Quote:
Originally Posted by AcidSnake
I personally feel that this "organic" food stuff is a complete sham. What does it mean to be "organic"? What agency, whether it be public or private, actually regulates what foods are "organic"? If someone is selling food that turns out not to be "organic" is there some kind of punishment for it?
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Acidsnake, I do understand where you are coming from, we did not start moving towards an organic diet until two years ago, when my husband had a health scare [diabetes - it runs rampant in his family, and in the AA community as a whole, but for a long time he tried to think it wouldn't strike him... until it did.]
Organic foodstuff always seemed like a luxury for the "eco-elite" and I didn't feel I could justify the cost for our family. Now I feel I cannot justify NOT making organic food stuff a priority in our diets. Sure, you can follow a diabetic diet w/o using organic food, but my husband always felt hungry until we started using organic foodstuff. We believe he wasn't getting the nutrients his body really needed and craved before we made the switch to organic. He's lost significant weight, he's looking GOOD, and he's off the diabetic pills he was once prescribed.
Bottom line... organic food is REAL FOOD. It's the food are grandparents [and parents, depending on how young/old we are] ate when they were young. REAL FOOD is what our bodies NEED. Organic foodstuff is better for you, not just for what it provides you in nutrients, but also because you are avoiding the residuals of chemical fertilizers and insecticides.
Our family lives on a very tight budget, we still make organic food a priority. Doing so has increased our energy levels and decreased our medical expenses - in out minds, it'd money well spent.
Sure, there is need for regulation of organic products, and for the most part, there *IS* regulation of organic labels. Buying locally produced foodstuff is another way to ensure your food stuff is organic... you personally know and trust your local farmers. If a farmer is representing his food stuff as organic when it is not, he risks losing the trust and business of his distribution network... no small thing for a small, local, farmer.
A bonus to the health benefits of organic foods is the taste differences. Organic produce often LOOKS inferior to mass produced produce, but when the taste of organic is compared to non-organic... there is no comparison. Do a side-by-side taste test of organic vs. non-organic.... 9/10 the flavor of the organic item pops! Mass production of food stuff robs it of both it's nutrients and it's flavor.
I am planting my first urban, community, organic garden this summer, and I am looking forward to feeding my family produce we have personally worked the soil to produce. BTW, we are not vegetarians, but we do try to get most of the meat we consume from grass-fed, pasture-raised livestock sources.
Check out this blog of a guy who made the switch to a healthy, organic, diet - just peeking at this guy's before and after pics is worth the click!
BreadandMoney
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