Organic or non-organic

[PurpleChicken]

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Buzz word? Yeah I agree, especially since few people understand what organic means. It's also a word with may meanings. "Green" is so overused it's pothetic.

However I disagree with it being a waste of money. If I want to eat a food with a much lower concentration of chemicals than that it my choice and it's my call on whether or not the increased cost is justified.


This subject is another that tends to polarize people and is often labeled with absolutes. Meanwhile, the masses either ignore the benefits or are preyed on by the marketing departments.

 

[claud]

I think in most cases organic is a good thing. I selectively buy organic foods for my family.
My chickens get regular feed. I once raised some birds on organic feed for eating(the birds that is) but the cost was so much more that my DH began to joke that we should just eat the feed and save the money.
I think if you only have a few birds it wouldn't be such a big difference and then organic would be a more feasible option.

 

[chickerdoodle]

Over the last few years I have tried to become more and more sustainable, re-using, recycling, preserving more energy, and eating more organic foods that are whole grain and less processed. I am not perfect and certainly still eat at a famous fast restaurant every now and then.

I plan on feeding a healthy, locally made organic feed when we get our chicks. I will add organic veggies to their diet in winter when grazing is not so plentiful. No chemicals are used in our very private, protected garden but it's only a large suburban yard. I am not certifying the eggs as organic as they are only for us and a few friends. I also do this to get fresh eggs from friendly hens who have a happy life--not like the battery hens. I'd raise meat chickens if I could deal with the thought of eating my friends.

We can do our best but to be "perfectly" organic and 100% sustainable is not very easy and so it will be an ongoing process for us. I feel heading toward a smaller carbon footprint is the goal all by itself and I am proud to be getting closer every day.

 

[jhm47]

What a hornet's nest! I really wish some of you would take the time to really research the facts, and quit reading the scare tactics that are on many websites.

I live in a very rural area. Yes, people here get cancer. I don't think there is more cancer here than in the urban areas, but I suppose it's possible.

The fact is that Bt corn has enabled the farmers to quit using the REALLY toxic insecticides that we used to use. Bt is actually a bacteria called Bacillis Thuringiensis, which is routinely used in organic food production. The difference is that the Bt gene has been transferred into the corn plant, where is plugs up the digestive system of the Lepidoptera (moths) insect family. It is digested in the stomach of humans, and is quickly turned into a harmless protein. If you have eaten garden vegetables such as carrots, onions, beets (or any other root vegetable), you have eaten millions of Bt bacteria.

Some of the chemicals that we used to use to protect our corn from these incredibly destructive insects were: Toxaphene, Furadan, Lorsban, Pounce, and many others. Eat just a tiny bit of any of these, and you'll be pushing up daisies from below.

Personally, I'm very happy to have been able to quit using these chemicals, and the advent of Bt corn has enabled farmers to stop using thousands of tons of them. Just my opinion from the hinterlands.

 

[Judy]

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Yup.

I suspect I do what most do, which is to try to keep things as unadulterated as I can, without going nuts about it, because labels like "organic" or "natural" are mostly not clear or defined. Seems to me that people are rapidly poisoning or plundering this planet to an unreversable point. Does not seem to me that buying items labeled "organic" is going to have much effect on this.

 

[cnj-tx50]

Wow!! I just wanted to say that if everyone took the time to take of their own then the world/planet would be a better place. It seems that most people don't have the time to cook every meal or even hang a load of clothes on the line to dry instead of using the dryer. Having grown up in the "city", but having parents that lived on farms and grandparents that still farmed when I was a child instilled something in me that would never leave me which is what I did for my children and now my grandchildren. It is hard for me to drink "store bought" milk to this day. I would have never dreamed that this whole organic thing would have risen to this level. I just thought that was the way it was and so my grandchildren will teach their children. But understanding that not everyone is able to do everything, but maybe only one thing would be nice.

 

[brewmiss96]

in response to the original post, I've heard that the yolks from organic feed are more likely to break than conventional feed. I have not tested this, but when I expand my flock I will.

 

[HarlansHollowFarms]

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And that's your choice!

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Me too! On both counts!

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Agreed!

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I'm not sure what this has to do with organic v non-organic, but my daughters' school allows peanut butter -- both organic and non, natural and processed.

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Well, actually the biggest change is our technology -- which has led to significant changes in all areas of lifestyle, diet included.

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Fundamentally wrong and incredibly closed-minded. I sometimes say bad things about organics and the organic industry, for the record I don't recall the last time I went to McDonalds. We place a high value on self-sustainability, raise as much of our own food as possible (and garden "organically", but not certified organically), and eat 3 meals per day plus snacks 7 days per week made "from scratch" out of our own kitchen. But I also don't have the wool pulled over my eyes and can see the pros and cons to all sides of the issue and the fact that organic food as it is defined today is not the cure-all to our problems.

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In all issues there will be staunch supporters and staunch opposition. What is interesting to me is that neither of those groups seem to be able to see that they are very much like the other.

They hold a view much like your own, just to the polar opposite. You seem to think incredibly highly of organics without giving an inch for critical analysis of it's good and bad. They hold a highly negative view of the organic movement without giving an inch to it's credits. Neither position is right or productive.

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Actually, you did. Above. And on equally false premises.

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I agree with you here.

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Perhaps the issue is not with what the opposition thinks of the way you are living, but in your need to defend yourself. Are you happy with your choices? That's all that matters.

If you want to further the organic v conventional discussion that's great! But this isn't the way to do it and maybe, if it gets your feathers so fluffed you can't do so without stooping to "their" level, you should take a step back and really think about why it is you get so riled up... and how you can avoid that and really work towards furthering the conversation next time.

Well said.

 

[ShaggysGirl]

AHappychick wrote:

She asked a question and there was no need to act like her choice or the feed she is considering is a waste of money.

Actually the OP did ask

It's so hard to come by and very expensive. And if anyone notice any difference in you birds from one feed, to the another. Just curious or if it's even something I should consider.

So I kind of think she was asking for both views.​

 

[rstampa]

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Actually the OP did ask

It's so hard to come by and very expensive. And if anyone notice any difference in you birds from one feed, to the another. Just curious or if it's even something I should consider.

So I kind of think she was asking for both views.​

First off just a friendly correction. She is a he.

I agree! But what I ment about Very Expensive was the shipping. I don't care what the feed cost but no one seems to carry the organic in the Tampa Bay area. That was my original intented question. I'm sorry everyone is fighting over my question.

It wasn't my intention for that to happen. I wasn't trying to start an argument over one or the other I was just asking if anyone have any experience over organic or non-organic.
I know now which one I'm going to buy!

Thanks for all your opinions. And please no more fighting KIGS!!