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Handsome Pristine Patriot's avatar

"Organic"

Old Indian word for "Sprays at night". Ha!

As a small, hobby grower of potatoes, I've watched the organic industry grow, usually because of USDA's heavy hand dumping promotional dollars into it.

Does organic produce taste better? Probably. Not because it's raised with organic processes, but because most growers are small like me and tend to choose varieties that TASTE BETTER. Big ag is saddled with varieties that must yield better and stand up better to mechanical harvesting. Taste takes a back seat to these traits because they are the basis of their economic viability.

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Ted Tice's avatar

It's always struck me as a scam, albeit a well-meaning and fairly harmless one. I never buy organic if I can find a cheaper non-organic alternative.

My wife, however, prefers organic, so she buys it all the time. I just go with the flow. As a husband I've decided this is not the hill I'm going to die on!

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Stephen Russell's avatar

BUT is IT really organic??

Fake labels etc Game by Big Food

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Janet Colbert's avatar

they put hormones in chickens to make them weigh more for market. they use antibiotics on our livestock. I don’t trust the FDA they can be bought. U.S. has higher cancer rates must be a reason

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Handsome Pristine Patriot's avatar

Higher cancer rates due to weaker immune systems and poorer overall health enabled/encouraged by big pharma, big medicine, and big government.

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Ken LaCorte's avatar

I've researched a bit on this -- thinking about a writeup on it -- and that's really not what I'm seeing.

Overall cancer numbers are high, but so is our population, so is the longevity of people with cancer, and diagnostic screening is getting better. BUT ... the per capita incidences of cancer are dropping, which is the real number to look at, and truly great news.

So I might have to be on the side of Big Phama and Medicine on this one.

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Handsome Pristine Patriot's avatar

Since Covid, the two have lost nearly all credibility in my mind with pharma being, IMHO, on the edge of evil.

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David Dierlam's avatar

I wouldn't mind eating organic but the prices are ridiculous. I've never seen the reason for the high cost. You gotta think that if they're not spraying with chemicals (which are pretty expensive), then the prices should actually be lower since they're saving all that money. That increase in price is the "scare factor". They trick you into paying more thinking you'll be eating safer when you're really not

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Ken LaCorte's avatar

I was wondering about it, but looking into it the prices might not be that at all.

First, because they get less yield per plant--routinely 25% less --they need more land, planting, tractors, etc. That's a huge factor.

They also DO spray with pesticides when they can use ones that weren't synthetically made. For things like weeds, etc, it's often done by hand or machine or more expensive ways than spraying. They also have big fees for government compliance, which also includes more costly ways to farm; it's not just the lack of chemicals.

When I think of an, in essence, price gouging concept ... it only works if there's a monopoly on that product. There's a "cool kid" 20% expense factor for Apple products, anything branded, and any group given a government monopoly, like cable TV, it's certainly possible. It's much less likely when all it would take is one company could offer lower prices and scoop up more market share.

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