When is it Okay to NOT eat organic food?

[Babolat]

I eat 100% organic when I can, meaning it's available in the store.

 

I've been buying my mixed nuts at a local health food store. They are $15 a pound! Not a big deal, but if I am not gaining any "organic" value I would prefer to not pay that for them.

 

A friend of mine told me it has a lot to do with the thickness of the skin, like a banana for example.

 

Is this true? Are non-organic nuts the same as organic? Bananas? Other "thick" skinned fruits and vegetables?

[carhill]

Is this true? Are non-organic nuts the same as organic?

 

IME, they're the same 'nuts' but grown with different practices. Since I live in the middle of miles of almond orchards, and have some trees myself, it's easy to delineate the differences.

 

Pure organic would use botanical sprays, beneficial insects and cover crops to address, variously, plant disease, pests and nutrient requirements.

 

Typical agricultural would be spraying the trees for diseases and/or pests, using herbicides to eradicate unwanted plant pests and the use of chemical fertilizers to provide soil nutrition.

 

What I see around me most of the time is a mix, with most of the 'organic' being directed to soil nutrition.

 

While nuts have shells and husks which may protect the nut from atmospheric contaminants, everything which gets into the ground can be taken up by the root system and components can end up in the nut, as it is essentially the 'seed' for a new plant. Of course, substances degrade, are processed in the ground and by the tree so it's not like the translocated RoundUp used to kill weeds ends up in the nut like if the herbicide was sprayed on the nut meat. Components of it *can* be translocated.

 

Certified organic farming, in our area, generally does make for an expensive product, simply due to production costs, as well as complying with regulations, especially where/when traditional agriculture is going on in the area, due to what we call 'drift', whether that be air, soil or water.

 

I'd personally have a hard time making the call on when it's OK to not eat organic, if one's preference is organic, but that's from a lifetime being around farming.

[FitChick]

If you don't eat the skin, you can eat the produce. I can't afford to eat everything organic so I compromise.

[d0nnivain]

To be certified as 100% organic the grower must pay $25,000 per year to the certifying agency. That is part of what makes organic food so expensive.

 

 

If you have the ability to shop locally talk to your farmers. Many around here don't use pesticides but don't have the money to pay for the certification either.

[Chocolat]

You are correct that the thickness of the skin (or shell) has something to do with it.

 

There are some foods that I always eat organic due to how heavily they are sprayed and/or how susceptible they are to permeation:

 

Berries

Zucchini

Corn

Soy (and only in a fermented state)

Apples

Potatoes (baking)

Spinach

Dairy

Meat

Celery

Tomatoes (also look for cans made without BPA)

Salmon (wild only)

Shrimp (wild only)

Peanuts/Peanut Butter

 

Here's EWG's Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen.

[Babolat]

You are correct that the thickness of the skin (or shell) has something to do with it.

 

There are some foods that I always eat organic due to how heavily they are sprayed and/or how susceptible they are to permeation:

 

Berries

Zucchini

Corn

Soy (and only in a fermented state)

Apples

Potatoes (baking)

Spinach

Dairy

Meat

Celery

Tomatoes (also look for cans made without BPA)

Salmon (wild only)

Shrimp (wild only)

Peanuts/Peanut Butter

 

Here's EWG's Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen.

 

Interesting that you mentioned "meats". I use to think "Farm Raised" was the way to go. Not so, after doing my research. I too try to buy "wild only" seafood now. I also try to eat as close to raw now as I can, with fruits and vegetables.

[gaius]

It's always ok to eat non-organic food. Preferable actually, unless you have too much money and want to get rid of it for placebo effect benefits.

 

Little evidence of health benefits from organic foods, Stanford study finds - Office of Communications & Public Affairs - Stanford University School of Medicine

[Babolat]

It's always ok to eat non-organic food. Preferable actually, unless you have too much money and want to get rid of it for placebo effect benefits.

 

Little evidence of health benefits from organic foods, Stanford study finds - Office of Communications & Public Affairs - Stanford University School of Medicine

 

I read this article and come away with a different interpretation. I don't eat organic for the health benefits, as in the food is more nutritious; I eat organic so I am not ingesting pesticides and other man made chemicals.

 

From the article:

 

"While researchers found that organic produce had a 30 percent lower risk of pesticide contamination than conventional fruits and vegetables, organic foods are not necessarily 100 percent free of pesticides. What’s more, as the researchers noted, the pesticide levels of all foods generally fell within the allowable safety limits'

 

30% is pretty significant to me. And who defined, and what are the "allowable safety limits". My guess is, our gov't did.

[gaius]

I read this article and come away with a different interpretation. I don't eat organic for the health benefits, as in the food is more nutritious; I eat organic so I am not ingesting pesticides and other man made chemicals.

 

From the article:

 

"While researchers found that organic produce had a 30 percent lower risk of pesticide contamination than conventional fruits and vegetables, organic foods are not necessarily 100 percent free of pesticides. What’s more, as the researchers noted, the pesticide levels of all foods generally fell within the allowable safety limits'

 

30% is pretty significant to me. And who defined, and what are the "allowable safety limits". My guess is, our gov't did.

That's the big argument I've heard against it too, but from what I've read elsewhere the data they examined showed exposure to that level of pesticide had no adverse health effects either. It wasn't like people who were buying fruits/veggies grown with 30% more pesticide were showing up with more disease or dying sooner.

 

Shrug, but who really knows. Science changes. It's still surprising to me so many people walk around promoting organic like there's no doubt it's better though. It's seem to have become a status symbol more than anything.

[gaius]

Just to add, organic doesn't always mean pesticide free. They can use pesticides made from organic material that are just as toxic, but have to use way more of it because it's less effective and still get the produce labeled organic.

 

Why Organic Doesn't Mean Pesticide-Free NPR | The Kitchn

[Babolat]

Just to add, organic doesn't always mean pesticide free. They can use pesticides made from organic material that are just as toxic, but have to use way more of it because it's less effective and still get the produce labeled organic.

 

Why Organic Doesn't Mean Pesticide-Free NPR | The Kitchn

 

Interesting, I did not know.

[GoreSP]

I used to eat organic only too up until last year. However, most of the actual research I've seen done on the subject is starting to disprove this whole 'organic is healthier' craze. And seeing as the only argument pro-organics peeps have against this is 'the research was paid for by the big food companies that want us to keep buying regular produce and they make the studies say what they want it to say' I'm gonna keep buying my produce at the grocery store during Winter months.

 

In the Summer/Fall I buy from local farms.

[Chocolat]

No matter how you slice it (or obscure it), organic produce reduces the pesticide load both in the body of the person consuming the produce and in the ground where the produce is farmed.

 

There is also a lot of data to support the theory that organic food provides more nutrients, but somehow, this message gets muddied or completely turned around in the media.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241395/pdf/ehp0111-000377.pdf

Organic production enhances milk nutritional qualit... [PLoS One. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

Effects of organic and conventional cultiv... [J Agric Food Chem. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

Compositional differences in soybeans on the marke... [Food Chem. 2014] - PubMed - NCBI

Pesticide Versus Organically Grown Food

[Babolat]

No matter how you slice it (or obscure it), organic produce reduces the pesticide load both in the body of the person consuming the produce and in the ground where the produce is farmed.

 

There is also a lot of data to support the theory that organic food provides more nutrients, but somehow, this message gets muddied or completely turned around in the media.

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1241395/pdf/ehp0111-000377.pdf

Organic production enhances milk nutritional qualit... [PLoS One. 2013] - PubMed - NCBI

Effects of organic and conventional cultiv... [J Agric Food Chem. 2010] - PubMed - NCBI

Compositional differences in soybeans on the marke... [Food Chem. 2014] - PubMed - NCBI

Pesticide Versus Organically Grown Food

 

This is how I feel about organics; reduce the pesticides, and if it's better for me, a +1. But that's not my sole reason.