Al G Smith

Q. Can anyone taste the difference between organic and regular produce?

I can’t and where I live organic is like twice as much.

A. Bear in mind that most of us have lost much of our finer tasting ability thanks to diets so high in sugar, salt and often laced with ’so-called flavour-enhancing chemicals (like MSG) . Also if you smoke, and/or drink alcohol, and or eat highly spiced food on a regular basis your taste buds may well be less ’sensitive’ than they might be…

Also. no matter if truly organically farmed, or otherwise the ‘flavour’ of vegetables and fruits is more particularly determined by whether or not they have been allowed to ripen properly and naturally. Most supermarket vegetables and fruits are picked ‘early’ and usually well before ripe, they are then often stored for some time, maybe in modified-gas atmospheres to avoid deterioration. But without ’sunshine’ — the key ‘ingredient’ to good ripe, natural flavour, then you won’t have food that tastes as it should.

Much of the supermarket foods are early-picked, the force-ripened in special warehousing. They just don’t see the sun enough to develop good flavour. This is why veggies and fruits bought from local markets and roadside farm stalls, when travelling on the sunnier parts of the continent in Europe often have a world of different real flavour than what you’ll buy in your weekly shopping in the UK.

But really although in some cases there may be quite evident taste differences for some types of food when comparing ‘organic’ and ‘modern farmed’ foods (strawberries and tomatoes already mention might be reasonable examples) it is NOT the taste difference that really matters.

Organic foods should be produced using no synthetic (i.e. unnatural) chemicals in any part of the agricultural process (be they vegetable or meat products). That means no synthetic chemicals should be used in fertilizers, feeds, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, and no unnecessary use of antibiotics, and NO growth-promoters or chemical treatments applied to livestock.

The fact is that whilst washing foods ‘might’ have a minor impact in removing surface dirt and ’some’ chemical contamination, that the MAJORITY of chemicals used in ‘modern farming’ used to spray crops, for example NOT ONLY are made to adhere such that hard rain cannot simply wash them off (so a pathetic swill under a tap will do VERY little!) BUT they ALSO actually ‘contaminate’ foods at a cellular level (meaning the chemicals adulterate the whole food as it grows, not just the skins!)… So simply washing the surface DOES NOT make food safe and clean!

Only by buying good reputable organically grown produce can you truly reduce your steady oral intake of toxic synthetic chemicals.

Sadly a combination of supermarket ‘profiteering’ from the ‘organic trend’, and a consumer expectation/acceptance that it will ‘cost more’, leads to the higher prices along with the fact that the quantity of organic produce is still relatively small compared with the massive ‘traditional chemical-based farming’… and as we all know that cost is driven down with quantity produced.

The economic Law of demand Supply and Demand, so far, also leads to organic food coming at a premium because supply is still small relative to increasing demand — Supermarket profiteering makes sure to ‘top this off’ and boosts their bottom line by taking more out of ‘conscious organic eaters’ pockets, too!

It is a catch-22 because until we ALL demand that ALL our food is organic and refuse to buy non-organic, making it ‘un-commercial’ for farmer to keep using chemistry-based farming practices, we can expect to have to pay a premium to eat more naturally, more healthily and more safely… And remember that ORGANIC farming also reduces the negative toxic impact on the earth and countryside that ‘traditional modern farming’ tends to create…(in reality ‘organic’ foods should be subsidised so ALL consumers — especially the less well off — can afford to eat healthier food, and other forms of growing should be fiscally ‘penalized’ for the ‘toll’ they take on earth and body! But there is little hope of that happening any day soon!)

In a nutshell — buying Organic food goes far beyond taste… and unless you give up all those habits that ‘numb’ and ‘overwhelm’ your taste buds, its unlikely that taste will be the deciding factor in buying organic. (The counterpoint to this is that IF you DO give up all pre-prepared and processed foods, and hence avoid food with added salt, sugars and flavour-enhancers — such as MSG Monosodiumglutamate — you will eventually, most likely, start to ‘taste’ your food for REAL again! Then you may more easily discern the difference in flavour between some organic and non-organic fare)…

But overall: Buying organic is a conscious, ethical, moral and philosophical choice that is about protecting your long-term health and well-being, and that of the terrain from which our food comes, too. The benefits of this choice far outweigh any small flavour advantage any day!

Also see:  Go Natural and Organic http://www.gonando.com

An interesting post about the challenge that every individual has to face in order to become a member of a unified Mankind:

http://www.bahaiperspectives.com/bahai-concepts/2008/12/01/the-kingdom-of-names/

“…The soul of man needs to be adorned with virtues of humility and self-effacement so that it may become detached from the Kingdom of Names…”

With apologies to the oft referred to Monty Python lyric of some 35 years ago (yet lingering in memories)…But notwithstanding the fact that I have neglected my personal posts of late…part in due to several new projects taking up posting time (e.g. http://www.evolvingintelligence.co.uk ) it still disappoints that there is an increasing number of folks who seem to think it is worth simply posting totally spam comments (actually usually lists of nonsensically named .coms that all feature products purporting to help with various health and erectile problems!) that I then have to BOTHER to delete!

It is also patently obvious to anyone who runs an email account (and lets the address get out and about) that there are the same (most likely) idiots sending out ridiculous mail, with stupid titles, often poorly hiding references to the V-word (that rhymes with Niagara) - or sending other direct exhortations to ’see my photos’ - in hopes of snaring another massively-ignorant punter!

I mean - just who is stupid enough to even click on such ads and not immediately bin them? Who, in their right minds, would actually consider sending for pharmaceuticals from a spammer?…And actually (1) expect to get anything reliable and safe and (2) Not expect to have their credit card and email details spread around any number of criminal types with the news that ‘they bought meds’ at best…and ‘help yourself to this line of credit’ at worst!

BUT click these ads some folks (in large numbers) MUST do every day!…Or else these pesky spam emails would die-a-death, instead of increasing in frequency!

Two earnest requests then:

1) To whom it may concern, just do not bother posting spam comments here - or even ‘pseudo real’ comments -  if you are going to try link to a meds site or other spammy website and NOT to your own REAL blog or website.

2) Everyone else…PLEASE bin spam immedietly and NEVER be tempted to click through for the reasons already alluded to, and too many others to mention!