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Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

forbes.com

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Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#11

Post by cortesoft »

srehnborg wrote: post #3
conradk wrote: post #2

From the author's bio: "Since April of 2016 I work part time for the non-profit, CropLife Foundation communicating the benefits of crop protection agents" To read it yourself, go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensavage , then click on "Full bio"

Great find. No bias at all... Plenty of articles say that organic is not worth it due to no nutritional value. That is not the reason I've ever heard anybody say they purchase organic fruits and veggies. It's the chemicals. I don't want to eat food that has been sprayed with chemicals over and over again to kill the various predators to that plant. I also don't want those chemicals to be in the water supply or ground…

But organic farms still spray 'chemicals' on their fruits and veggies, they just use 'natural' chemicals.

Whether a 'chemical' is harmful to humans or not has nothing to do with how it is manufactured, so there is no reason to believe a 'natural chemical' is safer than a synthetic one.

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#12

Post by fr0sty »

srehnborg wrote: post #3
conradk wrote: post #2

From the author's bio: "Since April of 2016 I work part time for the non-profit, CropLife Foundation communicating the benefits of crop protection agents" To read it yourself, go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensavage , then click on "Full bio"

Great find. No bias at all... Plenty of articles say that organic is not worth it due to no nutritional value. That is not the reason I've ever heard anybody say they purchase organic fruits and veggies. It's the chemicals. I don't want to eat food that has been sprayed with chemicals over and over again to kill the various predators to that plant. I also don't want those chemicals to be in the water supply or ground…

FWIW: "Organic" != "Pesticide Free". Rather it means that the compounds sprayed on the crops are "organic" in origin.

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/science-sushi/httpblogs...

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#13

Post by Retric »

JeremyBanks wrote: post #10
srehnborg wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great find. No bias at all... Plenty of articles say that organic is not worth it due to no nutritional value. That is not the reason I've ever heard anybody say they purchase organic fruits and veggies. It's the chemicals. I don't want to eat food that has been sprayed with chemicals over and over again to kill the various predators to that plant. I also don't want those chemicals to be in the water supply or ground…

Enjoy your environmentally-wasteful famine-enhancing feel-good food.

US has about 3x the farm land under cultivation vs what it actually needs. Ethanol production a perfect example of this.

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#14

Post by this_user »

mapleoin wrote: post #7

> the actual pesticides used today are mostly relatively non-toxic to humans Love this! "mostly relatively" won't kill you... maybe...

Not to mention the damage those pesticides are doing to the environment and other species, e.g. bees.

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#15

Post by cryptozeus »

This is the key point Don’t get distracted if author is biased or not...he is making sone goood points.

I was not aware of this..”The USDA, which oversees the foods labeled as “Certified Organic”, states quite clearly on its website about its role in organic, that “Our regulations do not address food safety or nutrition.” Foods labelled “Certified Organic” must adhere to certain rules and regulations but aren’t endowed with any particular nutritional or safety features. However, many consumers believe that the Organic label means the food has superior nutrition and is safer, especially in regard to pesticide residues. This is not true. ”

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#16

Post by yeleti »

The author says .... "and the actual pesticides used today are mostly relatively non-toxic to humans."

Nothing can be further from the truth. Most (in fact all) pesticides used are designed to kill biological cells. So pesticides do not distinguish between a caterpillars cell or a humans. All pesticides are harmful to humans, some in tiny doses, some in large doses.

FYI - Landmark lawsuit claims Monsanto hid dangers of cancer caused by its weedkillers. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/22/monsanto-tr...

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#17

Post by crdoconnor »

srehnborg wrote: post #3
conradk wrote: post #2

From the author's bio: "Since April of 2016 I work part time for the non-profit, CropLife Foundation communicating the benefits of crop protection agents" To read it yourself, go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensavage , then click on "Full bio"

Great find. No bias at all... Plenty of articles say that organic is not worth it due to no nutritional value. That is not the reason I've ever heard anybody say they purchase organic fruits and veggies. It's the chemicals. I don't want to eat food that has been sprayed with chemicals over and over again to kill the various predators to that plant. I also don't want those chemicals to be in the water supply or ground…

That kind of mirrors Monsanto's insistence that GM foods without roundup are utterly 100% proven safe, neglecting to mention that the reason they're modified is so that they are more resistant to roundup.... which is not exactly proven safe.

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#18

Post by wbond »

gicadin wrote: post #5

Although I agree that buying everything organic is irrational there are certain products where the organic version is quite different. A good example are tomatoes where market bought often taste like plastic. This is my personal taste and opinion but i've validated it in my circle of friends.

While a reduced amount of, and possibly different type of, pesticide is often at play in our organic choices, the striking thing we’ve found is that a lot of organic produce tastes better, often times significantly.

Part of it is probably the correlation between organic produce and smaller and/or more local production. Part of it is probably the stores that have extensive organic stock tend to charge more, and presumably are more proactive about disposing of less desirable items.

I feel like part of it is probably a more holistic approach to growing the food, as opposed to trying to maximize yields and/or profit.

Re: Why I Don't Buy Organic, and Why You Might Not Want to Either

#20

Post by bryanlarsen »

srehnborg wrote: post #3
conradk wrote: post #2

From the author's bio: "Since April of 2016 I work part time for the non-profit, CropLife Foundation communicating the benefits of crop protection agents" To read it yourself, go to https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensavage , then click on "Full bio"

Great find. No bias at all... Plenty of articles say that organic is not worth it due to no nutritional value. That is not the reason I've ever heard anybody say they purchase organic fruits and veggies. It's the chemicals. I don't want to eat food that has been sprayed with chemicals over and over again to kill the various predators to that plant. I also don't want those chemicals to be in the water supply or ground…

"I also don't want those chemicals to be in the water supply or ground."

In my anecdotal experience, algae blooms downstream from organic manure fertilized farms are far worse than from conventionally fertilized farms.

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