What is the value of organic food? Do you know how it compares to just washing food before eating it? How reliable are the organic labels where you live (or wherever) in accurately reflecting being organic?

Submitted by Epicalyx in AskRaddle

I'm curious as someone who suspects that in many parts of the world, pesticides are carcinogenic or otherwise poisonous.

It may be that in countries that actually have semi-accessible organic foods, they also generally have relatively-safe pesticides, by regulation. So maybe organic ironically means less in those spaces.

Has anybody researched this? Tell us what you know.

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roanoke9 wrote

In US: Certified organic has lots of loopholes, like chemicals can be used on tomatos the last two weeks of growing, etc. Also there is cost and paperwork for certification so most small growers cannot have the designation even if they meet the standard.

Garaunteed Naturally Grown is a bit better, a grower pledge basically by people with some moral stake in organic (morality is a spook ofc but I would trust this over the goodwill of fed agencies). Only sure thing is to grow it yourself, but even that us not perfect because the baseline of the entire planet is not free of trace chemicals, microplastics, etc.

The misinfo, disinfo on this subject is thick though, so it is really hard to sort out.

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zephyr wrote

i once checked on how organic foods are certified in the u.s. i was surprised to find that the process involves looking at the growers' records to establish if chemicals were used without any actual testing of food. so i have little confidence in organic labels on u.s.products.

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__0 wrote

Not america but i was talking to someone who works in film who says they were doing some shooting on an organic farm, and the farmer got really mad at them because of some cigarette butts that were left, apparently the butts could affect the certification due to trace amounts of nicotine, that could possibly register with soil testing as having used a nicotine based insecticide or something idk seemed like a bit of paranoia on the farmers part, but ofc their livelihood depended on the certification…

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fortmis wrote

also just don't throw your butts on someone's garden ... humph

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__0 wrote

Trying to get people who work in film to be considerate? Impossible!

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roanoke9 wrote

Film crew showed they don't respect the grower- way to never get invited back. As a smoker, I have to be careful to wash hands between smoking and working with tomatoes because the two plants share mozaic virus susceptibility and it is really contagious. Quitting cigarettes would be better, but so far have not succeeded.

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fortmis wrote

I know that in some particularly fucked places, the water and air is so contaminated that genuinely organic / spray-free produce is still toxic. The only decent stuff comes from the highest arable altitudes and quite distanced from any corporate farming.

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fortmis wrote

I think it's best to try to have a relationship with whoever is growing the food that you buy. My family gets most of their produce from the same guy, and has been for the last twenty years. He doesn't bother with "organic certification," but better yet, ensures that everything he grows, or picks up from other growers to bring to the market, is "spray-free" -- no pesticides, no herbicides, no insecticides.

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Fool wrote

It really depends, for example organic wine doesn't use tanin or sulfides as preservatives, and as a result don't give bad hangovers - they also don't have long shelf lives, so can't be exported.

I swear > 50% of the fruit/veg says organic in supermarkets near me, even in Aldi. It's probably just the market responding to the demographic being privileged enough to pay extra for food. Whereas the non-organic stuff is being exported. Now that I think, that could just be "creative marketing" by putting organic in the brand name.

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capitan wrote

I always just buy whichever batch looks tastiest. Some of the organic veggies I see are really high quality. Others are older and wilted.

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rot wrote

i dont think its worth it in the u.s organic means no "synthetic" pesticides but there's a lot of nasty natural stuff they can use

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Epicalyx OP wrote

Looking at all these answers, I'm surprised that among us there wasn't more deep engagement with this question. Nobody had resources or directions for thinking it further. Strange!

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MHC wrote

There are a couple of benefits. It indicates environmental and social awareness. And injured (by pests) plants, are full of salicylate ("vitamin S").

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