What do you really think of organic food and drink?

Question

What do you really think of organic food and drink?

Answer 1

s**+-TE

Answer 2

why cant they make a water melon with no pips in using GM to modify them..

d**n i hate them pips

Answer 3

I think it's a big cause of waste food and we need to invest more into genetic modification because of the rapidly rising worlds population and England has got very behind in neww farming methods.

Answer 4

its utter rubbish, just a way to charge more money for something that in reality is genetically inferior

Answer 5

it can be delis

Answer 6

Your paying almost double in some cases.  For what natural fertilizers, such as manure. waste of money.

Answer 7

In what respect? Taste?, Principle?, Shape?, Size? Colour?

It gives people choice, choice is good.

Answer 8

Waste of money.  Ridiculously overpriced for what benefit you supposedly get from it.

Answer 9

Well, I tend to disagree with most posters here.  I agree that organic food is more expensive, but that's because (a) organic farming is more labour-intensive because organic farmers can't use cheap pesticides and herbicides to increase yields, (b) they can't compete with large-scale agribusiness in terms of volume, and (c) they tend to pay their employees better.

But because organic food is more expensive, people assume it's a ripoff.  We have become so used to cheap and plentiful food (we spend far, far less on our food proportionately than people did even a couple of generations ago), that we assume anything that costs more must be a con, which is simply not true.  The Soil Association, which certifies organic products, is very stringent in its requirements.

Now, I am not a vegetarian and I do not buy everything organic, and I will be the first to say that just something is organic does not mean it tastes better.  I am also not opposed to GM foods in principle...everything we eat has, to some extent, been genetically modified if you consider hybridisation, the grafting of root stocks, all the various breeding methods, etc. that have been practiced since humans became village-dwellers rather than hunter-gatherers (the so-called Agricultural Revolution) to be genetic modification.  h**l, we only have our pet dogs and cats because of genetic modification (selective breeding/early domestication).

There is also a part of me that recognises that the spread of malaria has increased since DDT was banned, and that should be looked at again.  NOT as a pesticide for food crops, mind you, but only to kill off the mosquitos that spread the disease.

All that being said, however, I would buy as much organic (and free range) as I can afford because I believe that it is not good for our bodies to inject the massive cocktail of chemicals used by agribusiness, not to mention other practices.  I mean, why in the world do I need to eat wax on lemon zest or cucumbers just because it makes them more shiny?  I believe that if we are going to eat meat, we should eat meat from animals that were raised well (I'm a big fan of Hugh Fearnsley-Whittingstall).  And I believe that we should try to eat as locally as possible and support local farmers, things such as lemons and bananas notwithstanding, even if that means it costs a bit more.

I'm afraid that many people have become so used to cheap (and often tasteless) food that any effort to try to produce, and get us to eat, better quality food is greeted with scorn by the masses.  Maybe we should also check our priorities on what we spend our money on.  Personally, I'd rather spend more on my food, because that is more important to me, than the latest DVD or computer game.  That's my choice.  But just because organic food costs more than people are willing to pay doesn't make it a ripoff.  There are many things that cost more that *are* a ripoff (High Street clothing, for example), but organic food is not one of them.

Answer 10

there is no point to it.it has the same pesticides and other stuff as "normal" fruit and veggies.what are they going to tell plagues and worms:loook we will tag this crop BIO -organic so do not go and disturb it!!!and at the reate it is selling,even more so.

just a label,same product

Answer 11

It's all a ploy to get you to spend more money.  I live in a farming community, and I guarantee you that the organic farms have so many pesticides that drift in the air from neighboring fields, fertilizer leeches into the soil, and some farmers add their regular crops to their organic stock to sell at a higher price.  There is no universal agency that certifies organic, you just show that you haven't bought fertilizer or pesticide for your field for 3 years, and bam, you're certified organic.

Answer 12

I like to belive that it's all organic but I do find it hard to belive, I think they sell the stuff saying it is but really isn't and charge us a fortune for it I could be wrong but that is what I think.

Answer 13

I think it's the biggest take-on since Labour got into power !

Pointless exercise, tasteless results, money wasted.! ! !