and think they're oh so fashionable with the organic stuff. Personally, I can't really taste all that much difference, and at the end of the day, a full stomach is a full stomach.

[Vladimir]

Pffft...Carbon-based food is soooo overrated.

[Crazed Rabbit]

Bleh. All the organic food I've tried tastes bad. Organic milk? No thanks. Got some free one day at a race, noone wanted to drink it.

Crazed Rabbit

[GoreBag]

question to all, in theory we should be able to grow steak without a cow one day, would you eat it?

Twice.

[KukriKhan]

Twice.

Now that's humour, or humor, or funny stuff. I don' care who ya are.

[MSB]

Almost everything I eat is organic and locally grown. I got a nice farm shop down the road so why go travelling for supermarket packet rubbish when you can just walk down the road and get lovely fresh and environmentally friendly food.

In my opinion supermarket food is made of mechanically reclaimed veg.

[Somebody Else]

I might also add that I get my daily dose of mud/animal poo from organic food. Is 'organic' synonymous with 'unwashed'?

[Andres]

Does Organic food contain Organs?

If so, what about Orgah-nic food?

[Oaty]

The makers probably don't put it in big letters on the front in fear of putting off the serious wine drinkers who probably think the organic grapes are being squished under the unwashed feet of four stoned guys calling each other "Dude!" the whole time.

Nah heres whos been smashing the grapes for years. Theier feet started out normal ....

http://www.media-post.net/nastytoes.php

[Xiahou]

May want to pass on the organic chicken..

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

But organic poultry is actually less nutritious, contains more fat and tastes worse than its mass-produced equivalent, research has shown.

Tests on supermarket chicken breasts showed that organic versions contained lower levels of health-boosting omega 3 fatty acids than other varieties, including non-organic free-range poultry.

The compounds, present in high levels in oily fish, are thought to be responsible for a host of health benefits, from combating heart disease to boosting intelligence.

Organic chicken, which typically costs nearly three times as much as battery-farmed poultry, also contained lower levels of anti-oxidants – compounds which mop up harmful molecules called free radicals that have been linked to cancer, heart disease and strokes.

If that wasn't enough, the chicken – from birds which are raised as naturally as possible and are given antibiotics only when they are actually ill – contained up to twice as much cholesterol.

Organic chicken even fared poorly in blind taste tests, gaining the lowest marks for succulence.

Researcher Dr Alistair Paterson, of Strathclyde University, told the Sunday Times: It is safe to say that you are not getting any nutritional benefit from buying organic chicken.

You could be better off buying conventional chicken.

link

Personally, I don't think "organic" foods are worth the extra premium that they cost- but there's nothing wrong with having the option to buy it if you choose to do so.

[BigTex]

I got a nice farm shop down the road so why go travelling for supermarket packet rubbish when you can just walk down the road and get lovely fresh and environmentally friendly food.

You might want to be careful about that, there's quite a few envirmental organizations who are strongly against organic growing methods.

I personally would take good produce that isnt organic over it any day. You might find the produce tastes about the same or better if you get it as fresh. Also has anyone done found any research for the hormone levels in organic food? As for organic meat, no I'll stick to regular meat. They will nearly always taste better, as they spend far more time with husbandry of the cattle and ensuring a proper diet for taste. Grain fed beef all the way.

[Fragony]

Twice.

pappa?

[Mount Suribachi]

I'm with Big Tex on this one. Food from a farmers market rocks. I equate organic food with unwashed hippies (and unwashed food).

And in previous jobs I've had to test agrochemicals + chicken feed, so going organic would be kinda hypocritical.

[screwtype]

We usualy buy organic milk, eggs, bread, cereal, coffee, yogurt, peanut butter, frozen OJ, oatmeal, flour, and a few other things I forget. Bought organic frozen blueberries for the first time today, $5.99 instead of $4.49 for the ordinary. I go through tons of blueberries on my cereal every morning. I figure they'll taste better. I notice most organic food does. Especially the milk and eggs. You really notice the difference. I can't stand drinking regular milk anymore, it looks... dirty.

I'm not big on organic food, unless it's genuinely a better product, and in my experience that is by no means always the case.

Regular milk doesn't look "dirty" to me, but I had a strange experience a few years ago. Suddenly, regular milk started tasting revoltingly fatty. Don't know why, but I just couldn't stand the taste of the stuff anymore. So I had to switch to low fat milk.

BTW - did you know that peanut butter contains aflatoxin? I've read some pretty alarming articles about the stuff. Put me off peanut butter altogether it has.

[ajaxfetish]

I'm a huge fan of organic food. What can I say? Gravel and water just don't do it for me.

Ajax