Organic vs Non-Organic

[OakLeaf]

The thing about it is, my personal exposure to pesticides and GMOs is the very last reason for me to buy organic.

No. 1 in my opinion is environmental health. That encompasses a lot of things. Sustainable practices (not just a buzzword but a very real recognition that a lot of present-day farming methods, including some "certified organic" ones, are UN-sustainable, and will only be able to produce food on that particular parcel for a limited period of time). Biodiversity. Reducing runoff that destroys the health of waterways. Reducing petroleum dependence (strongly implicated in anhydrous ammonia production). Et cetera, et cetera.

No. 2 is farmworker health. If you live in an agricultural area for long, you'll meet or at least read about farmworkers who are suffering serious health consequences from exposure to pesticides and herbicides. Those stories don't make the national news, and there pretty much has to be a mass poisoning before even local news covers it. Because people just don't want to think about what their food really costs. Not just the long-term consequences in reproductive disorders and cancers, which are very significant, but also immediate things like serious skin, respiratory and immune system impairment. Someone was talking about child labor overseas being used to make their sporting goods... I prefer that my food and flowers be grown without poisoning children and adults right here in the USA.

It's true that the USDA organic standards are pretty loose, but they're not completely without value, especially when you're buying staples like beans and grains that can be very difficult to get locally in consumer quantities. I wish I knew more about which third party certifiers were more trustworthy, but generally I'm going to trust a state-level co-op like Oregon Tilth, CCOF or my local OEFFA, before I'll trust a giant for-profit certifier like QAI.

That's another reason to buy Eden Brand staples... which are getting increasingly difficult to find as huge agribusinesses move into the organic arena and buy out shelf space in the grocery chains, including the big "natural food" chains. Eden extensively and regularly tests their products for GMO and pesticide contamination, buys locally/regionally whenever possible.

Soil contamination is another reason to know what you're buying. Everybody catch the latest hoopla about the ayurvedic medications containing heavy metals that were taken up from the soil in which they were grown? Same thing with the coliform contamination of the leafy greens last year, only the contamination was from livestock feces. And whatever the Calabrian buffalo were contaminated with.

So... yes I do look for the organic label when I'm shopping at the grocery or natural food store or the florist. (I'm not ready to go 100% home grown yet... for one thing DH and I would have to resolve this little thing about his wanting to be gone half the year.) But it's by no means the only thing I look for.