Does buying organic make a difference? Is it worth it?
An apologetic sign beside the peppers warned me that unexpected weather patterns were affecting crop output which were, in turn, affecting prices. An organic red bell pepper would have cost me $5.26 yesterday at the organic grocery store. The empathetic cashier pointed out the price before she charged me and added it to the return pile accumulating beside her register.
ConsumerReports.org compiled a list of foods, with research done by Environmental Working Group (EWG), that prioritizes which foods are most vulnerable to chemical saturation. Fruits or vegetables with thick skins or husks (avocado, sweet corn) fall into the "if money is no object" category. This means that there is relatively little chemical residue found in the edible part of the food. And it is primarily speaking to those who eat organic for perceived health benefits.
Bell peppers are categorized as "buy organic as often as possible" because "sweet bell peppers had the most pesticides detected on a single sample with eleven pesticides on a single sample." Other produce that fell into this category: Apples, celery, cherries, imported grapes, nectarines, peaches, pears, potatoes, red raspberries, spinach, and strawberries. The website also lists meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy in this category.
Whether or not there is conclusive evidence of health benefits from organics is beside the point for some. Some think that a product is chemically formulated to kill a plant or a pest, that it might not be safe to ingest, but that just might be crazy talk. While health is a potential benefit, there are those that take a moral stance on the issue. Those people think it's wrong to laden the earth with harsh chemicals as a farming technique.
So some people will go without red peppers for a little while, that's manageable.
Certainly not the end of the world.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
Five bucks in quarters will get you a membership in the PC Party of Alberta. Which entitles you to a Ralph Klein signed membership card. And because he is so rocking he signs it just "Ralph." God love him.
I think we need to have a televised debate over the merits of the organic craze. I want to believe they are good for you, I want to believe that pesticides are bad for you. I really do. But I have been eating pesticides of all varieties since I was a wee ladd and other than that weird twitch thing I am healthy as a horse. But isn't organic farming under producing as a means to fill a lucrative niche market that is only afforded to use privileged few in the decadent west? Isn't there a more balanced and sustainable approach?
In other news my sister has decided to forgo getting a job and to begin a rather intensive diversified farming operation in which she hopes to grow all her families food, even butter and cheese and stuff, despite my telling her that Alberta doesn't have the climate to support cheese trees. Pigs, cows, chickens, goats, the whole rigmarole. She also plans to sell her "Farm Fresh" meat and produce to the well-to-do nouveau riche from the city who are into that sort of thing.
Post a Comment