Is organic still a meaningful label?

[John Paul]

I remember organic was one of the trusted labels in the healthy shopping video. Now with heavy metals being introduced organics took a hit lol. I'm wondering if organic is meaningless just in terms of heavy metals or if it has no weight to it at all in relation to a food being likely better for my health than a non-organic version of let's say a vegetable. @Leo Gura

[puporing]

Heavy metals is one factor. There're other substances too that you probably don't want to ingest (pesticides/herbicides, BTEX, PAHs, etc.. not that organics are free from this in absolute terms it can vary a lot by location.. the location's history..current proximity to toxin sources both air, soil/water, nearby farms spraying stuff). I guess it's like... there is a certain way organic produce is farmed that may reduce toxins, but we can't know how much as a shopper in the grocery store without some kind of hard measurements because it's going to vary by the farm..  

Edited January 22, 2022 by puporing

[John Paul]

@puporing Do you shop organic?

[puporing]

@John Paul some things like leafy greens or if I'm juicing something.  

[Windappreciator]

don't they use like, tons of animal feces for that?

so all the medical residue gets absorbed and poisons the land?

Edited January 23, 2022 by Windappreciator

[puporing]

@Windappreciator lol. Like I said it so highly depends on the farm and best if you did some research of the source itself. But no back when I did some org farming I used very little if any fertilizers, just compost.

[Windappreciator]

@puporing that is fan/ fkn/ tastic

[John Paul]

@puporing Where do you get your information on food sources? Why leafy greens and other things or juicing something?

[puporing]

1 hour ago, Windappreciator said:

that is fan/ fkn/ tastic

LoL thanks, yeah compost is super-rich stuff, now my city collects food scraps I hope it goes to farms, so underrated.

@John Paul I used to work as an environmental tech and go to contaminated sites and do cleanups/write reports and stuff so know some about how they travel and how long they can persist in the environment. And I ran a no-spray farm. I chose leafy greens and juicing veg because I feel like leafy greens have the greatest surface area (from the spray, also broccoli), and juicing because all the vegetables I use don't usually have a shell which does act as a bit of physical (but not perfect) barrier and juicing extracts like everything from the veg so it would be more concentrated I feel. Can't say I've actually done a literature study on this mostly just info I collect here and there on the web + observation.
 

I'm really not paranoid about it just do what I can to reduce... it is expensive afterall and not everyone can afford this.

Edited January 23, 2022 by puporing

[Average Investor]

USDA organic has quite high standards. All foods you buy from the store are going to be contaminated with toxins. However, organic produce is going to have significantly less. I have heard numbers as much as 50% or more in reduction for pesticides. There is some soil regulations, which a fair amount of metals and other toxins are coming from the soil, so it should have less theoretically. Organic uses more composts and manure, versus non organic using chemicals to get the same effects. 

Also, you can find higher quality organic brands that will actually post up their reports on toxins in the food. I buy Lundberg brown rice, which has close to 50% less arsenic in it compared to other brands. You could also buy that same brand non-organic, but you would be getting more pesticides. You definitely get what you pay for.  I pay about $8.5 for five cups of organic long grain brown basmati rice. 

[bonesurfer]

Organic meat in the very least will ensure the accumulated harmful chemicals ingested by the animal over its lifetime will be kept to a minimum, which includes heavy metals. This is doubly true for predators like tuna.

Organic fruit and vegetables are more nutritious since they need to develop ingrown defenses against pathogens and consumers without the aid of pesticides.

It really is better.

[Michael569]

In most countries in the west the label is meaningful and there are protocols for control & testing. Now, are there loopholes that devils are abusing to get certified for selling shit products? Yeah, probably. 

Still, not consuming any fruits of vegetables in fear of residue pesticides and toxins will be more detrimental to your health that consuming fruits & vegetables that have been sprayed. It is that cost vs benefit ratio again and so far according to research we have, consuming an abundance of plants and minimising consumption of animal products (especially beef, processed meat & butter ) will lead to better health outcomes nearly all the time. 

But it is an issue and I assume the rise in allergies could also partially be attributed to pesticide overuse. Eat organic when you can but if that is not an option it shouldn't deter you from eating abundance of fruits and vegetables. Our elimination organs are also gradually adapting to the environment in which we live and we become more efficient at clearing that stuff out. That is not to say that we should stop giving it our best and educating ourselves about main sources of toxins, pollutants and heavy metals.....it's just that 100% avoidance is no longer possible....not even if you live on the Arctic circle.