Organic food is not as pure as you think

[greeninloanageles1]

Just read a book about organic food and I am quite dissapointed, how many chemicals are allowed in US organic standarts. The only way to get good food is to raise it yourself or buy it from someone you can trust. Even then chemicals will come in from poluted groundwater, rain and genetically modified seeds will get blown by the wind, but that's the best. Second best is farmer's market. Third best - not packaged vegetables and fruits from organic section. Packaged lettuce, even organic is not reccomended for pregnant women in Germany. It washed in chemicals to make it last longer.
I would love to read more about specific fruits and veggies-do you know of any books or websites about organic standarts?

[Shale]

That IS disappointing, but not surprising. :(
Every time I see a USDA Certified Organic seal, it makes me sort of wary. It's so sad how the people at the top can't be trusted with our health and our lives.

EDIT:
Here's a webpage that has some standards on it. Maybe it'll help.
http://www.ams.usda.gov/nosb/accredcommRMR/accredcommRMR.html

[sherahtaylor]

I don't think it should surprise us, though, considering all the crap the government has ALREADY told us regarding the pyramid and what we should be eating, calcium in milk, animal products and how it's soooooo important for us to get this protein, etc. If they are completely sincere sounding, and we look to them like we would look to our parents for guidance, then of course they're also going to tweak and mess around with the organic standards too. Why not? We believe everything they say anyway! :eek:

[Nenyath]

It's when I hear something like this I relaize how blessed I am to live in Denmark, we have very high standards here for organic produce. Unfrtunately EU wants to soften up the rules.. I'd wish people saw the true value of organic and thought less about money!

Fly forever free!

[eatyourbroccoli]

::sigh::

thank goodness for immune systems and the flexible strength of our incredible bodies, eh?

[lissomllama]

Yes it's true. When I have a home with a yard I will be growing all of my own food, until then, I will get the most organic stuff I can because it is still better than inorganic and I'll just pour good, healing energy into it and it will do my body good. But yes, I shop at the farmer's market as often as I can and I grow some things in pots on our balcony but I pine for the days when I can sow and reep the earth as nature intended and those days will come, in time.

[dreamrawalwz]

::sigh::

thank goodness for immune systems and the flexible strength of our incredible bodies, eh?

Hmm, not so sure for me! Maybe THAT'S why I'm still reacting to organic produce. All I get are prepackaged produce. Grape tomatoes in plastic boxes, romaine heads in bags, but not precut, and apples, oranges, and pears on square foam and then shrink wrapped. I've always wondered why my organic grapes still have a white foggy coating to them if they don't use chemicals??

Can't the produce be grown organically, but then sprayed once it's out of the farmer's hands?

I must add that even though the stadards aren't up to par, organic is still much better than conventional.

[being]

... I've always wondered why my organic grapes still have a white foggy coating to them if they don't use chemicals??

I wonder this too. I had heard/read that

"Bloom on fruit such as plums or grapes is a white or bluish covering. Once thought to be wild yeast cells, it is now known to be waxy coverings to the epithelial cells of the fruit, presumably intended to provide some protection from environmental damage" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloom)

However there seems to be some debate surrounding this, as I found on this site (http://davi.poetry.org/blog/?p=614), random, but it was near the top of my clustering search for bloom ..

" The surface of a natural grape is covered with a fine white layer of indigenous yeast. And yet it seems we are told to wash the grapes we get from the store to clean off pesticides and other unfortunate residues...

Do you need to rinse fresh grapes before eating?
Yes. The USDA suggests that people always wash all types of fresh fruit before consuming...

What is the white residue sometimes found on grapes?
The residue is the waxy coating produced naturally by the grapes, called bloom.

Really? Who calls it bloom? I have not found any similar reference, except for “bloom sprays” that seem to be a form of insecticide and fungicide. "


I might try and contact my old horticulture instructor and see what he says... Still I recall my old neighbour giving me bunches of organic grapes that he grew and they had a thick coating of so-called bloom on them.. that was for certain absolutely natural...

[Sheryl]

It's totally normal for grapes to have a whitish coating... grapes we grow and have zero spray still have them... part of their own protection to the environment.

[lavendarJ]

I've always believed that organic food still had its faults and the reason why is that basically, we have depleted and poisoned our earth. I don't think any one thing is 100% organic. I just view organic as the lesser of two evils.

[Autumn]

The grapes we grow also have a whitish coating on them. We don't use any pesticides or chemical anything.

[lissomllama]

Yeah, grapes and blueberries have a natural, white film on them. That is not from pesticides. But still, get them organic or grow your own if possible.