Hellobee Boards

Meh. I’m pretty willy-nilly about it. I worried about it a lot more when my first was first starting solids and drinking cows milk (only bought the organic purée pouches, organic yogurt, organic milk, etc) but I’ve relaxed on it quite a bit. I think part of my “only organic” kick was some PP anxiety.
I think for my now 4mo I will do a mix of both where it makes sense. I do tend to like the organic purées better because I feel like they have better combinations and add things like quinoa vs, say, gerber conventional. But I’m also not feeling as strong about it overall so we’ll see.

For DH and I, I barely care.

We also keep an eye on the dirty dozen listing to prioritize!

@Mrs. Pickle: yes, my husband did a whole case study on this in business school (and he went to a top one). They came to the conclusion that organic is just a label that allows farmers, grocers, etc to charge more money.
Which is something that goes through my head when I’m weighing options.
Usually when I do buy organic it’s becuase it looks better (produce) or has a flavor I want to try (say an ice cream) or my kid likes the shape of it (looking at you, Annie’s bunnies) and nothing to do with believing it’s actually “better”.
(And think it’s funny that people have a notion that organic automatically means healthy. We have a joke where we’ll eat something that’s clearly not, like ice cream, but if it’s organic we’ll say “this doesn’t count, it’s good for us. It’s organic”).

I'm very cognizant of the toxic load my children are exposed to because of our experience with food allergies, sensory issues etc (and how many of them have been resolved in part by switching to organic) besides the fact that organic/local/grass fed etc tastes so much better. So that said, how we make it work: joining CSA during the season makes produce very affordable, shopping almost exclusively at trader joe's and costco the rest of the time (and being aware of what's in season to get the best prices), finding a local farmer for meat and eggs (we make a trip every month or two and fill my freezer). The other part is just not letting anything go to waste so that you are only buying what will be eaten.
I agree that personal care and cleaning products are easier to switch, and just in general I'm of the mindset that every little bit helps (our personal health and the planet), so even though we are not by any means perfect, we do as best we can.

So - for all of your not buying in to Organic help me with my confusion.

I thought in regards to food items, the FDA regulated the use of the term "organic"? I know in regards to lots of other markets its completely unregulated, but I thought food wise there was some regulation? Completely wrong?

The Organic label is regulated by the USDA. If a food has the USDA Organic label then it must be grown using the Organic standards they set, it must be certified and it can not be genetically modified. We eat probably 97-99% organic in our house. My wife is big into couponing so she estimates it only costs us about 25% more to eat organic. I prefer it because it tends to help small farms and contributes to soil health which is a big problem with conventional farming. I think it tastes better because they haven't genetically modified the flavor out of the produce to improve the look and shelf life. Avoiding pesticides like Round-Up is also a benefit.

https://www.usda.gov/media/blog/2016/07/22/understanding-usda-organic-label

@wrkbrk: gotcha, ya I should have said USDA...not FDA. So it does mean "something" but maybe not that much?

@wrkbrk: Don't even get me started on "natural" or "non-GMO"

@Mrs D: Yes, I probably overstated. It does mean something. But there’s just tons of things companies do to get away with stuff to sell products. It enrages me lol.

@gestalt: THIS!

What about environmental impact?

I don't buy organic. I do look for things like milk that comes from cows that aren't given growth hormones, but that's about it.

There are certain chemicals that the U.S. is fairly lax on regulating, and I remember awhile back the EPA, at the urging of lobbyists, allowed the reintroduction of one pesticide over stringent opposition from the American Academy of Pediatrics that is known to be linked to birth defects. I'm not an expert, but I think there is reason for concern. But also agree with others that it is hard to know, at least for the busy layperson, what organic means, or how much flexibility there is in the standard. Whole Foods bans a lot of the more harmful pesticides in any of their products, and their conventional produce is still a fair bit cheaper than organic produce at other local stores, so often I will buy conventional produce there and hope that it doesn't use any of the more objectionable pesticides. I typically can't swallow the price on their organic stuff. During the summer, I buy at the farmers market whenever possible. That stuff is mostly not "organic" because getting the certification is expensive, but they claim at least to use similar techniques, and it is delicious.

I aim for mostly organic but it's for environmental and grower health factors more than individual exposure to pesticides in the product. Some of it is crock of sh*t marketing ("natural" is complete undefined and unregulated bs) but some of it is worth the extra cost. My preference hierarchy is:
1. Local and organic
2. Local and conventional
3. Organic
4. Conventional
That said, most of my groceries are still conventional due to cost and/or brand preference.

Full disclosure: I grew up on a fruit farm that switched from conventional to organic in the 90's. My dad and sister still farm it. They absolutely 100% still use sprays that you do not want to expose yourself to and use PPE to avoid it. However, there are also instances where they can use sprays such as fish oil. In those cases you still need PPE but it's because it smells as bad as you think, not because of a risk of infertility or birth defects.

@lunalove20: Canada unfortunately doesn't have anything similar to the US' USDA Certified Organic labelling, so i wouldn't really trust any of the Canadian organic fare unless you go to farmer's markets and talk to the farmers themselves. But keep in mind that rBST milk is illegal in Canada, so it isn't necessary to buy organic milk.

We don't eat 100% organic but try to do as much as we can. It's probably 50% or so. We always do organic meat, dairy and eggs. I try to buy eggs and meat from local farmers whenever possible. Sometimes they can't label themselves as "organic" due to how much it costs but I know they use organic practices. I also don't have to worry about meat or egg recalls as I know our food didn't come from a big grocery store and I feel better about the raw cookie dough I eat We do organic produce when we eat the skin (ie berries, apples, etc.) and Kashi cereal which is organic but that's just a bonus because I like it so much. Stuff like cereal, crackets, popcorn, olive oil, etc. we don't buy as organic unless it works out that way. It is more expensive but I feel it is an investment in our family's health.

I've always been confused by the dirty dozen + clean 15 lists. If a potato absorbs X amount of pesticides and needs to be put on a list so you buy organic, then why would the potato suddenly be removed from the list the very next year? (Potato is just a random example, but after noticing the lists change slightly each year, I became wary of them.) Does anyone know why this is?

So with my recent job switch I’m now officially in the agriculture sector. It has definitely changed how I choose foods. Sure organics don’t use pesticides, but there are things I personally find more important like buying locally (support the economy, cut down on carbon emissions). I’ve focused on learning more about dairy and beef production recently (I smell like cow manure right now because I just spent a day on a farm) and I was so surprised by the industry shift in use of antibiotics. I was freaked out about that before but learnedwe are basically getting zero antibiotic residual in products now (farmers get huge fines if there is any antibiotic in their product). We already know dairy isn’t treated with hormones anymore (at least where I am in NY). I’ve also been totally shocked about production in a positive way, but again I don’t know what it looks like in the Midwest where there are a lot of CAFOS which is also why I try to buy local. When I can I buy organic but that’s usually only during summer months from local farms that use organic practices (so they might not be certified, and thus it’s less expensive). Also, wash! Bathe your produce and scrub hardier ones. In terms of environmental impact, I may lean toward non-organic animal products because they don’t need to be on the planet as long to give product, and thus can have a smaller carbon footprint. I’m more concerned about overall environment than pesticides which is why I make the decisions I do. I’m by no means an expert but I’ve been trying to take it to the source to learn more and I’m not as freaked out as I used to be (actual farmers).

Well I'm glad this thread is making me feel a bit better, haha.

I watch my food prices religiously and can't bite the bullet on organic food prices with our current food budget.

I buy organic milk bc it lasts longer and tastes better. Its ultrapasteurized so who knows if it's good for you but whatever.

I am a vegetarian and my DH & LO are minimal meat eaters so I think that has a much bigger beneficial impact.