is organic better?

[michelle303]

seen & read lots of information lately surrounding organic food vs processed and non organic stuff. i've never really been swayed towards going veggie or vegan because me and my family enjoy meat. however i would cut it out if i thought there was a real benefit.

does anyone buy organic regularly and is there really a difference?

nutritionally there is no real difference between organic/non organic produce.

I buy organic or free range where I can purely because it tastes better in my opinion. As dairy farmers we usually drink the milk from our tank but in my opinion the organic whole milk is as close to that taste as we get should we not be able to drink the milk (tanker has already picked up that day or when I was pregnant etc.)

I'm not sure that it is actually any better for you- the nutritional values are very similar as PP said. From the point of view of eggs though I do buy organic free range as they are required by law to have more space than normal free range!

Actually I think there is a difference nutritionally - food grown in soil where pesticides haven't leached the nutrition out of the ground will have more, and organic farmers tend to follow more traditional farming methods, rotating crops so that the soil has chance to 'regenerate' for want of a better word.

I did see some scientific info on this, but it was a few years back and I can't remember the specifics.

organic food isnt pesticide free. i wouldnt say there is much difference, some organic food has less nutrients than non-organic/GMO.

Been eating about 80-85% organic for over 15 years. I would say it is better, from a variety of angles, including the welfare of animals. I think a lot of this this is more down to the level of quality/expertise from producers who are organic, rather than it being down to the organicness itself though.

You soon develop the ability spot the produce and products who want the organic premium as a profit margin, rather than producers who want o maintain high standards of animal husbandry, traditional techniques etc.

I don't buy organic because it's better for me, per se, but it certainly is better for the environment and the animals in the case of meat. And I do think it tastes better.

This site gives an overview of a Swedish study comparing environment impact of conventional vs organic farming if you sre interested in that side of things.

For dairy products, cows that can graze have more omega 3 fatty acids in their milk than the average milk cow fed with corn silage.
I suspect that's the case with free range eggs, too.

For fruit and vegetable, I know of no difference.

But I don't really buy organic because nutritients, I do it because I don't want pesticides in my food, and also because I don't want the environment destroyed.

I've done taste tests on organic milk and I can tell every time. These are non official tests but Dh thinks that milk is milk. Both ds1 and i can tell the difference.
Meat wise it has to be better. I wish I could afford organic everything. I was told the more people who buy organic will make it more affordable eventually.
I don't know about nutrition in milk, but it certainly doesn't have all those antibiotics which really puts me off non organic milk. Veg wise it would be pesticides rather than vitamins that would sway me to buy them. I buy them when they're reduced!

Agree about the Omega 3 FAs in grazed milk and also free range eggs.

With reference to the antibiotic situation it isn't necessarily true that all non organic milk is full of them. Our milk buyer (Arla- think cravendale, lactofree etc) tests for the presence of antibiotics regularly and we would get heavy fines should it contain any. The fine wouldn't just extend to or milk but also to the whole tanker full should there be any found. It's in producers interests (if only from a financial point of view) not to use them in the cows they milk whether organic or not. For me it's purely about taste. If I can't get milk from our tank for whatever reason then I will go and buy some organic as it tastes almost as good- only without the cream settling on top which is a shame!

I think organic farms are allowed to use pesticides aren't they? Just a more limited range?

I buy organic milk (bit I don't think non organic contains anti biotic), eggs and meat. I can't honestly say that they taste that much better tbh but I buy them from an animal welfare point of view so am less concerned with any nutritional benefits. I would imagine any benefits would be pretty marginal in a healthy diet but I've not looked into it extensively- just decided that I can live with non organic carrots but not non organic meat IYSWIM.

it's very strickly regulated what medicines food producing animals get.
if a cow gets something that shouldn't go in the food chain the milk is dumped for a certain time.

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'm interested in the environmental/welfare side of things and also find it worrying that regular meat can contain traces of chemicals, antibiotics etc.

Chipping in a bit late in the day!

Nutritionally my understanding is there is little difference, as pp's have said

However standards for chemicals and welfare are very different - Organic is better for your health as a result and better for animals if you eat meat - and it's massively less harmful to the environment

Can anyone point me to some trustworthy sources of information on this?

Antibiotics in milk are illegal in the UK. It is america that does that.

You would be dead in three days if you went chemical free. Mind the babble.

As an example, organic milk has less iodine than regular milk, and is at similar levels to uht milk. So I guess it depends on which nutrients are of interest to you, and whether the organic choice is about welfare or nutrition. I agree that organic meat tastes better, but is this because of its organicness or other welfare differences from standard?

There is a huge difference in terms of environmental impact, esp in terms of caring for the soil and the water, and I suspect carbon emissions as well. I think this is probably the main thing we ought to be thinking about, not nutrition.

www.soilassociation.org/certification/food-drink/organic-standards/

You cab find a link to the soil association certification standards here to give you a bit more information.