For those who buy organic, what are the reasons?

[Polerius]

For those who buy organic, what are the reasons?

[aruvqan]

I do not go out of my way to buy organic, but if I want the white asparagus [just a wild off the cuff example, I haven't bought any in a couple of years] and the only one in the veggie isle is organic, then I sort of have to buy organic...

Some produce is only available in organic, although the organic local produce at my local co-op (http://www.willimanticfood.coop/) is of good quality and priced comparably with the local grocery store so I will frequently get my veggies there so buying organic is just a side benefit[?] and not my reason for shopping there.

I do like patronizing local whenever possible - my favorite orchard store has heirlooms and regular hybrid fruits which are nice. I am eating a baked Rhode Island Greening (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_Greening) leftover from last night chopped into my oatmeal right now. I absolutely detest the mealy nasty golden and red delicious apples, bred up for shipping and stability. Give me a real apple any day.

[bup]

A friend of mine is an organic farmer. So I buy some of his stuff to be supportive.

[ratatoskK]

I said "other" because organic produce tastes better. Actually I'd choose "all of the above" plus tastes better.

[ITR champion]

I also would choose "all of the above" if I could. There's a thread going in Great Debates right now about the topic, and you can see that there are dueling studies about whether organic foods are actually more nutritious and whether pesticide residues can cause cancer. As I see it, though, current studies can only tell part of the story. We first legalized Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) for dairy cows in the early 90's. This hormone works by breaking down cells' natural restrictions on cell division. Anyone with a basic knowledge of biology could suspect that this might lead to tumors and cncers. It certainly causes cancers in the cattle themselves. Of course, we've done studies showing that humans can drink milk from cows treated with BGH for a few months without bad effects. But what happens if you drink such milk for your entire life? Nobody knows. If you're drinking non-organic milk, then you're the guinea pig.

[Anaamika]

I only buy organic when they don't have said vegetable (usually daikkon) in any other "type" or if the organic is on sale and thus cheaper than the regular (rare but it does happen).

[Kolga]

I said "other" because organic produce tastes better. Actually I'd choose "all of the above" plus tastes better.

I second this, especially for tomatoes. We have a box of organic produce (locally grown when available) delivered every week from Door to Door Organics (http://www.doortodoororganics.com/), and I plan the meals for the week around that produce.

[Maastricht]

The only reason for me is animal welfare. So I mostly buy my meat and eggs organic, not veggies.

And I bought organic baby food, as the experts said that for young children traces of pesticides and hormones are more dangerous then for adults.

[shorin-ryu]

I try to buy locally as much as possible, and most of the farmers at my farmers market grow organic.

[Green Bean]

I chose "other" as well.

One reason is taste. I'm surprised you left that out. Organic carrots just taste better, and I notice that a pound of regular carrots is more likely to have fewer, fatter ones, and the organic carrots will have more thinner ones. The thinner ones taste better regardless.

Another reason is "the environment," but frankly, that answer is far too simplistic. Those organic raspberries might actually be worse for the environment overall because it might cost a lot more fuel to ship them as fast as possible, and there might be much more spoilage.

I'm less worried about the pesticides than I am the environmental impact of agribusiness as a whole. If I make the conscious choice to buy organic, it's more because I want to support the businesses and the industry. If it's profitable to farm organically, then more farmers will want to do it.

Also, greater potential profits will drive research and development in the areas of organic methods, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. If an "organic" method turns out to be cheaper and/or more effective than a chemical method, Mr. Agribusiness will use it even if he doesn't give a hoot about whether it's acceptably "organic." So that's a win-win right there.

The way I see it, the real gains in reducing the environmental impact of our consumer products come when big business starts using better methods. We need to support the little guys (or the little divisions of the big guys) because they're the catalyst.

[LunarPlexus]

My wife's fiat.

[NinetyWt]

I chose "other". I buy organic milk at my daughter's request - that's the only organic thing I buy.

[Ogre]

All of the above, plus several "others", including supporting local agriculture.

[Swallowed My Cellphone]

I said "other" because organic produce tastes better. Actually I'd choose "all of the above" plus tastes better.This is my answer also. "All of the above" and very much because it tastes better (Frankenapples are bigger, shinier and have no flavor, organic apples are small and ugly but damn do they ever taste like apples), plus other factor such as supporting local growers and trying to be more eco-friendly (we also avoid any fruits and vegetables that have traveled great distances to get to our grocer's).

[araminty]

My "other" vote was for some of the reasons above (taste!) but also because we take part in CSA, community supported agriculture, which is run by a local organic coop. Our growers put together a boxful, which is delivered to our home every other week. VERY easy, a great way of eating more fruit and veg, which are locally grown, (which supports the local economy and reduces the need for transportation of produce) seasonal, and delicious. Also, a fun surprise!

[Unauthorized Cinnamon]

I was largely converted by The Omnivore's Dilemma. I think organic and/or sustainable non-factory practices are generally more ethical regarding the environment, the animals, and the people involved.

There doesn't seem to be much evidence that organic is better for us nutritionally, but I don't think it's disputed that conventional beef is raised in CAFOs and pumped with antibiotics because the grain diet messes the cows up. Or that huge hog farms dock tails and create giant lagoons of waste that occasionally poison local water supplies. It also seems pretty clear that dumping excess petrol-based fertilizer on crops year in and year out has some serious effects on the environment.

[rhubarbarin]

I guess for me it's a combination of all of the above. I'm not too scared of pesticides/fungicides/herbicides, I wash everything anyway, but it can't hurt to have less of them on my food. I think USDA organic produce/animal products might be marginally more nutritious (some things you can see with the naked eye- organic eggs having a shell 3x as thick as a supermarket egg, for instance, which absolutely means the hen that laid it was in better shape), but since most don't grow them in properly maintained soil or feed them a natural diet, it's not going to make a huge difference in my health. I do think that less spraying of pesticides/fungicides, and regulation of farming practices, is something that should be supported. As for organic things tasting better - that's hit or miss for me. Depends on the individual veg. Nothing beats fresh-picked home-grown though.

I prefer to grow my own 'organic' (no chemicals, even fertilizer) produce in well-maintained soil, and I try to get animal products that may not be certified USDA organic but are raised running loose on pasture-land eating what they are adapted to.

[DrDeth]

I said "other" because organic produce tastes better. Actually I'd choose "all of the above" plus tastes better.

Blind taste tests prove otherwise, see BullShit and others. Now sure, there are some varieties of say- Tomatoes- that are mostly grown organic that taste better due to how they are ripened, taken to market and so forth. However two identical varieties, ripened and shipped that same way, but one grown with "chemical" fertilizers and pesticides and the other grown to Organic standards? Identical in taste.

In other words, it's the small "truck" farm and farmers market type of sales that makes the difference. Not "organic" vs "chemical" fertilizers and etc.

[Pullet]

As I see it, though, current studies can only tell part of the story. We first legalized Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) for dairy cows in the early 90's. This hormone works by breaking down cells' natural restrictions on cell division. Anyone with a basic knowledge of biology could suspect that this might lead to tumors and cncers. It certainly causes cancers in the cattle themselves. Of course, we've done studies showing that humans can drink milk from cows treated with BGH for a few months without bad effects. But what happens if you drink such milk for your entire life? Nobody knows. If you're drinking non-organic milk, then you're the guinea pig.

While I agree that all studies are limited in many ways, I challenge your claim that rBST functions in the manner you describe or that it has the effects on cattle that you claim. Could you please provide some cites?

[Stoneburg]

Blind taste tests prove otherwise, see BullShit and others. Now sure, there are some varieties of say- Tomatoes- that are mostly grown organic that taste better due to how they are ripened, taken to market and so forth. However two identical varieties, ripened and shipped that same way, but one grown with "chemical" fertilizers and pesticides and the other grown to Organic standards? Identical in taste.

In other words, it's the small "truck" farm and farmers market type of sales that makes the difference. Not "organic" vs "chemical" fertilizers and etc.
I call bullshit on the BullShit.

Blind tastes are irelevant. If you THINK it tastes better it DOES taste better. Simmilar tests show that coffy drunk from a dark brown mug will taste "richer" while drunk from a yellow mug will taste "weak". The same coffy that is. Since taste is subjective, I think that the experience is the only thing that matters. If people think organic food tastes better, it does. For them. And that is all that matters.

[aruvqan]

I call bullshit on the BullShit.

Blind tastes are irelevant. If you THINK it tastes better it DOES taste better. Simmilar tests show that coffy drunk from a dark brown mug will taste "richer" while drunk from a yellow mug will taste "weak". The same coffy that is. Since taste is subjective, I think that the experience is the only thing that matters. If people think organic food tastes better, it does. For them. And that is all that matters.

I know that my poultry and eggs taste better than store bought, the birds are free range and eat all sorts of stuff, and are not medicated other than when they need it. The veggies I have grown taste better, but I seek out heirloom varieties that are not hybridized into plastic yuckiness.

If we had the space, I would raise my own beef and pork also... but we simply do not have the space =(

[whiterabbit]

Organic eggs are way better tasting, to me. It's not just marketing, either. They're the only thing that I buy exclusively organic, but in general I find organic dairy and meat taste better overall.

[Dr. Crap]

After work I try to pickup a piece of ass at the olive bar.

[BleizDu]

We produce our own organic vegetables, eggs and poultry so we don't buy those, but what I insist on buying organic is various flours and yeast. I have found that the quality of that has a great impact on how nice my bread will be.
Oatmeal is unsual to buy here and the organic stuff I buy by 5kg is way better than the quaker brand we have here.
And except for stuff like, say, bananas, I only buy locally produced, or at least, french-produced, stuff. It makes no sense for me to buy something organic if it travelled for thousands of miles to go here.

[Cat Whisperer]

I chose "Other" - I buy a few organic products because they aren't available in regular.

[Eats_Crayons]

Blind taste tests prove otherwise, see BullShit and others. Now sure, there are some varieties of say- Tomatoes- that are mostly grown organic that taste better due to how they are ripened, taken to market and so forth. However two identical varieties, ripened and shipped that same way, but one grown with "chemical" fertilizers and pesticides and the other grown to Organic standards? Identical in taste.That may be the problem though. It's not so much the growing but what happens post harvest that affects the taste. We buy organic fruits and vegetables. The organic Gala apples are smaller and frequently a bit beat up, the non-organic Gala apples are significantly larger, have no blemishes, and often coated in wax to increase their shelf-life in the grocery store. They taste quite bland, whereas the organic apples—probably actually in the early stages of spoil—have a more robust flavour from the sugars and acidity. If non-organic produce wasn't set-up to last for a month in the fridge, the same varietals would probably have a similar taste. But if the apples are treated post-harvest with waxes to prolong their shelf-life and keep them pretty at the grocery store, I'll take the one that taste better because it's aging/spoiling naturally and the sguars and acids are doing what they are supposed to do.

Organic eggs are way better tasting, to me. It's not just marketing, either. They're the only thing that I buy exclusively organic, but in general I find organic dairy and meat taste better overall.It could be the chicken feed. We sometimes farm sit for our friends that had free range laying hens. The eggs were divine! Then they switched to a different feed, and the eggs tasted.... "non-eggy" if that makes any sense.

[Green Rosetta]

I chose 'better for the environment', but that's not the whole reason. As others have said, I like to support local agriculture and often those veggies and fruits just happen to be organic. Also, I have a theory that part of our problem with obesity in this country comes from the hormones in our food- for example, I look at pictures of my mom, who was my age in the 70s, and she is skinny, as in, you can see her ribs and everything, and so are all of her friends. Same thing with people in the 60s, 50s, 40s- anyone who vintage shops knows this. People were just... smaller. I wondered what was so different about then and realized that it seems to me that people started to just get bigger in general when we moved away from local and family farms and into giant econofarms. I really think that some of the gradual 'biggening' of our bodies can be attributed to the hormones and chemicals in our food. I'd like for that not to happen to me, so I try to eat organic.

[lindsaybluth]

I buy hormone free and grass fed beef because it tastes better. However, everything else that I buy organic (the top 20 or so of the EWG's veggie list, poultry and dairy) is for my health.

I know there are studies in both camps, but it's too early to tell what the outcome with be. However, I can afford it, and I don't want to be looking at cancer or insulin resistance years down the road.

I don't care about the environment in relation to my food. I buy local in the summer cause produce taste SO much better. But in the off-season, a lot of organics are shipped from California. Makes no difference to me.

[lindsaybluth]

I should also point out that organic dairy standards are absolute shit. Dopers who purchase organic dairy should check their brand against Cornucopia's ratings. You can find their report here (http://www.cornucopia.org/dairy_brand_ratings/). I always wince when I see people purchase Horizon, which is simply Dean's regular milk sold at a higher price.

Mods, please take this down if I'm not allowed to post a link to my own blog, but I detail the scandal and lawsuit regarding Dean Foods/Horizon "organic" milk here (http://steelcitygourmand.blogspot.com/2009/06/what-organic-milk-to-buy.html).

[elelle]

All of the above, really, and I'm lucky enough to be living in an area in NC that has a plethora of great organic farmers, a good many I count as friends. I know their farms and practices, so I buy their products knowing it's as good as can be produced.

[Baby Driver]

Oh, it's tough being both an aspiring foodie and a broke college student. :p

I try to buy chicken and eggs organic, because they taste better. For veggies, I do local when I can, like aruvqan, because they are tastier and I like to try to support local farms (plus, our town's farmer's market is wonderful!).

[aruvqan]

Oh, it's tough being both an aspiring foodie and a broke college student. :p

I try to buy chicken and eggs organic, because they taste better. For veggies, I do local when I can, like aruvqan, because they are tastier and I like to try to support local farms (plus, our town's farmer's market is wonderful!).

IF you have a few shekels to spare, I really urge people to check into getting an aerogarden ... frequently they have them on sale... or pots and a grow light.

There is nothing like fresh basil, or fresh arugala right at your fingertips all year. I can heartily recommend the genovese basil plug, mine got huge and if we didn't chop off 6 inches every week it would have taken over the world!

Grow radishes in a window box [20 day life cycle from planting to eating] you cant get more instant gratification than that! Loose leaf lettuces in a pot ... fresh herbs. Dwarf lemon trees in the living room .... tomatoes in an aerogarden [my black krim are doing very nicely thanks!]

[Yeticus Rex]

Couple of reasons:

1. No preservatives or natural preservatives.
2. Wife said so.

[kanicbird]

I do because of a belief of what you put into something goes into the product. If the issue is the bottom line, mass produced food then that is what you consume when you eat it. If it is care that is what goes into you.

Probably the most recognizable example is art where people can tell if it is a angry (or whatever) picture, but everything we do IMHO what we put into it carries through.

[Barrels]

[QUOTE=ITR champion;11876804 We first legalized Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH) for dairy cows in the early 90's. This hormone works by breaking down cells' natural restrictions on cell division. Anyone with a basic knowledge of biology could suspect that this might lead to tumors and cncers. It certainly causes cancers in the cattle themselves. Of course, we've done studies showing that humans can drink milk from cows treated with BGH for a few months without bad effects. But what happens if you drink such milk for your entire life? Nobody knows. If you're drinking non-organic milk, then you're the guinea pig.[/QUOTE]

BGH is a hormone that cows produce naturally. If you say that it could cause cancer you are saying that all milk could cause cancer because all milk has the same hormone in it. The milk labeled BST-free is a joke, there is no way to test for the hormone because the hormone is there anyways.

I do eat some organic produce, but only because the neighbors grow organic and trade us free veggies for storage space on our farm.

[Barrels]

I would like to add that there is something between the organic farm and the mega dairy. We milk roughly 100 cows, and grow crops on about 300 acres. We are not an organic dairy, but I know every one of my cows like the back of my hand. They aren't just numbers on legs, they are our livelihood and we work our asses off to keep them happy and healthy. We receive awards for our milk production and quality. The same neighbors that grow organic produce also have an organic dairy. The number of cows they loose because they can't use the same medicine we can is astounding. There is no way I could ever let one of my cows die because I couldn't give her the medicine she needed.

[Meatros]

I do not go out of my way to buy organic, but if I want the white asparagus [just a wild off the cuff example, I haven't bought any in a couple of years] and the only one in the veggie isle is organic, then I sort of have to buy organic...

This is pretty much the only reason I buy organic. I find that some of the quantities and selection that I desire are only sold as organic in the store I frequent. I guess I could go somewhere else, but it doesn't really bother me.

[melodyharmonius]

I buy organic because I have celiac's disease and have to avoid gluten & wheat based products.

Sometimes if you read a label and it's not organic it might look like there's not any wheat or gluten in it, but if it doesn't have an allergen warning label on it to clarify, there's a chance that it might have a "modified food starch" in it that does indeed carry something my body can't handle.

The other things: taste, price, local produce, enviro-friendly, etc, are important - but the wheat-free readability is a primary for me.

[Cat Fight]

I was largely converted by The Omnivore's Dilemma. I think organic and/or sustainable non-factory practices are generally more ethical regarding the environment, the animals, and the people involved.

But as Pollan points out in that book, sometimes it's better to do your research than buy organic as a knee jerk reaction. I'd rather buy from a small, local farm that can't afford to (or simply chooses not to) have organic feed trucked in from hundreds of miles away – and therefore doesn't get organic certification despite practicing sustainable farming – than buy organic chickens from Peru.

Buying local is great if you can do it, since it basically ensures that you get the best quality – everything's in season and whatever's growing the best is going to be sold more cheaply so the farmers can get rid of it.

[Hockey Monkey]

I chose "other". The only thing I go out of my way to purchase organic is dairy. It tastes better to me.

[pravnik]

Tastes better. Grass fed beef and organic dairy tastes freakishly better. I would have thought this BS, had my wife not insisted I start buying organic cottage cheese. Much, much better.

[DrDeth]

Tastes better. Grass fed beef and organic dairy tastes freakishly better. I would have thought this BS, had my wife not insisted I start buying organic cottage cheese. Much, much better.

Grass fed beef does taste different, but that does not = "organic".

I think that a lot of the taste difference is in dudes minds.

[pravnik]

Grass fed beef does taste different, but that does not = "organic".Yeah, point out where I said that.

[pravnik]

Yeah, point out where I said that.I meant this to be wry and jesting when I wrote it, but rereading it it sounds just bitchy as hell. I apologize.

[DrDeth]

Yeah, point out where I said that.

Well, we are in a thread about Organic.

[pravnik]

Well, we are in a thread about Organic.Admitted - like I said, that came out way more snarky than I intended. Anyway, what I mean is that some of the the expensive stuff I've hesitatingly tried at my wife's insistance, like grass fed beef on one hand and organic dairy on the other, has proved to have a taste difference. The two most noticeable I can think of are with ground beef and cottage cheese. The ground beef not only tasted fresher and better, it looked different, more brown than the gray that cooked ground beef usually looks like. The organic cottage cheese tasted sweet without the weird chemical taste that I'd never before realized cottage cheese had prior to that. It's possible that it's all in my head, but I really don't think so; I fully expected it would taste exactly the same and was genuinely surprised when it didn't. With organic produce, on the other hand, I've never noticed any taste difference whatsoever.

[DrDeth]

Admitted - like I said, that came out way more snarky than I intended. Anyway, what I mean is that some of the the expensive stuff I've hesitatingly tried at my wife's insistance, like grass fed beef on one hand and organic dairy on the other, has proved to have a taste difference. .

No doubt, grass fed beef has more flavor, but many debate whether it's "better" n that corn fed beef is more tender. But there is a definite difference, I'll concede.

Like I said earlier, a lot of what dudes think of as the better taste of organic is actually the better taste of small and locally grown. Not all truck farms are organic, however. The difference between the same variety of food, harvested and shipped the same way- but one with manure and the other with chemical fertilizer- is almost impossible to tell. If you had a small local non-organic dairy, I have little doubt their products would also taste better.

[pravnik]

Like I said earlier, a lot of what dudes think of as the better taste of organic is actually the better taste of small and locally grown. Not all truck farms are organic, however. The difference between the same variety of food, harvested and shipped the same way- but one with manure and the other with chemical fertilizer- is almost impossible to tell. If you had a small local non-organic dairy, I have little doubt their products would also taste better.Could be; locally grown/milked/whatever has the touchy feely carbon footprint quality my wife values to it as well, so if that's the case I've got no problem buying conventional and local if the taste is okay. All I can say with certainty is that generally the cottage cheese and yogurt labeled organic has a much much better taste and texture for whatever reason, and I don't mind spending the extra.