Is Organic Worth It?

[slayers]

I can get a case of non organic oranges anywhere from 20-25; where has organic oranges 30-35; is it worth it?

 

[FredSonoma]

It's so hard to really quantify, you know? No one really knows exactly how much more pesticides you would be consuming, or exactly the negative effects on your health / happiness from that amount of pesticides.

I'd say, think about how much you pay for other stuff, think about how important your health is to your over well-being, and buy the organic :P

 

[Such_Saturation]

Is the organic farm run by a mafia guy? Is the regular farm run by a close friend who you know hates pesticides but is just too lazy to get certified? Then probably not...

 

[slayers]

i get them from the farmers market.... both oranges come from i guess big producers of oranges.. they come from CA or FL....

 

[Daimyo]

Invest in a refractometer. It's device that shows how much sugars (and other stuff) is in certain fruit or vegetable. Higher Brix food taste better and there is some correlation with nutrient density. Usually the higher Brix fruit or plant is the less it is attaced by pest and diseases, so less pesticide will be used. If you are ordering online you might ask the grower what's the Brix of his produce. Orange growers usually use refractometers so he/she should know...

http://cdn2-b.examiner.com/sites/defaul ... k=iXXJcclc


This one will be good enough for personal usage:
http://www.amazon.com/Refractometer-RF1 ... ractometer

 

[jaywills]

What you have to remember with organic is the benefit is two fold. Not only are pesticides, and thousands of other chemicals and endocrine disrupters removed but organic produce is grown in rich soil. Nutrients can be void or severely reduced if fields are not left to fallow and this practice is widespread in commercial food growing. Especially with common foods like oranges . You could eat 2 commercial oranges at a cheaper price individually to get the same nutrient quantity from one organic orange. In this respect the organic orange is the better price.

Look and taste a commercial orange vs an organic orange. They are like different fruits.

 

[Mittir]

I remember reading a scientific article on pesticides use in apple orchard.
I do not remember the exact number, but there was extremely higher number of
pesticides spray over the period of cultivation and tons of different pesticides.
It is not like two or three spray over 3-4 months period. I can not even imagine
eating an non-organic apple.

 

[Westside PUFAs]

Do what I do and go to your local organic distributor of organic produce and buy the cases through them wholesale. You save even more money and you get organic. If you live near one of course. They know me now because I go there so often that they let me just walk around the place and look at all the inventory. I even touch some of it to inspect it and they don't care. It's fun

 

[yoshiesque]

Here is something I am worried about - organic pesticides.

They dont mention it but when you request the supplier they can give it to you. And just because something is organic, does not imply it is not dangerous. I am not sure whether some of the organic pesticides are more dangerous than non-organic pesticides. Its a possibility, given that there is probably not much research done on it. And you know how it works in this world, pesticides/foods etc are considered innocent until proven guilty.

 

[slayers]

^ TRue.. i know some people that actually will not buy any organic because they use more pesticides than conventional, more expensive.. I have some friend that are pro GMO people and think GMO are the greatest and best for everyone and the environment.

http://fitnessreloaded.com/pesticides-o ... not-safer/

http://www.skepticalraptor.com/skeptica ... ialnetwork

 

[mt_dreams]

Don't support GMO's!!!! It is monsanto's response to not being allowed to patent regular seeds, it has nothing to do with growing better crops (there are a few ex that do not apply, like one of the papaya varieties which cannot grow normally anymore due to a strong fungus in the area). Sometimes I think it probably would have been better for the world to just have given in, we could have avoided all this nonsense.

big box organic farms use the exact same methods as conventional farms, just the pesticide is non-synthetic. It still kills everything, and using wheat as an example, they still use it before harvest to kill the wheat uniformly for financial reasons. Ideally you want to find farms that spot spray, rather than ones that spray entire fields with the stuff, but this is easier said than done.

Organic carrots are important, as regular ones are among the most sprayed crops. Oranges have a nice protective layer, so it's not as important. The downside is that many non-organic oranges have been chemically ripened off tree, which is not ideal. If you can find non-organic oranges that are close enough to the source that they did not need to be gas-ripened, then you're good to go.

 

[slayers]

I try to eat and buy as much local and organic as I can....

 

[tara]

Invest in a refractometer. It's device that shows how much sugars (and other stuff) is in certain fruit or vegetable. Higher Brix food taste better and there is some correlation with nutrient density. Usually the higher Brix fruit or plant is the less it is attaced by pest and diseases, so less pesticide will be used. If you are ordering online you might ask the grower what's the Brix of his produce. Orange growers usually use refractometers so he/she should know...

I'd go with higher brix/better taste - maybe with a refractometer if you have one or can get the info from grower, but taste testing is probably just as good if you are buying it directly.

This is making me think about how I buy oranges. I can never tell by looking at them. I'm thinking if I'm considering buying a lot, I could keep a knife and dish in the car, so I can buy one first, and taste it before going back in to buy lots more.

If you are going to use the zest, I'd go for organic. I reckon the thick skin of an orange probably protects the innards from high pesticide concentrations.

 

[yoshiesque]

I also follow this, just in case anyone has not seen it:

http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/list.php

It provides a list from worst to least worst fruits/veges with their pesticides levels. Unfortunately, avocados has been proven to contain the least amount of pesticides (non-organic). And apples have the most. So I generally buy NON-Organic for the last 15 items and organic for the first 20 (not that I buy ALL of them, but the ones I do buy)

So from this list you can see that mangos & papayas for example, are low in pesticides to a point where you can just buy them non-organic. However something like grapes, are high enough in pesticides to warrant buying organic instead.

 

[Daimyo]

post 87947
I'd go with higher brix/better taste - maybe with a refractometer if you have one or can get the info from grower, but taste testing is probably just as good if you are buying it directly.

I know you are interested in that tara:
https://youtu.be/o55RGuELglI?t=23m

John Kempf is very much influenced by RBTI

 

[tara]

I know you are interested in that tara:
https://youtu.be/o55RGuELglI?t=23m

John Kempf is very much influenced by RBTI

Thanks, yes, interesting.

 

[Amazoniac]

This Tiny Country Is Going 100 Percent Organic
When farmers use the "lack of incentive" excuse it's clear that what they lack is the proper mindset. There should be no alternative in mind to cultivating in the healthiest way, and if there is, they could never handle the adversities of honest farming..

 

[Luann]

I usually buy fruits that can be peeled but don't buy organic. Peaches, plums, pears and apples can be skinned too and taste good like that.

 

[sladerunner69]

I also follow this, just in case anyone has not seen it:

EWG's 2017 Shopper's Guide to Pesticides in Produce

It provides a list from worst to least worst fruits/veges with their pesticides levels. Unfortunately, avocados has been proven to contain the least amount of pesticides (non-organic). And apples have the most. So I generally buy NON-Organic for the last 15 items and organic for the first 20 (not that I buy ALL of them, but the ones I do buy)

So from this list you can see that mangos & papayas for example, are low in pesticides to a point where you can just buy them non-organic. However something like grapes, are high enough in pesticides to warrant buying organic instead.

There seems to be a correlation with the skin of the fruit. I think the skins are usually concentrated the most with pesticides.

 

[biggirlkisss]

skins have minerals though