According to this article, the UK Government's Food Standard Agency conducted a study that showed Organic foods aren't any better for you nutritionally than their normal brothers and sisters. I feel so decieved by advertisements right now.
The 12-month review, commissioned by the FSA in 2009 and carried out at the London School of Hygiene and Medicine, was based on 50 year's worth of collected evidence and concluded that "there is no good evidence that consumption of organic food is beneficial to health in relation to nutrient content." British people are obviously more suspicious of organic foods, and apparently for good reason.
Oh vell, organic fruit still tastes better. And is better for the environment. And animals. Animals have feelings too.
I scoff at these delicious berries full of lies.-Liza Brownstone
18 comments:
I wouldn't say Trader Joe's or companies like Whole Foods lied to us. They honestly believed that organic food was healthier for people.
And now I sit back here with a slight grin at the fact that I was right the whole time. An apple by any other name is still an apple, so to speak.
Wait, what do you mean by "normal"? Isn't food that is grown without the use of pesticides the "normal" one?
Of course there's no difference. It's all about the money. You tell people one thing is better than the other, they're probably goint to take your word for it. I'm sorry you believed otherwise. That's another example of SPIN today.
Well, when you think about it fertilizer and other chemicals that farmers often add to their crops is intended to make it grow faster and better. The extra nutrients that these plants could make the end product more nutritious for you. The main hype over organic foods was due to the use of pesticides and people fearing that they would be poisoned by these chemicals designed to keep insects from obliterating crops. (And to keep your fruits and vegetables hole free) But the truth is that if you wash your food properly before eating it, you wont be consuming any of the pesticides anyway...so just remember to wash your food before you eat it and you should be fine.
I guess pesticide-free food is "normal". I should have said "non-organic".
In defense of organic foods:
It's true you don't necessarily chow down on pesticides every time you eat a non-organic apple, but small amounts do get into the tissue of fruits, especially the softer ones like strawberries. And eating non-organic supports the use of pesticides which do harm the environment and buggies. And create run-off and pollution that harms aquatic environments (thank you environmental science).
And organic food is more expensive because it takes more money to make (lower yields because of no pesticides, and more money spent on organic fertilizer), not just because it's supposedly better for you.
"In defense of organic foods:
It's true you don't necessarily chow down on pesticides every time you eat a non-organic apple, but small amounts do get into the tissue of fruits, especially the softer ones like strawberries."
You said it yourself; not all non-organic foods are grown with pesticide. If I grew a tomato plant in my backyard using conventional fertilizer and without pesticide, I would be growing "normal" tomatoes.
I don't believe I did say that, I meant that not all "normal" foods have a harmful pesticide content. I guess my post was unclear. And the vast majority, if not all, of non-organic produce sold at stores does use pesticides. If you don't shop at the supermarket and all the veggies you eat are from the garden in your backyard then ya, you probably will not eat pesticides. But if you don't have a private backyard patch, I think organic is still the way to go.
Hahaha...haha..hahahahahahahaahahahaahahahaahaaha. Phew. HAHAAHAHAAHAAHAAHAAHAH.
I agree with Liza. Organic is the way to go BUT I think today's society is so fixed with "eating right" that they are willing to do anything to stay healthy. Be it spending millions of dollars on products that will make you lose weight(Un-Spun) or reading a label and because it says "organic" spending all your money on it.
True, organic products are more expensive because more work is needed to maintain such freshness but then again, todays society can watch other factors that affect their health and also save their money. For example, eat less fried food, don't OD on meat, and eat more green veggies. (I'm not saying this because I am vegetarian...well sort of). Biologically, our body can handle small problems such as eliminating toxins (liver and microsomes). Our liver has to do more work to eliminate toxics that result from drinking too much or taking drugs. If people control those aspects, than eating right will be a innate part of our lives (just trying a little harder and getting those green veggies in our system may take a little more work but our body will thank us later). So what I am trying to say is that, organic products are great but there is no need to go fishing out the "organic" label as you walk down the aisle and spending more than necessary. Food is already getting expensive. If it's organic and its on sale, buy it, but if not, move on and I am sure that you will find the same product but without the "organic" label.
~Amreet Aujla
It's true that this issue holds a lot of gravity against shoppers, especially since the article stated that "more than 100 types of food were studied" in the research. Since organic food is slightly more expensive than other brands of food, this could pose a dilemna. The problem is, as consumers, people should strive to be as aware as possible of what we're putting in our stomachs.
I agree with Amreet that as individuals who live in America, our reliance on healthy foods is great. The availability of dollar meals at McDonalds, for instance, does not help the problem of the glamorization of weight loss. This makes it easier for people to trust in the (questionable) organic choice.
-Molly Cheng
"I don't believe I did say that..."
Yes, you did.
"It's true you don't necessarily chow down on pesticides every time you eat a non-organic apple,"
It's the same thing as saying "not all non-organic foods are grown with pesticide."
"The problem is, as consumers, people should strive to be as aware as possible of what we're putting in our stomachs."
Right, just because something sounds healthy doesn't mean it is. People seem to be fooled by that.
Just curious, do GM foods considered non-organic? Because if they are considered non-organic, there is an increasing amount of non-organic foods that are coming onto our shelves that do not use pesticides or herbicides and use less resources than the not GM foods grown.
http://www.ers.usda.gov/Data/BiotechCrops/
-Yuzo Yanagitsuru
"Just curious, do GM foods considered non-organic? "
Haha. I typing failed.
"The rule gives consumers the assurance of what organic stands for. Organic agriculture prohibits the use of toxic synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, irradiation, sewage sludge, and genetic engineering in anything labeled organic."
http://www.ota.com/standards/nop/keypoints.html
Okay, so I finally found this. Genetically engineered foods are prohibited from being labeled as organic.
So I'm going to have to say that non organic foods as a whole (including both GM and not GM) are better than organic foods.
Like I said before, the shelves at supermarkets are now being increasingly filled with genetically modified foods. These GM foods are bigger, cheaper, and sometimes more nutritious than non GM foods. What else could you ask for?
-Yuzo Yanagitsuru
"So I'm going to have to say that non organic foods as a whole (including both GM and not GM) are better than organic foods."
Tell that to the so-called "bioethicists".
Interesting...all things in moderations I guess could apply to organic or nonorganic foods
I always thought people brought organic foods so there isn't any pesticides and the fact that it is better for the environment, not for nutritious value. I personally never really cared if the food I eat is organic or not, they don't really seem to have too much of a impact for the massive increase in price; I always thought of it as a marketing tool to sell products.
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