Are organically grown vegetables better – The real truth behind it all
There is a hype about organically grown vegetables or any other foodstuff for that matter. Here is the irony in it all, the people that can afford organically grown food, usually don’t need more nutrient, or better nutrients in their diet because they are already eating well. So why on earth are people so obsessed if one tomato has more nutrients than the other. It is not because of the amount of nutrients or composition of the nutrients in the food that really matters, it is more about control. There is more control over how organically grown produce is produced than with, lets call it, standard agricultural procedures. Let me be clear, there is no difference in the nutrient content or quality of the nutrient content between organically grown food and soil-or-hydroponically grown food (in this case vegetables). Sugars and vitamins have the exact same chemical structure whether it is natural or man made. Fertilizers can influence the yield of a crop but not the composition. Lets take potassium nitrate (), farmers use it alot, especially in hydroponic systems. What would the difference be between organically produced and ‘factory’ produced. There is no difference! There cannot be a difference since you cannot change the structure and characteristics of the atoms. And if you want to add more to the molecule, then it is not potassium nitrate anymore. Ask any chemist, chemical engineer or scientist, not pseudo scientists, please, I’m talking about the ones working in labs mostly at universities that have a wallet full of degrees and look nerdy.
The nutrient content of any crop or animal, is determined by the genetic makeup of that specie. It may vary a little, but you cannot grow organic beetroot so that it will have as much vitamin A as carrots, seriously.
Ok, so there is no nutritional added value in buying organic vegetables, or is there. As I have said before, for me the organic trip is not about nutritional quality or quantity, it is about control. I know with a higher probability that the grower will adhere to more strict pesticide and fungicide regimes than without that small little label. I don’t think it is that crucial in vegetables, but I have tasted the difference in chickens. In many ‘uncontrolled’ retailers, they taste like fish. And that fish taste has got more to do with the injection of hormones and other crap to increase profit, and with that I do have a problem. I am a guy and do not want to grow breasts! So don’t give me hormone filled vegetables or chicken or beef or whatever.
Ok that is chicken, you can taste the difference, but what about vegetables, you cannot taste the difference between organically grown veggies and soil grown. What you might be tasting is the difference in varieties more than anything else.
What I think is important in the vegetable industry is the control and management of pesticides and fungicides. I have been on farms where chemicals have been applied at such a late stage that the chemical compounds will still be active when the consumer buys the product. If there is a disease in your crop you have to control it. You have fruit pending from nearly ripe (lets say in 2-3 days) and fruit that needs to be harvested next week. If you do not spray now, next week’s crop will be gone. That is the conundrum with which farmers are faced. The organic grower just does not have a choice, he cannot spray and works that loss into the price of the crop. That is why organically produced food is much more expensive than other methods, but they are not more nutritious, maybe just a little less toxic.