Organic.

[heinleinfan]

"Are these eggs organic?" my customer asked.
"Well, they're not USDA certified, but these eggs are from Chef Sigi, he has a small flock of pastured hens..."
"Right, but are they organic, what do the chickens eat?"
"Ah, these are given a non-soy, non-GMO feed supplement when needed, but that's mostly in winter.  Of course this time of year, they

Comments

[kickthehobbit]

I get most of the food that we eat from a couple of local farms + the food co-op that's two blocks over from where I live.

The number of misconceptions people have about organic food, and the things I overhear (especially about "oh no GMOs!") is astounding. Thanks for this post. :D

[heinleinfan]

A part of me wishes I lived somewhere that local food were easier. The growing season here is hella short!

[eternal_ot]

Wow! Thanks a bunch for all this information...this was quite helpful. A great read. Thanks again!

[heinleinfan]

Thank you! I'm glad you liked the info!

[halfshellvenus]

and there's no way of knowing where those bugs come from.
People are begrudging chickens the right to be chickens now? Wow.

The notion of repackaging (or UNpackaging) grocery store lettuce, or disguising food imported from Mexico (where non-potable water may be used on crops, which could kill you faster than pesticide residue) was something that hadn't occurred to me at all. I'd assumed Farmer's Markets involved actual local farmers, so this was good information!

[heinleinfan]

Things may be different in other states, and there *are* markets to be found that *do* support all local. But, jerks will be jerks and resellers are jerks.

[tijuanagringo]

um excuse me if you have answered this question before, but...
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"What do you think about the Whole Foods market chain?" ???
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Sorry, but you seem to be someone who just might know a lot that I do not
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(watch me go google it now that my interest is arroused...)
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:-)
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[heinleinfan]

I feel...complicated about it.

Their very existence, and their success, sends a very loud message that People Want To Eat Better. So, that's not a bad thing.

Mass produced, mono-cultured organic food is *hardly* different than conventional. There's plenty of chemicals used in USDA organic, there's lies in the labeling, mono-culture is bad no matter what, there's people getting paid pennies in slave conditions to harvest the food, etc. etc. So the idea that somehow everything in a Whole Foods is "good" is just bullshit, and many people won't take the time to find that out. Which is not a good thing.

[tijuanagringo]

Yeah. I've been reading, and hearing things like this on the news, and am glad (I mean sad) to hear you confirm it. Just from the way you spoke in your organic entry, I thought you might have an informed opinion. You do. Thanks for taking the time to think and answer and express so succinctly and clearly.
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[leni_ba]

Organic food is still a new concept here.

I think people are still struggling with the notion that vegetables and fruit can be inorganic, what with us - as a country - being so tied to farming. We pride ourselves in our food, in our couple hundred potato varieties, and our creativity when delivering them to the table, and when we hear that farming must go back to its roots to be true to itself (and healthy to the rest of us), most of us just nod along and think, when did we ever get industrialized at all?

So, thank you for all the information. It's always interesting to see a glimpse of the outside world.

[heinleinfan]

I grew up dirt poor in southern Mississippi. Anyone with any bit of land at all grew a garden. Organically, because herbicides and pesticides are expensive. We hunted and fished - we couldn't buy groceries the last week of most months because the money was gone, but man did we eat well.

It's quite odd to me to have grown up like that, ventured FAR away from it...and now here I am back in it again.