I am on an Organic trip...

[The Charming Canuck]

Okay so I am on an organic trip like I have found this world of organic foods and I am feeling pretty good about it. I mean I know some people doubt organic but they are pretty strict about how they raise the crops, whereas not organic who knows what goes on. Think about the fruit you eat that comes from another country like in south america, they don't have the standards we have for raising their crops. Anyways who else tries to eat organic, and what is your take on it?

[Grant.]

I love the fruits and veggies I eat. Organic is a ploy to get you to spend more money on your healthy food.

[Nuggets]

I'm going to have to go with Grant on this one. I myself don't want to take the care of growing it in my garden. I like the convenience of going to walmart and buying my fruits and vegetables. I don't see the absolutely massive risk supposedly equated with eating regular fruits and vegetables. I've always done just fine with them. I don't even think organic fruits and vegetables are available where I live. Since a lot of people farm around here, I don't think many people are supremely interested in them.

[xstatic]

The best items I have found in the organic section are soley based on addetives. For example, when I was on that crazy apple diet, I could eat applesauce, but only if it had no addetives... where did I find it? In the organic section. I certainly wouldn't buy a large portion of my groceries there.... but once again, if poeple have special diets, it's a good place to find certain things you need.

[The Charming Canuck]

Here is a link with info about organic food.
www.ams.usda.gov/nop/Consumers/brochure.html
One of the reasons I am staying mainly organic is because of pesticides used on fruit, if it comes from another country and is not organic they may use very dangerous pesticides and for my eggs I buy organic because of the fact that they use hormones in some chickens to make them produce more eggs. I don't like the thought of ingesting poisens into my body. I mean think about it you can't ingest pesticides straight so why would you want to ingest trace amounts of them. Also when they used these who is to say that they do not soak into the plant and excesses soak into the ground therefore are in the fruit itself. I know it may sound far fetched to some of you but think about it cause I mean really they do use some pretty nasty pestcides. Also organic food is not Genetically modified (GM foods) most GM foods are not labeled. The only food that I have seen labeled as GM is Strawberries and that is because they use fish genes in it and have to because if some is allergic to fish they could have a reaction to the strawberries. Other than strawberries I have not seen any other fruits or veggies label as GM, which I think should be. I should be able to know if it has been tampered with. Now I know there is no evedence that GM foods are dangerous but then they have not been on the market for a long time. I really think Nature should be left alone when it comes to food. How things are altered could be dangerous, You never know. We all know that things are not tested thouroughly Medications and Ciggarettes are prime proof of this. GM foods could be next. I know I am a bit of a zealot on this issue but it is what I believe.
I am only back for a minute for this only. BTW I am feeling healthier and maybe it's in my head but I do feel better since eating so many organic foods. Also since trying to eat all organic it is hard to eat crap.

[Grant.]

All this ORGANIC MAKES ME FEEL BETTER bs is just that. bs.

or·gan·ic P Pronunciation Key (ôr-gnk)
adj.
Of, relating to, or derived from living organisms: organic matter.
Of, relating to, or affecting a bodily organ: an organic disease.
Of, marked by, or involving the use of fertilizers or pesticides that are strictly of animal or vegetable origin: organic vegetables; an organic farm.
Raised or conducted without the use of drugs, hormones, or synthetic chemicals: organic chicken; organic cattle farming.
Serving organic food: an organic restaurant.
Simple, healthful, and close to nature: an organic lifestyle.
Having properties associated with living organisms.
Resembling a living organism in organization or development; interconnected: society as an organic whole.



O HAY GUESS WHAT! IM ORGANIC LOLOLOL! SO IS MY LETTUCE, AND THE HAM I ATE WAS ORGANIC TOO!

[abrannan]

Grant, the US has labelling requirement on what you can and cannot do to food as it's being grown in order to be able to use the label "organic" when it's sold. I know you're just trying to harrass wings and be a smartass, but you fail at that.

[Grant.]

I'm not ignorant to that fact, but they do misuse that word in order to lure more people into buying those foods.

[The Charming Canuck]

Okay so I am back , and still on my trip, so I have put together a list of some of the chemicals used in the herbasides, pesticides, insecticides, ect. I have links, should you want to find out for yourself what tests have been done on them. The test links are dircetly from the USDA, they speak for themselves. I don't care how much or how little the risk is, it is still bad for you.

Here is the link for the fact sheets I have highlight a few-
www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/

Fluthiacet-methyl- www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/fluthiacet.pdf
Acibenzolar-S-Methyl
www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/acibenzolar.pdf
amicarbazone
www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/amicarbazone.pdf
exceprt from this one:
"The Agency lacks sufficient monitoring exposure data to complete a comprehensive dietary exposure analysis and risk assessment for amicarbazone in drinking water."

Okay look at the rest if you like, I don't care how little it is, It's still poison. Okay next issue I have and that is Hormones given to Cows to produce more milk.

BST or rBGH Bovine Somatotropin (yes I typed that) or recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone. You may know what it is, but for those who don't, it is given to cows so that they will produce more milk. Mind you these injected hormones have been outlawed in Europe.
There have been studies done, some may say speculation (cough cough billion dollar corparations cough) that the milk produced by cows who are given this hormone, has increased Insulin-like Growth Factor-1(IGF-1). The studies showed that there was a higher risk for breast cancer in Women, they also think that it may increase the risk of prostate cancer as well. IGF-1 induces uncontrolled growth of normal human breast cells in tissue culture, and has been incriminated in their transformation to cancer cells.
Here is the link to the whole article www.organicconsumers.org/rBGH/milkismilk20405.cfm

I reasearch this stuff quite a bit, that's how I know so much. Knowledge is power, and I know a lot more about the foods I eat because it is important. I don't like eating preservatives, massive sugars, or white starchy foods. They are bad and contributing not only to the obesity problem in our country but also the rise of diabetes, heart disease and many other health problems. By eating Organic foods it is pretty hard for me to eat unhealthy fatty foods. I have always said organic is good, I even fed my daughter organic baby food when she was an infant. I would say 90 percent our diet is organic foods. It is not a ploy to get more money, it is a healthier way of living. I don't care how little of poison it is in non organic fruits and veggies, it is still poison and poison is BAD!!!! BTW this Monsanto party mentioned in the article on rBGH used to be in the chemical industry and now we trust them with our food?!?! That's my rant for today and I may be back with more info another day. Oh BTW I have a friend who eats almost completely organic as well, and between the two of us.... Oh YEAH!!!!!
WINGS

[The Charming Canuck]

Okay this is conversation from my organic friend who wishes to remain unamed, but has studied the economics and scientific research on these subjects. He knows more than even I know. He was tired when he posted this via yahoo messenger, FYI he did not have time to proof read this and did the best he could and posted it.

The point is, scientists worldwide are struggling right now to catch up with the massive amounts of under-regulated chemicals which are used in every industry. There is not enough research to know about them all, or most of them conclusively yet...HOWEVER, often when an independent research group studies a commercial chemical without that research being financially tied to the beneficiary (i.e., the manufacturer,etc) of said chemical, the data is disturbing. Initial, and subsequent findings, typically link a lot of commercially used chemicals to cancers and various human health problems.

This is potentially why we don't notice these toxins "doing anything funny" to us. When a family member gets cancer nowadays, medical experts suggest the most likely cause (without really being able to gaurantee what that is most of the time) and just send you in for chemotherapy, which is the only thing we know of that sort of kills off most of the cancer if you're very lucky. The chemotherapy is also killing us in the process; it's merely the best thing we have at this time.

Meanwhile our best scientific research is rushing to figure out what is making our population so cancer prone all of a sudden; to treat the cause before the disease happens. So far it is proven that certain chemicals and metals build up in our bodies over the years and never go away. There is a term for these toxins, and they are called toxins because they are known to be bad for our bodies. How bad? That is still being argued worldwide. The data thus far suggests, and sometimes PROVES, that these metals and chemicals are linked to cancers.

Therefore, it stands to reason that we could be eating/using/etc commercial foods and goods for many years... indeed, for half our lifetime or more, before we ever notice something really bad happening to us. Maybe less time, too; depends on the levels of concentrated toxins inside you, how much you're exposed to, etc. The issue is scrambled and clouded by money: Anyone who stands to lose their foothold in their industry, as a corporation, is inclined to do anything they can to support information/research to confuse this issue. Corporate scientists are paid very well--their findings are prone to "adjustment" by their employers, who own this data; they paid for it, after all.

I don't have much time left to talk; all of this info is available but you have to dig for it. I will be brief again w/ this last part: It seems like the obvious answer to say that the organic foods industry is concerned with making money. After all, aren't all companies? Yes, they do need money, of course. Remember, though, that the biggest, oldest corporations in the USA and the world, started using all of these chemicals to expand their business (which was very well established already). The original players in this global marketplace were already making money; they just wanted to expand more. Organic growers start out with an "uphill battle"... Most of them are competing with HUGE companies that profit from pesticide use. The organic food costs more for many reasons...

Here's two major ones: A) Their product is more prone to attack by insects/weather,etc. B) It tends to spoil the way food always did in the old days: FASTER. As people cringe at the price of an organic red pepper and try to decide whether they can afford it, the peppers wither away. Less of them are sold and more have to be thrown away. The distributors must spend more money to transport them faster, just to ensure that some of them sell. We know that the red peppers next to them are much more attractive in price and are mass-produced. Claiming that organic food is trying to scam us is oversimplifying the issue greatly.

In closing, organic food is more expensive, usually, than commercial food. All the folks involved in growing, selling, making, and distributing it need people to buy it in order for them not to get stomped out by the bigger companies. If you honestly can't afford to buy all organic, don't bother. Just don't wonder why it costs more. Now you know the short version of why people are confused about cancer, medicine, chemicals, and organic food.

[Grant.]

You could have just posted the link.

[selr]

Organic packaged foods are just as dead as other processed foods without some of the preservatives that cause hunger, water weight gain and joint pains. Organic fresh foods are often better tasting for some reason unless you live in a town where these products aren't popular. In that case the vegetables and meats that are organic will be overpriced and they sit on the shelf too long getting wilted and spoiled.

I have really severe allergies. People that have never experienced allergies to perfumes and dyes, food dyes and food additives like to say that it's all in my mind. However that doesn't mean I am making it up. Skin rashes, sneezing, runny nose, red and watering eyes and an itchy throat aren't made up in my mind.

Just because one isn't sensitive to the pesticides and unsavory agricultural practices in the US doesn't mean they aren't harmful in the long run. Organics is not a rip-off industry. Saying that is just as ignorant as telling someone with hay fever and allergen sensitivities that they are just buying into the allergy pill industry.

[abrannan]

Some interesting research about Organics, including some studies done right where I'm currently working:

www.reason.com/blog/show/122504.html