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Korn
Apr 8th, 2005, 07:30 AM
From http://www.organicfood.co.uk/topten.html


10 Top Reasons to Go Organic


(and there are many, many more!)


Organic produce is not covered in a cocktail of poisonous chemicals. The average conventionally-grown apple has 20-30 artificial poisons on its skin, even after rinsing. Trust your instincts, and go organic!

Fresh organic produce contains on average 50% more vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other micro-nutrients than intensively farmed produce. Science says that it's good for you.

Going organic is the only practical way to avoid eating genetically modified (GM) food. And by buying organic food, you are registering your mistrust of GMO's and doing your bit to protest against them.

If you eat dairy or meat products, going organic has never been more essential to safeguard you and your family's health. Intensively-reared dairy cows and farm animals are fed a dangerous cocktail of anti-biotics, hormones, anti-parasite drugs and many other medicines on a daily basis, whether they have an illness or not. These drugs are passed directly onto the consumers of their dairy produce or meat., which must be a contributing factor to meat-related diseases like coronaries and high blood pressure.

About 99% of non-organic farm animals in the UK are now fed GM soya. And there has never been a reported case of BSE in organic cattle in the UK. Common sense says that organic is safe food.

Organic produce simply tastes so much better. Fruit and vegetables full of juice and flavour, and so many different varieties to try! There are about 100 different kinds of organic potatoes in production in the UK, and that's just potatoes!

Organic farms support and nurture our beautiful and diverse wildlife. Over the last thirty years, intensive farming in the UK has led to dramatic erosion of the soil, a fall of up to 70% of wild birds in some areas, the destruction of ancient hedgerows, and the near extinction of some of the most beautiful species of butterflies, frogs, grass-snakes and wild mammals.

Organic food is not really more expensive than intensively farmed foods, as we pay for conventional foods through our taxes. We spend billion of pounds every year cleaning up the mess that agro-chemicals make to our natural water supply. And the BSE crisis cost us 4 billion pounds. Go organic for a genuine more cost-effective future.

Intensive farming can seriously damage farm workers' health. There are much higher instances of cancer, respiratory problems and other major diseases in farm workers from non-organic farms. This is particularly true in developing countries, and for agrochemical farms growing cotton. So go organic if you care about other people.

And if you simply like the idea of your children and grandchildren being able to visit the countryside and play in the forests and fields just like we did when we were young, go organic for the sake of all of our futures.

Seaside
Apr 9th, 2005, 02:39 AM
Thanks, Korn!

Another good reason to go organic is the availabilty of out-of-season produce from foreign countries. Here in the USA many chemicals like DDT are banned from use, so the manufacturers sell them to third-world countries to use on their own crops, which are then imported into the USA! Does this make sense? :confused:

dreama
Apr 17th, 2005, 09:41 PM
I'm all for organic food too. I try to eat Organic as much as possible and Jilli and the rats only eat organic meat.

eve
Apr 20th, 2005, 10:09 AM
Organic: what's really in it? More of us are choosing to pay extra for organic foods - but do we know what we're buying? Jane Feinmann discovers which products really do provide health benefits - and which ones aren't worth the money
The above from the UK Independent yesterday. Full article at http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/food_and_drink/features/story.jsp?story=630785

Kim[ba]
Apr 20th, 2005, 03:57 PM
Well, at the worst organic food is more expensive without packing more nutrients and vitamins, but at least the food has been farmed in a more enviormentally safe manner. Consider the people that live in heavy farm towns that get sick every time pesticides and fertelizers are sprayed in mass quanities from planes, what that in turn does to the soil, the water, etc. I think it's worth paying extra just to contribute to more enviormental freindly farming practices.

DianeVegan
Apr 20th, 2005, 11:24 PM
I agree with you Kimba, there is more at stake than just "health" benefits. We have unwittingly sold much of our environmental health and natural resources for cheap food and products. I wonder what we will be willing to pay in the future to try to turn back the clock?

thecatspajamas1
Jan 16th, 2006, 03:42 AM
Here in the USA many chemicals like DDT are banned from use, so the manufacturers sell them to third-world countries to use on their own crops, which are then imported into the USA! Does this make sense?

I did not know this!! I assumed all US food was DDT-free!! :(

Does anyone know if pesticides definitely cause cancer or is it just a probable suspicion? I mean, are there any specific studies? I am on a school mealplan and absolutely nothing is organic, but I am so scared of getting cancer from pesticides...

DianeVegan
Jan 17th, 2006, 10:17 AM
Sarah, if you want a fairly good description of how cancers form, The China Study is one place to start. One of the points the author makes is that there are many carcinogens we come in contact with yet some grow and some don't. He postulates that there is something about animal protein which allows cancer cells to move from the stage of seeding to cell division (maybe the mix of amino acids?). I think that if you are eating a good amount of fruits and vegetables then you are getting all the cancer protection you can. Remember, your cosmetics, water, air all contain carcinogens so you really can't avoid them - you just need to eat all the foods which fight them. And those foods are fruits and vegetables.

So you'll be fine at school. (Even organic foods are contaminated to some extent with chemicals - there are just too many in the environment).

(P.S. - If you really want to avoid the pesticides which have been banned in the U.S. then don't purchase any flowers grown outside the U.S. since they are not regulated. If you don't eat it, the government doesn't regulate it. Of course, you breathe in the flower pesticides, but I guess that's a little point that they missed.:rolleyes: )

KarmaGirl
Jan 20th, 2006, 09:22 PM
Organic food costs more also because it is harder to grow. A lot of the modified plants are hardier than the "natural' ones that are certified organic. So, the modified ones, especially with the use of chemicals, are easier to grow.

DianeVegan
Jan 21st, 2006, 01:27 PM
Karma Girl,
The reason organic food costs more is not because it is more difficult to grow as much as it's not usually corporate owned and therefore grown by farmers who own (rather than lease) their land. Corporations who charge more for organic products are also making a bigger profit. If you have ever been a gardener then you know that organic gardening is not really more difficult than chemical gardening. And you can have your children around the plants because you don't have to worry that they may be exposed to dangerous chemicals just by walking through the rows. At farmer's markets the organic produce isn't more expensive than the chemical produce since it's all coming from small farms.

And genetically modified seeds have a higher cost (especially in the long run) since you must purchase them every year, unlike natural seeds, because they either won't produce viable seeds or carry patent laws on them. Not all of these GMO's are hardier than natural unless you consider the ability to be saturated with patented herbicide as a seedling to be a desired trait.

Farming has been around for thousands of years using purely organic methods. Even with that humans have managed to cause soil erosion and depletion in some areas. Conventional farming is just picking up the pace of soil depletion for "ease" and profit.

It's a simple choice to me. Pay now or pay later. And invest in your future even if you don't get immediate returns.:)

KarmaGirl
Jan 21st, 2006, 02:12 PM
If you have ever been a gardener then you know that organic gardening is not really more difficult than chemical gardening.
Actually, I have had a garden since I was very young, and live around organic producers, many of which have only recently switched to organic methods. Keeping bugs out of produce is a lot harder with organic crops as is only using organic (not petroleum based) fertilizers. The organic methods end up casting the farmers more due to greater loss of product due to bugs. A lot of the modified produce has a greater resistance to insects, which just proves on its own that there is something unhealthy about it.

The cost of producing the product is not the only reason that it costs more (which is why I said "also") but it is a factor. And, it is also a justification for paying more. The organic farmers grow their crops in an ethical fashion and should be rewarded for that. I rather pay 10 - 15% on organic and know that I'm not killing my family. I also have no problem with paying local growers more for their fresh, organic produce.

DianeVegan
Jan 21st, 2006, 02:34 PM
Thanks for replying, Karma Girl. I almost misunderstood your first post to be in defense of chemical farming.:o I'm glad you elaborated.:)

I think the insect control issue with organic gardening sometimes has a lot to do with the weather - some years I had more problems than others. I guess it just never bothered me much as we grew up with bug bites in some of our food.

KarmaGirl
Jan 22nd, 2006, 03:36 PM
I guess it just never bothered me much as we grew up with bug bites in some of our food.

Yeah, it's never bothered me, either. But, you know how people are when they buy their produce- if it's not 100% perfect, they don't buy it. Too many people are too far removed from nature that they expect perfection in everything. I have had people tell me I was "insane" for keeping my veggie and fruit scraps from lunch to take home for our compost. They just have no idea how to reuse our resources.

sk8erboi
Jan 26th, 2006, 02:13 AM
The produce like apples at grocery stores (except for Farmer's markets) is covered with a waxy substance, that could be beeswax or shellac (both animal-based).

Is the coating on certified organic fruits also certified Vegan? Always wanted to know. Thanks, Ron

KarmaGirl
Jan 26th, 2006, 04:46 PM
I've never gotten anything organic that had a coating on it. Do they coat organic? Is it just where I shop that doesn't have coatings?

sk8erboi
Jan 26th, 2006, 06:52 PM
I think that they coat organic -- at least at Trader Joe's & Whole Foods. There's nothing like an apple from one of those summer/fall farmer's markets. Uncoated fruit just tastes so natural.

I just wish that they would label the fruit with the actual coating used, instead of having some generic sign at Whole Foods that says "may be coated with aaa, bbbb, ccc, dddd, or eeeee" & other stores don't even have any sign about coatings, but those "shiny" fruits have something on them.

I think organic fruits & foods can also be grown in fields with cow manure as fertilizer -- yuk! -- so we're forced to make some compromises -- until someone starts a Vegan certification program for this stuff.

Actually, I'm only being very picky on this board, since I think I may find some sympathy among other vegans. Of course in real life, we need to just do the best we can.

speedylemons
Feb 11th, 2006, 05:44 AM
because i just ate an organic banana for the first time ever and it was the BEST banana i have EVER eaten.. EVER. :D

Roxy
Feb 12th, 2006, 05:17 AM
I love organic bananas! I find them so much sweeter than the regular ones. My other favourite organic fruit is strawberries. They taste and smell so deliciously strawberryish - just the way nature intended :D

speedylemons
Feb 12th, 2006, 03:25 PM
I'm waiting for my grocer to get organic grapes. i rarely eat normal grapes because they seem like little pkgs of pesticides.. i just have an overactive imagination. :o

terrace max
Feb 12th, 2006, 10:06 PM
I think organic fruits & foods can also be grown in fields with cow manure as fertilizer -- yuk! -- so we're forced to make some compromises -- until someone starts a Vegan certification program for this stuff.

Someone has! (in the UK anyway): http://www.veganorganic.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56&Itemid=71

Unless these, or similar, are adopted widely - mainstream organic can't seriously be described as vegan. And conventional, chemical-based agriculture is an environmental crime.

And both often rely on ludicrous transport arrangements which undermine any purported ecological benefits anyway. Which are better (by any measure): organic apples air-freighted from, say, New Zealand to the UK, or non-organic apples grown in the UK? The former poison the planet, the latter poison you. What's the difference?

zena
Feb 28th, 2006, 08:22 PM
have you guys seen safeways organic line? its mostly packaged stuff but it makes the part of my mind that thrives on conspiracy theorys act up. has the fda lowered there standards? are we being led to think were actually buying organic but they mean somthing else. i dont trust it. or should i?

also, i asked a friend why she ate organic and she said, very matter of factly, "because im worth it"
thats a pretty damn good excuse.

Roxy
Feb 28th, 2006, 08:39 PM
also, i asked a friend why she ate organic and she said, very matter of factly, "because im worth it"
thats a pretty damn good excuse.

Hehe - does your friend look like Heather Locklear? You know how she says "Because I'm worth it" in those Loreal ads on TV.

Up here in Canada, I have only seen organic frozen corn at Safeway.

princessemma
Feb 28th, 2006, 09:40 PM
I just can't afford to. I can just afford to budget as it is. When I am better off financially perhaps but until then some of us just have to take our chances with the pesticides.:mad:

DianeVegan
Mar 12th, 2006, 03:15 PM
I had this conversation recently with someone who considered organic foods to be too expensive. When it comes to fresh fruit, vegetables and whole grains the difference in price is equivalent once you consider that organic foods don't just have less pesticides - they also have more vitamins and minerals since the soil they are grown in is alive vs. dead and depleted. It's not just about pesticides.

If you are buying organic junk or processed foods then it doesn't make much sense to purchase organic. Why use organic refined flour? All the minerals/vitamins are stripped from it and then synthetic supplements are added.

Organic has become such a catch-all marketing term that it's meaning has come to be different things to different people (and companies). Here in the U.S. there is a strong movement away from the corporate "organic" and towards small, sustainable and local farms. Add to that the idea of whole foods eaten in season and prepared at home - and eating "organic" becomes attainable on any budget. But it does take thought and time (until it becomes routine).

Corporate-owned, conventional, processed and "convenient" foods give you much less than what you pay for. They are lacking in vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other food components we haven't even "discovered" as yet.

In my opinion, eating conventional produce while taking vitamin/mineral supplements isn't what nature intended. And it will cost you your health in the long run while making profits for someone else today.

princessemma
Mar 12th, 2006, 09:33 PM
If I bought organic I probably would have to reduce our current fruit and veg consumption by half to afford it. My husband is going for a better job so hopefully soon I'll be able to afford organic but for some people just being able to afford fruit and veg at all is a struggle. Untill organic is more readlily available it remain something for the 'haves' as opposed to the 'have nots'