Am I the only mother left on the planet that does not give a crap about organic foods? Seriously, I really don't care. Now I'm not raggin' on those of you who want to buy the stuff - hey, go for it - it's your money! I'm not saying it's wrong or anything, but personally, I am not going to spend $5 on a head of brocolli or $6 for a quart of organic strawberries.
Myth-buster #1 - It's healthier for you
I read an article over a year ago saying that studies show that organic fruit has no more vitamins and nutrients than the regular variety. So while it is pesticide-free (supposedly, cuz I'm not sure I really believe that, either - how can they really be sure that pesticides from neighboring farms don't drift over in small amounts through the air?), it is NOT healthier nutrition-wise.
Myth-buster #2 - It tastes better
I've had organic fruit on multiple occasions, and honestly, I don't see what all the fuss is about - it tastes exactly the same to me.
Yeah, yeah, I know - pesticides and all that, but you know what - you are getting exposed to them anyway! When you eat dinner at a friend's house or have lunch at a restaurant or go to a church picnic - ditto for when your kids go to a friend's house.
Don't get me wrong - I'm all for eating healthy. My favorite drink is water - the plain kind - not that flavored junk. Our fruit and veggie drawers are always stacked to the max and and we eat them all the time! We don't guzzle soda all week (or even Koolaid - blech), or eat already-prepared meals or frequent McDonalds, and store-bought baked goods totally freak me out because of the long list of who-knows-what ingredients in them (which is why I almost never buy them). But the whole organic thing? Personally, I think it's overrated. Of course, I could be dead wrong - it's happened before, once or twice, I think... :)
5 comments:
No, you are completely right. I think it is best to shop locally, not organic. Lots of food that were supposed to be organic when grown and picked have now been shipped across the nation and have had huge chemicals put on them. Local food is fresh, it supports your local farmers and tastes the best. The only time I buy organic is when it does taste better, and the only thing that I found that does taste drastically better is organic ketchup, earths best baby food and organic bananas, don't ask me why but after numerous tries, these do taste better. One other thing I do like about organic products with processed things, is that they tend to use healthier ingredients all around. But for just your regular produce, I completely agree with you, that it is a waste of money. Local is the way to go!
I don't believe I've ever known you to be wrong as a matter of fact! I've recently been informed that I am kind of a health-food wacko, but I'm pretty sure we are on the same page food-wise, and I don't buy organic. I rarely buy processed foods, so I don't have to worry about all that and I try to limit the artificial sweeteners (what can I do about a husband "addicted" to diet soda?), so I guess on that vein I'm very different than the "average" shopper, but I still won't buy organic. Doesn't add up to me. If it grows out of the ground, doesn't that make it organic by the definition of the word?
This is entirely my whacked out opinion. I respect everyone else's opinion. Please be nice to me!
I don't buy organic either (well I do for Charlie but he has allergies and his favorite thing is Amy's Organic Soup, if you can believe that. And it is QUITE expensive, but it is the only thing the kid will eat for lunch, so it is worth it on that level) HOWEVER, I must say, I don't notice a difference in taste with fruits, but I must say that organic meat tastes MUCH better to me than regular, especially ground meat! (I'm just sayin'!)
Organic Wegmans ketchup is pretty good, but I also don't really buy into the whole organic food thing for myself. I watched a show one time about it and they did a taste test at a market with people who only bought organic foods. They sampled organic fruits and veggies as well as non-organic. Turns out the majority of the time they preferred the non-organic though one guy said he would still buy organic just because! If it doesn't taste any better and there really is no difference (another thing this show talked about) then why waste your money? Side note too: food in Europe is very different. There's no high fructose corn syrup is anything here so things taste a lot different and I must say in many cases way better! Even the packaged cookies and crackers we purchased while traveling just tasted lighter and don't have any many calories in them. We gotta get rid of that stuff! :) Good post Robyn, I always enjoy catching up with your family via blog!
Marketing gimmicks really. The rules to classify as organic or green are very loose. For a point of reference; i was at Walmart looking at shower caddies. THey had two that looked very similar but one was priced much higher. The packaging said the costlier one was green or eco friendly. What made it green or eco friendly was that they added bamboo trays. Now the caddies are identical in every way except for the extra bamboo trays. I am no genius but I do know a thing or two about manufacturing. Adding that little bamboo trays in production would add more carbon from cutting, assembly and shipping to far exceed carbon output then the non green caddy. To add insult it cost significantly more because of its eco label. So moral of my little story is that it is all a gimmick. Just because it is organic or green doesn't mean much. They still use preservatives and they still use pesticides in most cases. And it doesnt necessarily reduce carbon emissions (if you believe that is a problem) like I just pointed out in my example.
Post a Comment