Like labels you can't trust...
So I was in the grocery the other day getting a few items to make dinner and I grabbed a few green peppers at $0.69 each and right above them were some USDA certified Organic green peppers for $1.79 each… a $1.79?? WTF? $1.79 for a single green pepper half the size? Now I’ve read and watched several stories on organic verse non-organic produce and the conclusion is there is no nutritional difference between the two and more organic labeled produces really aren’t . So why to people buy organic foods? Well for the same reason they buy “New and Improved” when in reality it’s just new packaging in a smaller size at the same or higher price – it’s all about marketing propaganda.
To recall a Penn and Teller Bullshit episode I saw some time ago…
h/t Food Propaganda for the recap
The general consensus (myth) was that;
- organic food is grown naturally and locally
- made without pesticides
- better for your body
- better for the environment
- tastes better
First, Penn and Teller did a little investigation and found out that organic food is not necessarily grown locally. In fact, some organic food companies in China export their goods to the United States. You’d be better off going to a farmer’s market for local food with pesticides than buying food shipped half way across the world.
(AWG NOTE: There is no agency in China that certifies food truly organic as defined by the USDA, you just have to trust them that it is.)
Then, there’s pesticides. To win the title of “organic”, you do not need to get rid of use of pesticides. Some organic farmers boast that they keep from “using commercial pesticides”, but non-commercial pesticides are sometimes more dangerous than the mainstream ones.
(AWG NOTE: It’s all about semantics.)
And health benefits? Penn and Teller interviewed doctors on the show to check that theory out as well. According to them, there is no definite evidence of health benefits from organic food. The type of people to buy organic food are inclined to do other things that are health-conscience, such as excising and being drug-free. Organic food alone makes no large change in health.
(AWG NOTE: Remember the professor of human nutrition that lost 27 lbs and stayed healthy on a Twinkie Diet?)
Organic farming is actually less efficient, and hence it takes more money and energy to farm organically. It often uses more water than non-organic farming, and sometimes pesticides used are worse for the environment than commercial ones. It’s true that a lot of organic farms don’t use GMO crops, but that leads to a drop in efficiency and yield. Organic farms take up more time and space, so if all the farms in the world were organic, there wouldn’t be enough food to feed all the humans living in it.
(AWG NOTE: Trust me organic farming is not efficient.)
And at last, taste. Penn and Teller left the scientists alone and decided to try this one out for themselves. They set up a taste test table on the street near their studio. There, they had two plates of strawberries; one organic, and one not. 60% of people could not correctly guess which plate was organic based on a taste test. Then, they gave the experiment a little twist. They had two plates of banana slices, one labeled organic, one not, and asked people who usually ate organically if they could describe the difference. In actuality, both plates were filled with slices from the same banana; one from a commercial farm. None of the organic foodies could tell that they had been tricked.
(AWG NOTE: It’s a scam that is all in your head.)
So in short organic food is less organic than the bullshit in the pasture… if you read (mainly) liberal sites they will cite all kinds of fantastic benefits of organic food and farming over inorganic food and farming – but do they tell you how organic fertilizer can be host to a wide varieties of nasty bacterias like E. coli and fecal matter (ewww) as a matter of fact the University of Minnesota study showed that the organically grown produce had 9.7 percent positive samples for the presence of generic E. coli bacteria versus only 1.6 percent for conventional produce on farms. (source) So now you can not only buy uglier, more expensive food grown in China you can have nearly a 500% greater chance of contracting E. coli and getting deathly ill from your healthier food. But never fear the vegans and libtard environmental wackos will stick to their guns that organic is better than conventional farming. Even the Obama Administration appointed a Johnny on the spot Miles McEvoy to make sure you organic food is really organic according to the government guidelines, but like everything Obama this too has failed to develop.
But if you don’t believe those evil freedom hugging Libertarian’s Penn and Teller – let’s see what does the Mayo Clinic say? Well really there is no difference other than they CYA way of putting it…
Organic foods: Are they safer? More nutritious?
Organic food: Is it more nutritious?
The answer isn’t yet clear. A recent study examined the past 50 years’ worth of scientific articles about the nutrient content of organic and conventional foods. The researchers concluded that organically and conventionally produced foodstuffs are comparable in their nutrient content. Research in this area is ongoing.
Well then they must be bigger, prettier and last longer right? No not really…
Are there downsides to buying organic?
One common concern with organic food is cost. Organic foods typically cost more than do their conventional counterparts. Higher prices are due, in part, to more expensive farming practices.
Because organic fruits and vegetables aren’t treated with waxes or preservatives, they may spoil faster. Also, some organic produce may look less than perfect — odd shapes, varying colors or smaller sizes. However, organic foods must meet the same quality and safety standards as those of conventional foods.
It’s pretty simple and clear even if Mayo doesn’t want to admit it, it’s a marketing scam to fleece you of your hard earned money by buying the produce equivalent to a energy band – it’s a culinary placebo doing little more than giving you a warm fuzzy and increases your chance of bacterial born illnesses. Listen, I grow a garden ever year and I’ve had or worked in a garden my entire life, I’ve used organic gardening methods and conventional gardening methods and I know from personal experience that they is no difference in taste, but there is a difference in yield… if I use pesticide in moderation I get far more produce than if I just go all organic and end up feeding the bugs. You can’t rely solely on chemicals anymore than you are going to save the planet by composting (which I do) – you have to be a smart consumer and do your own research – a tomato is a tomato regardless if it is fertilized with 10-10-10 or chicken shit – the flavor of the tomato has more to do with the variety grown than the method of growing.
So there are the facts – you do want you want. If you feel better about buying something organic then do it, just know that you might be getting a green pepper from China or Mexico laced with E. coli or fecal matter or not grown organically at all or you could go to your local Farmer’s Market when in season and enjoy a locally grown one that just might be free of diseases and as an added bonus you can talk directly with the person that grew it.
What more info?
Organic Food Has ‘Significantly Higher’ Contamination
