Organic Food
I’m not sure what it is about organic food that rubs me the wrong.
Maybe it’s the smug people in the organic food shop.
Maybe it’s the little spots that appear on organics apples.
Or maybe it’s the fact that I want to put down my inability to tell the difference between organic and inorganic foods to some sort of global swindle rather than accept that perhaps my palette is less then refined.
So I’m not suprised by the feelings of schadenfreude I have when I read that Neil Stansfeild, director of One Foods, has been jailed for 27 months for buying regular cheap foods from supermarkets repackaging it as organic and then passing it on to consumers at a vastly inflated prices.
My smug pleasure is not at con artist Stansfield’s jail sentence but at the idea of all his hip customers forking over big bucks for bargain bin generic foods and then fooling themselves into thinking they can Really Taste The Difference.
I also wonder whether Stanfield could have defended himself by claiming that, since 25% of organic food contains synthetic pesticides and that there is no evidence that organic food is better for you that he could argue that his fake food was just the same as real organic food.
A little bit like renting a Rob Schneider film only to find out you’ve been given a poor quality rip off. Who can Really Tell The Difference?
You are forgetting that organic food has other benefits aside from health. The poisons used on farms affect the health of farmers and the nearby eco-system.
Also, organic foods lack of preservatives means it has to be grown locally to where it is sold. You don’t get imported organic Vietnamese bananas. So organic food helps the local economy.
pft! Yeah well done goodfinger. You can’t grow bananas anywhere near England, and we sure as GM sugar get organic bananas here. And don’t tell me to eat only local food when for four months of the year that’s cabbage and swedes. Eat them yourself.
Nick, I would love to see you do a Full Diatribe on food & food labelling. Recently spotted by moi -
Tesco, ‘Light & Healthy chicken’. Battery raised, but they took the skins off the breast. Way pricier than identical ’skinless chicken breast’.
‘Milk with Vitamin D’. Contains one teensy fraction of RDI, less than you’d get from a minute standing in a weak sun (even in winter).
‘Anything with antioxidants’. First trial of antioxidants in the 80s on people at high risk of lung cancer was stopped for ethical reasons because the people taking the supplements KEPT DYING.
Actually forget this I have work to do. If you have not read the book ‘bad science’ by Ben Goldacre then you must, immediately.
I’m big fan of Ben Goldacre. I even make the effort to buy The Guardian to find it. (which is very hard for someone as cynical as me to do)
I also perform a show about scams in science for high schools called The Bad Science Show.
http://www.thebadscienceshow.com
You might also like to google “Ribena” “Vitamin C” and “New Zealand”.
Oh yes, I know about the Ribena thing! Well done those kids. And now, onto the ‘YOU WHAT’ question raised by your comment:
What do you mean you BUY the Guardian for one article? Goodness me, what’s wrong with you? Have I taught you nothing?
All the bad science articles are cached here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/series/badscience
Goldacre’s extensive home & forums are here: http://www.badscience.net
…and he’s on twitter here: @bengoldacre
So let’s hear no more about this ‘paying for content’ rubbish, OK?
Frankly I’m ashamed of you. Also you didn’t say if you’ve actually READ the book, which makes me think you haven’t, so do.
Also I have not smoked a cigarette today. Apparently this makes some people stroppy.
I prefer orgasmic food
I’m pretty sure most organic foods don’t claim they do taste better. Organic meat is generally about keeping animals in a better condition (as they don’t need all the extra’s required to keep them alive via factory farming) and organic vegetables are as mention above, better for the environment/maybe better for your health as they don’t contain pesticides. I wouldn’t feel bad that you can’t tell the difference, unless you get them out of someones back yard they generally do taste the same as all the non-organic foods.
“Also, organic foods lack of preservatives means it has to be grown locally to where it is sold. You don’t get imported organic Vietnamese bananas.”
so… regular bananas have preservatives injected into them? LOL
with lower productivity and their associated costs, organic foods require LARGER amounts of resources per food item, not less.