Organic vegetables vs

Not sure where to put this, Mods feel free to move it.

Just noticed something fairly strange, wonder if others have noticed similar observations. Over a week ago I bought a head of organic iceburg lettuce as it was on sale, normally I buy plain old iceburg lettuce.

This is where I started to notice a marked difference. After about 5 days of normal lettuce use and care, just ripping off chunks, the organic lettuce was still fresh, not browning or wilting. A normal head of lettuce would have been all browned and mushy by then. Now after 10 days it's still fresh and just has started to show the slightest browning. Has anyone noticed this with other organic fruits and vegetables? I don't normally buy them so I was rather surprised. I didn't store or treat it any differently so I am assuming that either organic is "fresher" and therefore lasts longer or commerically grown regular lettuce is made to have a shorter shelf life.

Not the biggerst conspirarcy I'll grant you, but it did seem rather odd.


[edit on 19-12-2007 by pavil]

reply to post by pavil


one very likely explanation is that the organic lettuce may have been grown closer to your location.

as i recently posted in another thread link food from industrial agriculture, i assume primarily all of what you eat, travels 2500 to 4000 kilometers on average from farm to plate.

however, in many places in the US where organic farming is taking root (re-rooting?) stores are buying organic produce, dairy, and poultry from local farms.

and this could be why your lettuce lasted longer. if it was produced locally it was probably several days fresher.

reply to post by pavil


Indeed I have noticed more 'longevity' in my organic produce. That is one of the reason I purchase it.

Another reason why I buy it is the lack of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. To me, that is a big plus.

I also try to buy heirloom varieties, because I can take the seeds and grow my own fruits and veggies of varieties that are acclimated to the local growing conditions, naturally. No scientist attacking seed embryos with bacterial serums to bio engineer them. I had a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes last year from seeds that I took from one tomato. I saved some of those seeds, and will introduce other heirlooms seeds this year. Next year will be pretty exciting with all the combinations possible. I want to do peppers and some other plants as well. Growing my own food was one of the best things I have ever done for my soul. Your whole outlook changes...

Organic produce, especially heirloom varieties seem to be more flavorful as well. Although Iceberg lettuce doesn't have much flavor. I recommend finding out when the nearest farmers market is occurring near you. Even if the produce is 'non-organic' you are buying directly from the farmer. You will save a bundle cutting supermarkets out of the equation, and the farmer makes more selling to you than he would in bulk to a retailer. Take 10 bucks and you will come away amazed with the amount of produce you get, and the especially the quality.

I do foresee a problem in the near future in the organic foods industry. Although there are stricter regulations surrounding the term "organic" than there are for "light" or "diet", the desire for cleaner, healthier foods has already driven the larger chains to the marketplace. There is just too much money involved, that greedy types will try to pass non-organic produce off as the real thing. Or you will have GMO seeds grown with organic fert, but Round-up for bugs... There are too many unscrupulous people in the food industry already, who care not for nutrition, but only for the bottom line.

DocMoreau

Originally posted by Animal


one very likely explanation is that the organic lettuce may have been grown closer to your location.

Possible, but I live in Michigan and it's winter, the closest I would guess would be Cali and Mexico, but I really don't know where ordinary lettuce comes from either, I had heard California.

reply to post by DocMoreau


Does organic have more vitamins and minerals in them as opposed to standard?

I know the levels of those things have gone way down in the last century as we try and grow things as fast as possible.

reply to post by pavil


Well Iceberg lettuce is mostly water, but for the most part I would say that Organic Produce has at least the same minerals and vitamins as any other produce, but without added chemicals in the form of fertilizer and pesticides. I am not a scientist, so I don't want to say definitively, and have it bite me in the behind, but I would think that they have to have more minerals and vitamins than regular. Eat a Supermarket Apple, and compare it to an Organic one... If it doesn't have any more nutrition than a regular apple, at least it has more flavor. Even if the 'nutritional values' were the same, Organic Produce is much more pleasurable to eat.

If you really want to try a treat, if you are a meat eater, find Organic grass fed beef. It is even more flavorful, and doesn't have injected hormones or broad spectrum antibiotics.

I think about it like this, all I am trying to do is find food that hasn't been mangled either chemically, genetically or processed by the hands of man. Also, the fresher the food the better. In order for processed foods to last on store shelves until they are sold, there are so many 'ingredients' used to prevent spoilage. Only problem, those same 'ingredients' do their job while they are being digested. Your body can't properly digest the foods, because they are 'designed' to combat decomposition.

I developed OCD to a degree, once I started finding out more about our foods. I don't really eat out anymore, because almost all restaurants buy their foods and supplies from Sysco. In order for Sysco to supply so many foods, to so many people, they have to use massive amounts of food processing and preservatives. It is atrocious.

Hopefully you can invest the money to at least supplement you diet with good wholesome, organic foods. You will notice a big difference.
DocMoreau

ps... The Organic Lettuce could be from near you, Organic vegetables, but especially salad greens are starting to be grown Organic Hydroponically large scale. Actually, Organic Hydroponics could be the solution to world hunger, but right now too much is invested in Chemical based solutions. Funny thing, all I want is the food the quality that my parents and grandparents had access to...

Hi Pavil, another of my expert subjects ( sorry in advance ) I have been a keen gardener since I was 3 years old and have always been organic. I am college trained and taught Horticulture and practical food production for almost 20 years, as well as other things. Storage of vegetables is a large factor in their keeping ability, you say that it is winter, well that helps for longer storage, local produce has had less time to lose moisture so would preserve the turgidity ( pumped up with water ). The big secret is to pick either early morning ( after watering well the night before ) or early evening on a day that has not been too warm. There is absolutly no doubt that the flavour of veg is affected by what you feed them, chemical fertiliser is worse tasting in things with a high water content. Pesticides are a chemical cocktail of poisons, some things like lettuce are sprayed for the last time the day before picking with pesticide, with full knowledge that the spray would take about 14 days to leave the plants system if it were still growing. With organic farming you feed the SOIL, and it then goes on to feed the plant in a process known as base exchange. With chemical feed it goes directly to the plant causing sporadic growth spurts and in some cases susceptibility to disease as the plant has grown too soft, so they then spray to avoid the very risk which they have caused. The moral to the story is as has already been mentioned on this thread, buy local if possible, buy from sources you can trust, expect to pay more, when you can grow your own do , swap your excess with neighbours and they will share with you, hopefully they will be organic as well. Enjoy the taste of fresh organic vegetables and hopefully live longer! I would just go on to agree with previous comments about organic meat, who wants to eat anything pumped full of antibiotics, we are already immune to all but one or two antibiotics, I wonder why? Perhaps because everytime we eat meat, we are immunising ourselves against the antibiotics. I fully agree with Doc Moreau, Hydroponics will eventually be the only practical way forward, when we can`t afford to let a single drop of water evaporate, this is the least wasteful of water, if we could then trap the water lost by transpiration and feed that back into the system, add solar power to pump the water, we should be a long way forward.

[edit on 14-1-2008 by Qwenn]