dpb

Just seen price of romaine lettuce, ordinary 1pound, organic 2pound

That's just absurd isn't?

The implication is that one has never seen soil and the other enjoys its own 10 acre garden

Which I'm damn sure isn't true

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

I could tell you a few stories about free range chicken eggs and organic chicken eggs.. but I wont.

johned

All a big con in my opinion.

urban

iTrader: (1)

No, please do

Butkus

I only buy organic. If it really is organic I don't mind the extra price. Are some here saying that organic stuff in the shops isn't actually organic? Surely it has to meet some criteria?

Leslie

We never buy food labelled as organic. We just don't trust the suppliers.

Les

Graz

Saw a program exposing scams where someone was buying gallon drums of the cheapest olive oil, wacking it a fancy bottle and labeling as Extra Virgin, organic, etc. Flogging it on a market stall for many times what they originally paid for it. Why didn't I think of that?

Aside from the risk of going to gaol of course

David Lock

I had a friend who was an old, happy, boozy old farmer who sold his own eggs. I often joked to him that I was going to get him a stamp that printed out LAID YESTERDAY

dl

scoobynutta555

Do you buy bottled air too?

dpb

I wouldn't mind if it were a third more, double ! you're taking the ****.

Turbohot

I find the term 'organic' not convincing regardless of the conception of a farm as organism (ref: Northbourne, 1939). Although I'm aware of the meaning in vogue, my unconscious thought upon reading 'organic' term on any food gives me the impression that it must have something to do with dead creatures' organs. Even when I'm a meat eater, I find this term a bit grim. IMO this term should be changed to 'natural' or something like that.

Once in Oxfam conference one veteran campaigner was giving a talk on Fair Trade to a few hundred people. Her slip of a tongue caused her to refer organic Maya Gold and St. Lucia bananas as orgasmic instead. I knew one day, someone would do that by mistake. It happened, and by God, the laughter from the crowd was deafening. She left soon after her speech without eating any organic lunch.

Beastie

iTrader: (2)

I am very suspicious of some apples that have been in my fridge for 5 months and still appear ok.

pimmo2000

iTrader: (6)

Have they eaten any butter? that's normally a sign.

dpb

Sounds like an inorganic example!

Oldun

If organic is so good, why isn't all food produced organically only? They would sell more and bring prices down, then you could create a new market for chemically enhanced food.

What about 'Free-Range'? is that a rip off too?

dpb

If they can sell it for double then I can see being possible!

I understood organic meant fewer chemicals more space,actual soil. And free range the same. All if which costs more to produce

hodgy0_2

"Organic" is simply a tick box exercise used by the big supermarkets to increase margins

Matteeboy

Proper organic farming is a complete PITA compared to intensive methods and is worth the outlay where traceability is clear.

We get an organic Riverford veg box and fruit bag each week - been doing so for about seven years now. Always good.

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Outrageous comment.

In chickens, the difference between free range and birds living in "enriched cages" is massive. To be honest, the word "enriched" is a load of crap anyway because they are still cages and not a big difference to the old style battery cages. If the public could see these "enriched cages" I could bet you the market would be dead for any type of caged production (other than the people who really don't give a toss about where their food comes from).

The difference with organic and free range is that with organic you're not allowed to stock as many birds per metre square. Who's going to stop farmers buying extra birds on the side and putting them in the shed? For organic you're also not allowed to use any chemicals or pesticides. Think of the fly problem inside chicken sheds in the summer? For organic farmers this would be a nightmare but I bet you some will do fly spraying regardless to keep the flies down. Then there's spraying in the fields to keep the weeds down. I'll also tell you that currently free range is making more money than organic because the public don't want to pay an even higher price.

Then there's the different types of free range. If you go to Tesco or Asda to buy your free range eggs, those eggs have come from huge flocks of chickens in excess of 16,000 birds. If you buy free range eggs from Waitrose, those eggs have come from flocks no larger than 4,000 birds. It's all to do with welfare and standards. Having smaller flocks of chickens is harder work because you need more individual sheds and it involves more management compared to one massive shed. That's why there's a premium price for Waitrose eggs, and the biggest profit margins.

Oldun

It wasn't a comment, it was a genuine question.

urban

iTrader: (1)

I thought the enriched cages were less cruel than the older cages.

I assume you're in the food business of some sorts, what happens to the chickens - do they just stay in the cages until death?

LSherratt

iTrader: (1)

Enriched cages are bigger (slightly) than the old style battery cages, plus the enriched cages have a "scratch area" and a small perching pole. Regardless though, they're still locked in a cage until their time comes and have limited space.

All chickens producing eggs for food, whether it be low-end supermarkets or top-end, cages, free range, or organic, the cut off point of their life is 72 weeks of age. The reason is because this is regarded when the quality of the egg gets too poor to sell in stores (egg quality decreases as the birds get older). They will then be used in processed meat.

Oh and also, you can get "enriched caged" sheds with flocks of chickens in excess of 120,000+ birds. Compare that to Waitrose free range flocks of a maximum of 4,000 birds.... Totally different systems, management and welfare issues.

Matteeboy

Organic potatoes are a lot easier to keep in one place than chickens though.

dpb

Lettuces aren't know for roaming far either

Matteeboy

Organic carrots have been known to wander though.

tony de wonderful

I bet that's your little racket isn't it?

tony de wonderful

No but the lettuces are hard to catch.

Butkus

I understand why some people think it is a scam. But I think Riverford/Abel and Cole etc are the way to go. It seems more strange that people DON'T eat organic unless they really can't afford it.

Same argument regarding drinking/eating dairy products - who thought of that idea??!

johned

Each to their own.