Mother Talkers

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  • It's all going up (0 / 0)

    I already do some strategic shopping with regards to organic vs. inorganic.  For example, usually I don't go for the organic bananas as the peels probably already protect them from most pesticides and we aren't eating that part.  Also local wins out over organic when most of the stuff is in season.  I am also in that dying breed of the coupon clipper.

    The reports about hunger increasing due to the food costs rising around the world is troubling.  It's hard to enjoy what we have when I think of the suffering and the share of that responsibility belongs to our dear leader.  How many more months now?

    by music teacher on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 11:58:19 AM PDT

    • Top 10 list (0 / 0)

      I buy organic produce that is on the top 10 list (carries the most pesticide residue):

      apples
      bell peppers
      celery
      cherries
      imported grapes
      nectarines
      peaches
      pears
      potatoes
      raspberries
      strawberries
      spinach

      The following are the least contaminated so I buy conventional (but try to buy local or at least from this hemisphere!):
      asparagus
      avocados
      bananas
      broccoli
      cauliflower
      sweet corn
      kiwi
      mango
      onion
      papaya
      pineapples
      peas

      For the middle of the road stuff, I buy organic when I can.

      by GiGi on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 12:11:51 PM PDT

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      • pesticides (or more likey fungicides) for us! (0 / 0)

        Organic berries in small doses induce diarrhea in my younger son; large doses induce major vomiting.  Strawberries are his favorite food but he knows not to touch them at the farmers' market.  Other organic fruits are not as bad, but still can cause problems sometimes if not peeled or washed.  But we've never had a problem with conventional supermarket fruit, and he's eaten half pound of strawberries at one sitting.  

        We don't know what it is he's sensitive to, but I'll lay odds it's fungal.

        by lyn on Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 08:58:31 PM PDT

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        • Yup. (0 / 0)

          I do buy some organic stuff because I worry about the way that we're farming. I prefer local produce from producers that I know are doing the right things (with or without small amounts of pesticides and fungicides). But as a biologist, I've always said that I'm way more worried about biological contaminants than chemical ones. Give me DDT over E.coli on my veggies any day.

          by aussieyank on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 06:50:20 AM PDT

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          • Interesting point (0 / 0)

            Give me DDT over E.coli on my veggies any day.

            and not one I'd heard before...can you elaborate for us non-scientific types?

            Thanks!

            by GiGi on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 08:42:53 AM PDT

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            • only because (0 / 0)

              You can almost drink DDT (not that I'd recommend it). It's not great for birds, but it isn't actually that bad for people. E. coli can make you sick and kill you. As Lyn says below...Mother Nature is a bad ass. The stuff that she has made is way worse for us than the stuff we make ourselves.

              by aussieyank on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 05:08:43 PM PDT

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              • Organic or not? (0 / 0)

                I see your argument but I'm not sure it is enough to sway me away from the top 10 organic. Perhaps the best solution is to purchase local/seasonal produce and buy organic milk and eggs. I don't know. What do you do, aussieyank and lyn and our other scientists out there?

                by GiGi on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 05:43:28 AM PDT

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                • what we do (0 / 0)

                  Crop protection is DH's field; he's currently at a company that does organic crop protection but has also done pesticide development with a conventional large multinational.  Me, I try to buy produce as much as possible from our farmers market, which is year-round and excellent. But Mr International Pesticide Expert?  He buys conventional and often can't be bothered to rinse the fruit off.

                  Most organic milk isn't from pastured cows, so it doesn't address the health issues I care about (feeding grains to a ruminant is biologically inappropriate).  rBST doesn't bother me.  So I'm not willing to pay the premium, even though I am concerned about antibiotic misuse.  

                  by lyn on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 08:30:38 AM PDT

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                • Wasn't really an argument against organic. (0 / 0)

                  I still don't really want to eat pesticides...it was a just a comment about which one I would RATHER eat if it came down to it. I'd still choose neither. :)

                  But I attempt to buy our meat and produce from farmers that I know at our local farmers market. They may not be certified organic (it's pretty expensive to get that certification), but I know that if they say their lambs are happy, they are. And I can visit their farms to see that their soil is good and their plants are thriving. I'd love to buy organic pasture fed milk, but my kids tear through it so fast that I can only manage maybe 2 litres out of 5. The qualifications for  these things are also different here in Oz. I would buy anything "organic" from the supermarket in the US. I just don't believe the big corporations. At all.

                  But I'm a geneticist/biologist, not a nutritionist or pesticide chemist. There's no reason why my opinion is any better than anyone else's...I just know WAY too much about the way we eat and metabolize things. Which is usually a handicap more than anything else. :)

                  by aussieyank on Fri Apr 25, 2008 at 05:31:52 PM PDT

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          • Word. (0 / 0)

            Non-biologists don't seem to appreciate what a nasty mother***ker Mother Nature really is.  :-)

            The Sigma chemical catalog had a separate list of their most dangerous chemicals; these could not be purchased without special authorization and their use had to be justified and approved.  I think nearly all were natural products.  Alpha-amanitin, botulism toxin, anthrax toxin, neurotoxic venoms, . . . .

            by lyn on Thu Apr 24, 2008 at 11:17:19 AM PDT

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