Anybody else not 'DO' Organic?

[dyzzidi]

Okay so I don't have kids yet so i may alter my opinion then but I don't do organic.

I actually refuse to buy anything organic as I feel it has not harmed me all of my life eating normal stuff.

I eat quite healthily lots of fruit and veg etc but will not pay for the organic label and what is organic ketchup & baked beans all about?. I thought if something was bad for you it was bad for you regardless of that is in it.

Also I don't do Tofu or quorn or anything I feel is manufactured veggies.

Ok there I have voiced the fact that I and many of my friends don't do organic, Anyone else?????

Does 'organic' only refer to lack of pesticides? Because what concerns me is anti-biotics and growth hormones in milk/meat etc. I don't know if it's organic but I always buy the products that are labelled free of these (I'm not sure if things are the same in the UK now). I buy free range organic eggs as much for the chicken's sake as mine, and have always bought organic carrots since a farmer friend told me these were by far the worst for pesticides etc.

Otherwise I try and get the best quality that's available and I can afford, and drink, eat findus pizzas, campbells meatballs and kfc more than occasionally, even smoke once in a blue moon and watch tons of crap on the telly. And so do the kids (except for the smoking and drinking - though ds 10 has a drop of wine french style sometimes ).

In response to the comment 'If it was dangerous they would have banned it' - We have a responsibility to conduct our own research on what we eat and then make an informed choice based on what we feel is best and what we can afford. Eating non organic food is not the end of the world, as you say non-organic fruit and veg is better than no fruit and veg. I choose to eat organic (the majority of the time) because I believe it is healthier and tastes nicer. If we wait for something to be banned, I guess it means that we are putting our total trust in the government. Based on the crap that is served up in school canteens and the filthy state of our hospitals (on news today that a 2 day old baby died of MRSA) i think the more research we can do ourselves and the less faith we put in 'government officials' the better.

I do about half and half mainly for cost tbh.I buy organic for all the staples bread butter cheese etc and as much fruit and veg as I can but agree about cost

I guess I also have a problem with organic because, as well as it not being farily traded in a lot of cases, it is seen to be 'better' and yet the cost is prohibitive to many people. Just like healthcare - why should 'good' food only be available to those who can choose to buy it?

I think you're right Paolosgirl, and it is a problem that more people cannot afford organic food. Part of the problem is that supermarkets, fast food and the modern food industry have consistently competed on price over the years, and we are now conditioned to expect food to be very cheap without really thinking about the hidden costs that this involves. Organic food, particularly if you can source it directly from the supplier, is more 'honestly' priced from that perspective.

However, there are other ways to square the circle. Buying only british produced food reduces the environmental costs associated with transport and at least ensures that the food is produced under some tight regulatory frameworks which we can influence if we don't like them. Or for those with the time and space you can grow your own?

As for the health benefits, doctor friends tell me the biggest benefits most people could make is simply by changing their diets to include more fruit and veg, wherever it comes from. Whether it is organic or not is practically irrelevant, from the point of view of the health of the average adult.

I eat a healthy diet and this is one of the reasons I initially asked the question.

I also think it must be easier/cheaper to buy organic depending on where you live.

Yeah, well I do think the health benefits of organic food are overstated for most people. As you might have gathered!

But I don't think you can overstate the benefits from an environmental and animal welfare perspective, if that matters to you.

I buy organic chocolate because its not too expensive

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Any animal products I buy now are organic, so milk, cheese, meat. I don't buy organic veg/fruit.

Capitalist development is just not a pretty process, I'm afraid.

Why Puff?

(Just interested in the rationale. Is there a difference between non-organic veg and non-organic animal products with regards to health/ environment etc.? Or is it an animal welfare thing?)

I'd like to eat organic entirely but can't afford to, so it's a compromise.

Sorry, also meant to say, the welfare of a sheep or lamb means more to me than that of a carrot or turnip, so that's contributed to the choice too.

that the cost of organic food means it's not a choice for a lot of people.

This site seems reasonable for organic meat

Is New Zealand Lamb organic?

Their advertising seems to imply that it is, but an organic farmer once told me that it isn't really, for reasons I can't now remember!

I grow as much of our veg as I can,so I know that no nasties have been sprayed on it.You are all right about carrots being the most 'polluted' vegetable.At agricultural/horticultural college we were told never to eat carrots that haven't been peeled,unless they were organic.

The growth hormone thing about meat/milk,puzzles me.I've heard a lot of people say that they don't eat meat/drink milk for this reason,but growth hormones are banned in the EEC,although not in the US,so this shouldn't be a worry.However the welfare side of meat/milk production is another thing entirely,British farm animals are subject to higher welfare standards than other EU countries (apart from the shameful factory chicken farms),so I don't by Dutch bacon or 'cheap' chicken ect.

My friend & I were discussing food standards the other day & she is a veggie & eats a lot of soya products.She told me that most soya is US produced,was therefore GM,so probably not very good for her.I had never thought of this as I don't eat soya/tofu or stuff like that.Is it true?

Yes, Mirage it is. When I buy soy sauce, I make sure that it the product of Malaysia or whatever, not USA.

Basically what the USA did was mix the non GM soy beans with the GM ones, so no-one knows if it is or not.

Bastards!

we cant afford to do organic

infact threads like these really upset me as it shows just how detched from working class people and their pockets you really are

Keane did you do organic when it was the same price as non in Iceland?

Keane, I don't feel detatched from other people's financial situation - we can't afford to eat all organic and cut our meat consumtion right down because the cost of organic is v prohibitive.

It makes me mad as hell that it costs so much, out of reach for many families.

I go and spend a lot of time with my aunt. She's a lone pensioner, trying to keep her own home and really struggles financially. She buys her red meat from a bloke in the pub round the corner, because she can't afford even non-organic in the shops. It makes me really to see my aunt, and many other pensioners, struggling like this.

Why "detached"? I think there's been quite a lot of acknowledgement on this thread that the price of organic food is a disgrace and that it is out of many people's reach.

I buy only organic from a local farm shop - it is always cheaper than organic from the supermarket (and occasionally cheaper than non organic at the supermarket!!!)...
I only started going organic some 15 years ago with milk and butter now my entire larder is but it has been a gradual thing, learning, reading, looking for good places to buy the products,...
My food shopping budget is max £50/week and were 4 good eaters... so you can do organic on tha budget. Sometimes I will spend a bit more if I want a bit more meat as that is more expensive.... but well worth it for many reasons mentioned below.
My nanny thinks organic is a total waste of money yet she always comments how tasty my veggies are and will help herself to some in my firdge to go home (bless) .... I smile... she is 85! I won't change her mind!