Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Organic Foods: eh?

I don't entirely understand the huge organic push. Washing fruits and vegetables can be a pain, but the primary difference between organic and non-organic celery is that the latter is more apt to have something besides dirt on the outside (say a chemical fertilizer or pesticide). For people who never wash their fruits and veggies, going organic will mean less consumption of those chemicals, and is probably a good thing. Is it worth paying 1.5-3X the cost for something that can be mitigated by washing? Not to me.

Internal differences could be a strong argument for organic. Unfortunately, going organic doesn't actually improve the nutritional content of fruits and vegetables (study--sorry not free, counter, info on whether antioxidants are relevant). Meat and dairy are a different matter. Hormone free is probably still a good thing, particularly if young children are consuming it, and I am quite partial to dairy that is not ultra-pasteurized. Most mass produced milk (and cheese) is ultra-pasteurized, which produces less flavorful dairy products and reduces/eliminates enzymatic activity. Most pasteurized dairy is also hormone free (and organic), so it's generally win-win.

Now, organic farming may be better for the environment (though that is not terribly easy to answer), and it may have heretofore unknown health benefits, but mostly people who are emphatic about going organic either have something to gain (organic farmers, Whole Foods) or want to feel somewhat better about themselves. The latter category is populated with a fair amount of wealthier people who generally destroy the planet by overconsumption like living in 3000+ sq ft houses, and flying and driving more than average, and buying more new things.

Most people can't afford to go organic, and there is no reason yet to believe they would be better off if they did. They'd mostly just be poorer.

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