Hipsters all over the country buy organic food that has been harvested on the 3rd day of the waxing gibbous moon phase and washing it down with their organic vodka made from organic potatoes and filtered through natural volcano rocks.
Why? Because organic is better. Or at least that’s what food marketers up in their illuminati office tell us sheeple.
Organic food, for those who don’t know yet, is food that is non gmo, and raised without the use of most pesticides. Organic usually brings into mind a bunch of farmers working on a small plot of land, wearing too much burlap, smoking mass amounts of weed, probably not wearing shoes, and white people with dreadlocks.
I believe some people actually orgasm when buying organic. Their tie to living the organic lifestyle is that strong.
A lot of these people tend to have a self-righteous way about them as well. They’ll talk about the “natural” quality to their food, how it’s better for them, why you need to eat organic, this is almost always unsolicited, and explain that the pesticides and GMO’s are killing us dead as we speak.
Is any of this really true though? Is organic food healthier?
There is absolutely something to be said about the factory farming way we produce our beef and other vegetables. Cows, chickens, and other animals aren’t healthier when they’re not allowed to live a normal lifestyle and force fed food packed with antibiotics, hormones, etc.
This doesn’t do us much good, and if anything it contributes to the growing problem of us being wiped out by a fucking superbug. But it also delivers us a fat 20oz ribeye. So yes, I am conflicted.
The same can be said about farmers and sometimes too liberal use of pesticides when spraying plants. Plants develop resistance, and more pesticide needs to be used. At some point this becomes an issue, because those products make their way into the water cycle.
There are absolutely issues with our food system and how subsidies support sugar laden and hyper palatable foods, and the focus is put on factory farming only a few crops. Using massive parcels of land for a few crops hurts our biodiversity, which could potentially fuck us in the long term.
Organic solves none of these issues though.
The whole pesticide issue is one that people repeatedly talk about when it comes to organic food. Hell, I even had a client one time who actually told me he could “taste” the pesticides when he bought conventional produce. I almost pulled a Diddy and hit him with a kettlebell.
The reality is, organic farmers can use pesticides all they fucking want to. The pesticides they can use haven’t been approved by the FDA. I’m sure these farmers have the best interest in mind, and hope to raise their crops as ethically as possible, but that doesn’t automatically make it better.
One of the common myths about pesticide usage is that it winds up on our food. In reality, very little pesticide residue remains on the fruit or vegetable when it’s ready for human consumption. Even if there is some residue leftover, a decent washing of your vegetables like a normal human being should do the trick.
But GMO foods aren’t “natural”.
When people throw out this line they’ve got good intentions, but they have no fucking clue what the word “natural” even means.
A ton of GMO foods aren’t natural, but a lot of foods we eat have evolved without our help. Another term for that evolution? Genetic modification. Fuck, there are even examples of this taking place 8,000 years ago with sweet potatoes. In case you weren’t aware, Monsanto hasn’t been around that long. Nature, the cruel slut she is did that.
Want another example of what a natural food used to look like? Tell me how appetizing banana’s, corn, carrots, and watermelon used to look.
GMO foods may not be natural, but they’re made larger and to look more enticing. Know who is to blame for that? We are. We constantly want bigger and better. Companies like Monsanto are responding to the demands of the market. That’s like the most American thing ever.
Growing local, in season foods is a smart play and a good response if you’re terrified of GMO’s. This is one the biggest benefits to community gardens that are popping up all over the place. This sort of thing helps our biodiversity, and if you’re looking to get “natural”, this is a good way to do it. If you want a more thorough rundown of the GMO debate, Beth at Lifehacker did the damn thing in this piece.
Organic isn’t healthier, and it never was. Foods have been evolving, just like everything else on this gigantic rock hurtling through space, for millions of years. If you love to buy organic, there’s nothing wrong with that. If you buy organic meats or vegetables for ethical reasons, all the more power to you. Don’t be an organic snob though. All of your friends will hate you, and they’ll start eating at restaurants that don’t serve organic to phase you out of their friend circle.