People are always talking about how they only eat organic food, and how other food is bad for you, etc... WTH? Isn't ALL food organic? The fact that the food was grown here on earth, and is made of carbon means it's ORGANIC!

Am I missing something?

 

Well, Jerry... they don't use pesticides (in some cases they just use less of them, but usually none). That's the basic difference.

 

seriously, annoying...

 

Yeah, basically the lack of pesticides and using other pest control methods (traps, pheromones, etc) instead.

Some pesticides are deemed safe (in low quantities) and can be used on "certified organic" foods, but the list is small.

 

everything is natural ie: fertilizers, pesticides or repellants.

it just means they don't have harmful products in them.
but its so expensive to buy and the difference is so little it doesn't really make a difference. they say eating organic food will allow you to live longer but no studies really.

plus you can get cancer from breathing lol....

 

yes, organic foods don't contain pesticides like others.

 

but remember organic is not the same as GMO foods....Organic is just a marketing term.

 

There is a list of criteria regarding how the crop is grown in order to carry the "Organic" title, lack of pesticide being the main one.

I learned at a winery in napa that if something is "Biodynamic", it is the STI of Organic food- it has even more stringent criteria than organic.

organic criteria

 

Read the Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Then you will understand. I have it if you want to borrow. I also have it on CD, but narrator's voice makes me want to take a lil nappy mcnapster zzzzzz.

 

Oooh, Biodynamic?! You have any good websites/ other resources that you recommend for getting more info on this?

 

Biodynamic is just a holistic farming method that incorporates multiple types of plants together in a certain balance to maximize growth and reduce (unused) waste of each plant.

Its not really more organic than organic, but foods tend to taste better and have more vitamins in them.

 

Benzinger was the winery I toured that took some pride in claiming to be the 1st Biodynamic winery in Napa.

Manresa is a popular biodynamic restaurant, I haven't been there yet ($$$), but my friend said it was pretty good.

I don't know much more than that, I figure it's a bunch of marketing to cater to super green peeps. The wiki looks like it has good info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodynamic_agriculture

 

i actually work at whole foods so i can break it down a little more..

Out of all "organic" products there are only about 15% which are fully 100% organic with more than 1 ingredient.
There are three or so grades of organic. 75%, 85%, and 100%. Most "organic" labeled products are only 75%. Organic foods also need to be certified.
To become an organic farmer, a farmer must pass certification. In order to even apply for certification, they need to have met organic standards for at LEAST 3 years prior.
For meat to be organic, it needs to be free range (not in cages), in most cases grass or naturally fed with no animal byproducts, and pass an organic code of grading.
Any organic matter that touches a surface that is not deemed to handle organic products is no longer considered organic.

There's a bunch more information as to why it is better, lets just say i would rather eat corn that was really corn, not genetically modified to look and taste like corn.

 

Oh, so basically the way food was MEANT to be produced? Got it. There is a section on a farmer that farms this way in Omnivore's Dilemma, but I don't recall him referring to it as Biodynamic.

 

Yes and no. Sometimes biodynamic farmers will take species that would have never mingled naturally, but put them together because they can benefit each other. But otherwise, yeah, most of it is how you'd see it in nature. The only difference being that its a bit more nutrient maximized (from compost/manure/minerals/etc) and maybe a bit more concentrated per acre.

One of my ex-bosses has a biodynamic farm on Hawaii, and he says its great because in the end it takes less work. Its a lot more prep work, but the year-to-year work tapers off after a while.