"Organic food" - is the concept past its sell by date?

nonumb

UK chicken and campylobacter 2014—15:

A higher proportion of chickens had a high level of Campylobacter spp. during the
summer compared to winter months. The larger chickens, those >1400 g in weight,
showed a higher risk of being contaminated with >1000 cfu/g. There was no
evidence of birds with access to range (e.g. free-range and organic birds) being
more contaminated than birds reared under standard conditions but with much fewer
free-range and organic birds tested no precise comparison could be made.

http://www.food.gov.uk/news-updates/campaigns/campylobacter/actnow/act-e-newsletter/campylobacter-retail-survey

Personally not bothered about organic. Free range is good and other than that as fresh as possible!

Chadford

Genome editing is essentially 'GM Lite'. It's not like putting stuff from a spider into a cow.
It's putting stuff from a chicken into a chicken. It's exactly like selective breeding, just more precise.

IronGiant

Don't wash raw chicken | Food Standards Agency



Now: back to whether organic is a fad or not

fluxo

If you cook it properly, what's the problem?

Det

I would say "Organic" is still a fad, or at least seen as one by the majority population (especially lower middle class).

Also, there aren't many organic fruits and veg that look exactly like non-organic.  Organic typically don't look perfect like the others do.  A tomato or strawberry that's been grown via modified genes and selective breeding will look and taste almost perfect almost every time.  An organic one, however, often are deformed and spoil much faster, but at the same time you can get some really succulent fruits - sweetest ever.  When they are splicing or whatever they do, they sometimes give up some of the sweet for more resilience or pest resistance or whatevs.

As long as we buy more carefully for our family, I can be content that my daughters will most likely not go through puberty at 10 because of all the hormone injected meats/milks/etc.

There are a lot of benefits to buying organic, being easy on your wallet is definitely NOT one of them.  It's honestly a shame it's considered a fad because I think that contributes to the price.

Det

Yes.  Anything seen as a fad will inflate prices.  Or was your post trying to be sarcastic?

Chadford

No, trying to be vaguely witty, so post deleted as it was rubbish.
Sorry!

SteakAndCake

Where do bananas fall in the organic debate?  Each one is an exact sterile clone that cannot reproduce without the intervention of man. There is nothing natural about the modern Cavendish banana so does organic banana have any real meaning?

IronGiant

I see where you are coming from but yes they can exist,  it would be one not treated with pesticides or chemical fertilisers.

So yes cultivated bananas may be unnatural, but they can still be grown organically, if that makes sense

Synchro

I only buy organic bananas.

Banana Cultivation Is Pesticide-Intensive