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Organic Food...What's Your Take?

27/07/2008

Comments: 7 readers have left a comment

Not too long ago organic foods were only sold in specialist health food stores and gourmet delis but our demand for healthy fresh food has seen free-range and organic products appear more regularly and are a lot more accessible.

But how much better for us are organic foods. Well that depends on what you want out of the product and where you hold your values.

Organic food is generally free of artificial fertilisers, synthetic herbicides and pesticides, growth regulators, antibiotics and hormone stimulants which suggests that they should be a lot healthier for us but some studies have found no major differences in the nutrition value than conventionally grown produce. There is definitely proof that organic foods have shown some improvement but not consistently enough to be a true fact.

The taste is also an issue. We are led to believe that the taste is a lot better, but again, it is not consistent enough. It's no different than getting a good tasting tomato from the supermarket this week and getting a bad one next week.

However, organic farming is better for the environment by building healthy soils and helping to prevent soil erosion. It also helps to prevent water contamination that runs into our rivers.

So basically it's up to you whether you want to spend the extra dollar but my family has been eating conventionally grown vegetables their whole life and some of my friends wouldn't even know what an organic tomato tasted like and they have shown no less health benefits for doing so.

But animals, on the other hand, I am a true believer that a free-range egg definitely has a much better flavour than the locked up variety. And a healthy chicken that runs around in a more natural environment surely must produce a healthier egg. I am happy to pay the extra dollar here.

So what's your decision? I think this trend is here to stay and if we all start to buy organic produce the price is sure to come down, but until there is further research and true validation is it really worth it?


Matt Clark Culinary Consultant, Personal Chef Service and Creative Cooking



Matt Clark Culinary Consulting, Native Australian Cuisine and Creative Cooking
Matt Clark Culinary Consulting Services
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Reader Comments

jeanie

27/07/2008 at 22:53

Instead of buying it why not grow ,you dont need much space+ people need to learn to be self sufficent + live substainably.

bignanna

28/07/2008 at 11:09

Honestly everybody I'd love to grow my own vegies but unfortunately I didn't inherit my father's green thumb, mine are concrete. Yes I would eat organic grown vegetables but at the moment they are out of my purse range like organic meat/pork/poultry. Everything that is good for you is far to expensive. The only organic we eat and can afford is fish as husband & I catch dhufish, balchin groper, whiting, snapper, squid and crayfish very fresh hope I'm right in saying they are all organically grown (ocean)

Matt Clark

28/07/2008 at 13:39

I actually grow my own herbs but that is as far as it goes. I find that you only need a small amount but can only buy a huge bunch that eventually gets thrown out.

And that is a huge range of seafood that you are catching, bignanna. It surely tastes a whole lot better than the frozen variety from a cardboard box.

bignanna

28/07/2008 at 14:56

Hello Matt yes it is a whole lot of seafood, but we usually go up north 2-3 a year, just past Jurien Bay and catch what we need does us all year.

marijke

31/07/2008 at 13:45

On the subject of organic food, todays society is living so fast, that the fast food idea has taken a huge hold in peoples lives..[unfortunatley!] Society has a lot to do with this, ideals have changed so much that in order to live a certain lifestyle, i.e. big house...big car...etc. the true value of living has gone out the window. People either dont care what they are eating or feeding the family, or just havent the time to plant
and grow. This is such a shame really, as to grow something yourself and have it so fresh on your dinner table is no comparison. I have grown and tendered a small vegetable and herb garden for over dare I say, thirty years. I started when my sons where born and havent looked back. Every scrap of kitchen waste gets recycled. I love it and can give you a good workout at times. I encourage anyone to make a start, grow something yourself. Organic is great! The benefits will spread into other ways of your life. How about starting a suburban group??

parisa

13/12/2008 at 13:19

thank you for posting that article, i found it to be really helpful. i live in Australia and i have made the organic switch thanks to http://www.oway.com.au i was buying gluten free foods from them and it was easy to change to organic food, i also found that i can save money by growing my own grocery.

Shazia

12/02/2009 at 23:37

Really nice blog. i liked it.. thanks…


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