Obviously this oversimplifies things a bit, as it is possible to eat all organic food and still be eating less healthy choices (like lots of refined grains, things high in sugar or salt, etc.) But I think organic is still a pretty useful labeling tool to help you know a lot about how the food was produced.
We've been seeing and reading more and more about how food is produced in the US, and how the "Standard American Diet" is hurting our own health and the environment. Based on all that, we've made some big dietary changes lately (namely much less meat, and buying organic and/or GMO free food whenever we can).
8 comments:
Have you read The Omnivore's Dilemma? I haven't, but Josh has. From what he said about it, I think you'd find it interesting.
No, but we've read In Defense of Food, by the same author, which we liked quite a bit. We still come back to his mantra, which is "Eat Food. Not too much, mostly plants." It's useful if and when you get bogged down in the details, thinking "Is anything healthy?"
If it were only that simple. Of course, as organic becomes more mainstream the segment faces the same problems as the rest of the food industry.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_42/b4005001.htm
Too bad there aren't more small organically minded companies like Stoneyfield. Wait...I forget...they're ~80% owned by food giant Danone. So much for small guys fighting the good fight.
Yes, if only it were that simple. And just to clarify, we have no specific love for Stonyfield.
I just read the article -- very interesting and informative. A good addition to everything else we've been evaluating -- thanks for sharing.
So, Matt, a question for you -- since I know you guys try to eat healthily, how do you balance everything the article addressed? For instance, small business vs. big business, or "true" organic vs. organic that's becoming just as profit-focused and factory-farm intensive as non-organic? We'd love to hear your thoughts and how you guys approach it.
One thing we've been looking into is local farmers' markets (although that's a tough one in Boston in the winter), and we're also just now trying out a local fish CSA, which provides locally caught fish that's fresh as of that day.
But everything is still an exploratory work in progress! (But hey, to some extent, that's life, right?!)
Joel, I'm not sure I should comment since frankly we eat very few organic foods. It's simply too expensive. Every so often we buy something organic for the baby, but that's is.
We try to buy locally raised meats, preferably from small farms. We moved to the country so we could grow our own food (though so far we haven't grown too much) and raise chickens for meat and eggs. We buy very few processed foods and we try to buy fruits and vegetables in season. We also try to buy US grown food as much as possible. (At least I think we do; Kansas Dad actually does most of the grocery shopping.)
I can see how conventional farming can be better than organic, especially in moderation and in countries with stricter controls. In general, I think smaller farms would be better, but I don't think that's possible on a global scale if we want to produce a surplus of food. I wish we could end government subsidies for corn; it's simply not that healthy for people or animals.
What I fear the most are GMOs. I know we're eating them because they're everywhere. I'm sure most of them are innocuous, but one of these days something terrible is going to happen because of them. I've been out of the loop for a while, but I have a degree in genetics and I'm telling you, something bad is going to happen.
The world is probably not going to end because of conventional farming. Nor will organic farming save the world. We try to be good stewards of the resources in our hands because that's what God has commanded us to do (including financial resources and the purchases we make). I leave the rest of the world in His hands and try not to be too anxious.
The way we've approached it so far is prioritizing all the variables and addressing the ones that are most important to us. Ultimately this is what everyone does anyway, and each person has a different order of priorities, but it helps to be explicit about what exactly is important to you. Being explicit is helpful because most publication on organic food (Stoneyfield video for example) incoherently blend all the variables when making their case.
Variables may include: chemical toxins in the food, amount of additives or processing in the food, chemical toxins not in the food but released into the environment (carbon footprint, certain fertilizers, etc.), treatment of animals, treatment of the land (deforestation, erosion) large vs small farms, local production vs not, profit seeking vs. not, cost, etc. etc.
1) The most important variable in our eating is food type, selecting on nutritionally healthy and low calorie intake irrespective of organic. I can eat carbs all day and not get full so I'm trying to limit carbs to some extent. We go for fresh fruits instead of sugared desserts, lean proteins, fresh vegetables, etc.
2) Priority 2 is toxins in the food. You can find lists of fruits and vegetables that have more benefit (on a toxin level) from being organic and those that are less important to buy organic. Since we also value cost as a variable, we are try to buy foods that minimize the toxins variable without paying the organic premium for everything.
2) Tied for 2 is taste. Sometimes, but not always, organic foods are fresher or in a better ripened stage. If the organic food looks better tasting we'll go that route depending on cost.
3) Cost is our final major variable. Organic can be a expensive and each purchase is an economic decision. Some things like milk we'll pay for the high price, but other things not so much. It does help to look for purchase options outside of the premium organic grocery stores. Now that organic is more mainstream places like Sam's Club are carrying organic foods. Helps to be more creative though - for example we just started to purchase grass fed beef at a reasonable price by buying in bulk from a local rancher.
The rest of the variables aren't of high concern for us. That doesn't mean we are right and someone is wrong; just a matter of our priorities. Someone else might be very concerned with animal treatment and make totally different selections based on that or another variable. With your key variables in mind it is easier to sort out the valid information from the organic alarmist preachings.
Matt, great comment!
For us, tied for top priority is cost and "real" food. We avoid chemicals and things like high fructose corn syrup when we can. We prefer things like butter, even though they are higher in fat, to the alternatives.
We're still working on the healthy, though.
Well said guys. Thanks for all the sharing and tips. That's helpful, and some good things to think about as we continue developing our list of most important considerations.
The best part is, we'll see you, Matt, in just 3 days, and you, Kansas Mom, in just 9 days, and can continue the conversations face-to-face! Can't wait!!
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