The "Organic" Trend - do you believe the hype?

[Matthew Dalton]

We travelled around most of the states around the edge of the US and to us the water always seemed terrible. I don't think it was just a preference for what was familiar to us either. It smelled bad, tasted worse.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I thought I'd bump this thread (been nearly a year now) to get some new Lounger's takes on it!!

 

[BeBopBaby]

Jake is correct out bottled water vs. tap water.

A lot of the empty plastic water bottles end up in landfills. With tap water, you don't have this problem, the carbon footprint is much smaller.

Also advertisements, labels and packaging of bottled water is misleading. Two big brands of bottled water, Dasani and Aquafina, are just reprocessed tap water from factories around the country. One of Aquafina's sources is the Detroit River. Often times, the water does not come from a pure natural spring, like the packaging would have you believe.

Tap water also has the added benefit of containing fluoride. You don't have to worry about it being unsafe. Municipal water systems serving 25 people or more are subject to the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. As such, the water is constantly and thoroughly tested for harmful substances.

Bottled water regulations are inadequate to assure consumers of either purity or safety, although both the federal government and the states have bottled water safety programs. At the national level, the Food and Drug Administration is responsible for bottled water safety, but the FDA's rules completely exempt waters that are packaged and sold within the same state, which account for between 60 and 70 percent of all bottled water sold in the United States (roughly one out of five states don't regulate these waters either). The FDA also exempts carbonated water and seltzer, and fewer than half of the states require carbonated waters to meet their own bottled water standards.

Even when bottled waters are covered by the FDA's rules, they are subject to less rigorous testing and purity standards than those which apply to city tap water. For example, bottled water is required to be tested less frequently than city tap water for bacteria and chemical contaminants. In addition, bottled water rules allow for some contamination by E. coli or fecal coliform (which indicate possible contamination with fecal matter), contrary to tap water rules, which prohibit any confirmed contamination with these bacteria. Similarly, there are no requirements for bottled water to be disinfected or tested for parasites such as cryptosporidium or giardia, unlike the rules for big city tap water systems that use surface water sources. This leaves open the possibility that some bottled water may present a health threat to people with weakened immune systems.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

It's funny that, since 2006 when this thread started, the bottled water problem has become much more common knowledge. I guess this forum must have been the first place I heard of it, but certainly not the last! It's not chic to get plastic bottles of water anymore, unless it's a Nalgene. lol That's how you know it's caught on.

To which I should add, even though tap water is safe, it also can have weird tastes. That's where a Brita comes in.

 

[Undertow]

Personally, I've never had much of a taste for organic over conventional. In Des Moines, as with anything else "in fashion" in the country, the "organic" foods aren't always necessarily organic and are always, necessarily, more expensive.

When it comes to organic, I'm still not sold because I don't believe the subject has been discussed thoroughly enough. What are the costs? What are the benefits? Pros/cons?

I'm like many of you on the board in that I tend to watch what's added to the food and I try to stick with the healthier, cheaper conventional item. In rare cases, such as when I bake bread, I will only choose ingredients that are without additives, but not necessarily organic.

 

[Undertow]

And speaking of water, I invested in a cheap water bottle, like a sports one with flip down straw, and I bring water from my tap every day to lunch. Doesn't taste as "clean" as bottled but it's about 100% cheaper.

 

[Mrs. Merl]

On the original organic food topic. I thought I would just chime in a little - I am on dial-up so please forgive me for not having read every last word in this thread and if I repeat information already given. I will try to catch up in the future!!

Anyway, I was not originally taken by the "organic" idea - just thought it was a way to make food more expensive. Though now I am really concerned with where my food comes from. What changed my mind was reading studies that indicate all sorts of bad things come from food not grown (or raised) in "traditional" ways. Everything from the idea that non-organic produce may not have a nutritional value due to the way it is raised all the way to the possibility that pesticides may aggravate neurological disorders. (This one got me thinking - from a very personal standpoint. Citrus fruits are notoriously high in pesticide "contamination." And most concentrated orange juices are a particularly shady suspect. When my grandfather, who consumes concentrated orange juice of questionable origin every single morning, came down with Parkinsons out of the blue - I had to pause for thought. While I am not convinced that orange juice could have caused it - I wonder about the severity of his symptoms...) While I am always the skeptic - I figure that I can't see anything wrong with growing food the way it should grow naturally.

So for me the more natural the better. Even to the point that I am trying to find ways to raise as many items as I can - so that I know exactly where it came from and what went into it. (Though honestly I feel that the air we breath and the water we drink may kill us faster!)

 

[Foofoogal]

My fridge has a water and ice dispenser that has a filter that shows a light if the water is bad. I am hoping it is better than plain city water which we have and bottled water. As someone that used to grow alot of vegetables organically I know they sure taste better. Alot better.

 

[John in Covina]

Filtered Water and then some.

Actually a lot of bottled water is simply filtered tap water.

Filters can take out some chemicals such as chlorine and the compounds that form from the chlorine, sediments and some can take out heavy metals if present. But they can't take the minerals out of solution like calcium that makes for hard water in many areas.

Water softeners replace hard minerals for some types of salts and that is bad for home brewing.

Distilling takes out a lot but some volitile chemicals move with the distilled water so best to filter first then distill.

Reverse osmosis is supposed to be very complete at making purified water but it wastes a lot of water for the usable end product, so not best for drought concious areas.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

My two cents, as someone working towards veganism (for solely political/philosophical reasons -- I could care less about my health):

The "green" hype is an absurd farce that I truly, truly despise. A good way to get me hot under the collar is to be on that bandwagon.

Why? Because it's a marketing scheme. To be certified organic isn't hard to achieve, and it doesn't mean that the farmers are treated fairly or are using sustainable, environmentally friendly farming practices. It's a ploy to get you to spend more.

And if you're going to ship your organic food 200 miles to your local health market, you might as well just eat at McDonald's. I live in a farming town, so I have it easy when it comes to buying fresh food, but even if you don't, most cities have a farmers' market. Shop there.

"Organic" is pretty much the new bottled water.

 

[carter]

The most discernible difference we have noticed is that organic milk seems to taste better and certainly keeps longer in our refrigerator.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

Have you tried rice milk? Tastes horrendous original flavor, but the vanilla and chocolate taste like milkshakes and never seem to go bad.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

I think milk is gross, so even though I'm not vegan, I rarely drink it. (When I went vegan I actually gained weight. All that soy, I think.)
Soy milk is the way to go for me. You can even get low fat versions! (But I do not like the plain.)

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

Oftentimes when people go vegan they focus too much on protein and end up fattening themselves up that way. Soy does wonders for the body, and it's used in meat products to ease the cholesterol and fat levels. I don't think that would cause it (though it certainly could have).

Rice milk is much better tasting, I think, than soy milk. Have you tried almond milk? I've yet to, but hear it's the best of all 3.

 

[LordBest]

Truly organic produce is just produce grown without the use of chemicals using traditional varieties of vegetable or animal (ie not those that have been messed about with to increase growth and size at tehexpense of flavour, andno I do not mean GM). It tends to taste better, it is better for the environment (farmers in Australia who have switched to organic farming have noticed significant improvements in soil fertility) and it has higher quality nutrients.
The problem I see is that organic food, which when it comes down to it is just growing food the way all food was grown fifty years ago and more, is that it has been co-opted by the Green movement who have turned it into some kind of moral issue. Then you have unscrupulous people selling regular produce as organic produce because they get to demand a higher price for it.
I buy my organic produce from a local farmers market, I know the growers, and I know that they are doing the right thing. I just ordered a $30/kg ham for christmas (6kgs) from my favourite organic pig farm. Horrifically expensive, why do I do it? Because the meat is from a near extinct breed of pig, the Wessex Saddleback, that tasted absolutely divine. I help to save the breed, and I get some of the tastiest pork products around. Worth it? I think so.
While the meat is more expensive, the vegetables are no more expensive than the supermarket rubbish, and the flavour really is superior. I actually get annoyed with people who can not tell the difference who believe there is no difference, and that those of us who CAN taste the difference are just pretending in order to be 'cool'.
I do think the important thing is to buy produce from local farmers, not some Whole Foods-like corporate monstrosity. That way you are supporting your community, and you can pop out to the farm to make sure they are doing what they say, if you are so inclined.
If your area is dominated by chemical Agribusiness, grow some of your own. Even if you are in a one room apartment, you can often have a few tomato plants and herb plants in pots near the window. I know people who have managed to grow vegetables in their university 'cells', scarcely bigger than a double bed.

Anyway, by all means be distrustful of Green hype and silliness, but do not forget that organic vegetables are just vegetables grown the way all vegetables were grown fifty or sixty years ago.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

Well put, Lord Best. (Though let's hope it's not grown exactly as it was 60 years ago...I don't like DDT flavored corn, personally!)

 

[carter]

I think milk is gross, so even though I'm not vegan, I rarely drink it. (When I went vegan I actually gained weight. All that soy, I think.)
Soy milk is the way to go for me. You can even get low fat versions! (But I do not like the plain.)

My kids actually like milk from dairy cows. However, organic milk eliminates some part of the processing and seems to improve the flavor and refrigerated life expectancy of the product.
We have tried both soy and rice milk products. While not unpalatable, we still prefer the dairy product.
We live in the suburbs and many folks in our neighborhood grow some of their own produce such as tomatoes, figs, blackberries, strawberries, peppers, herbs, melons, and gourds. It's really very simple and the flavors are far superior to anything found in a local grocery.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Rice milk is much better tasting, I think, than soy milk. Have you tried almond milk? I've yet to, but hear it's the best of all 3.

I find very little difference between rice and soy milk, but really, my drink of choice is water.

But I need to go to Trader Joe's tomorrow, so I'll pick up some almond milk and report back!

My kids actually like milk from dairy cows. However, organic milk eliminates some part of the processing and seems to improve the flavor and refrigerated life expectancy of the product.

So does my boyfriend! lol He is a whole milk drinker, although he really only uses it in his coffee, or occasionally in cereal. Milk just seems...so...viscous to me. To me it's as icky as gelatin.

 

[B. F. Socaspi]

I find very little difference between rice and soy milk, but really, my drink of choice is water.

But I need to go to Trader Joe's tomorrow, so I'll pick up some almond milk and report back!



So does my boyfriend! lol He is a whole milk drinker, although he really only uses it in his coffee, or occasionally in cereal. Milk just seems...so...viscous to me. To me it's as icky as gelatin.

Agreed. Milk is basically a meal in itself. Though I stick to root beer before water.

 

[Miss_Bella_Hell]

Agreed. Milk is basically a meal in itself. Though I stick to root beer before water.

Dude. Trader Joe's carries Hansen's Root Beer. I can't keep a six pack of that stuff in the house for more than a couple days. SO GOOD.