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Grow organic vegetables - fashion or our need?

Written By Sandra on Tuesday 20 January 2009 | 08:54

Words like organic, bio, ecological, green or eco have become rather fashionable nowadays, but can we define clear line between pure swagger with new eco fashion and real, natural and ecological aware way of life?

Definition of organic (eco) agriculture is very clear - you grow cultures towards certain standards, you don't use conventional pesticides and artificial fertilizers. Those cultures must not be polluted with any kind of poison or waste, and they must ge GMO free. They must be cultivated in natural, defined conditions, and oif there is a certain amount of inorganic compounds in them , that percentage must be very low and it must me shown on this culture, or product (this value varies from country to country).



We saw that the definition of organic is very simple, but what about all the products we find in our supermarkets that are tagged with "eco friendly", "100% natural" or " organic" stickers and commercials? Can we trust those tags?

Scientists proved that organically grown cultures (vegetables and fruit) is indeed healthier then those grown in conventional way, but I'm not sure that all that lies on our market shelves marked as "100% organic" is always true.


Those products are very often overrated and it's really a bit ilogical that one pound of "eco grown" tomatoes costs twice times as s pound of "conventionally" grown tomatoes, and to produce this, "conventional" tomatoes you need far more means because you use all that fertilizers, pesticides and similar supplements. I've succeeded in growing my own, "eco" tomato and the only expense I've had was the seeds I bought (which was declared as "non" treated, I hope it was GMO free as well). Everything else I found in nature (therapeutic herbs which I used for fertilizers and protection), and, of course, my time - but you use your time in any way of agriculture.

If you would to grow organic potato and conventional potato, which French fries would be healthier?

I don't think we can talk about totally healthy "eco" potato and totally unhealthy "conventional" potato because it is far more dangerous to eat a pound of "eco" French-fried potatoes, then to eat a pound of steam boiled "conventional" potatoes.

Don't trust to all that is written on one product label, paper can suffer anything - it's more important to pay attention to fair balance and diet, even if it means to eat conventional food sometimes.
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8 comments :

Lavender and Vanilla Friends of the Gardens said...

Dear Sandra such a good post and so true. My mother always said "paper is patient" you can print anything! That was a very long time ago but I think it still bears truth! Anyway If possible and my vegetable grower is very diligent I get my organics from my garden. I must say I buy organic potatoes when my own are finished. My conscience is not very good when I buy conventional treated broccoli or cauliflower.But all in all it is about the same situation in our country like you describe it.

Sandra said...

Hi Titania - thank you very much for your comment,and you are true when you say "paper is patient". I know that organic and naturally grown food is far more healthier, but I think the it is more important to have healthy view and way of life, then to always follow fashion.

Martin MY said...

Don't believe anything that supermarkets tell you - its not a lie just slyness to obscure the whole truth!!

French fries are the same as chips. French Fries are deep fried reconstituted potatoes and chips are deep fired real poatoes.

Look at how supermarkets describe french fried again - their slyness will be portrayed.

Grow your own wins everytime, if yo ave the facilities of course, many don't. Potatoes canbe easily grown in a buket lined with a black plastic bag on a landing or even a kitchen. You can gues how goo these woujdl taste when harvested in late spring.

Sandra said...

Martin - I agree with you, people often follow fashion instead of thinking about their health.

garden girl said...

Very good post. It seems to be 'buyer beware' when it comes to organics, especially as the large chains jump on the organic bandwagon with dubious mass-marketing techniques and often questionable products and practices.

Sandra said...

@ garden girl
Thank you very much for your comment - as you say (and we often see) we must be very careful when we want to buy something "organic" :-)...

Anonymous said...

Definitely a need!

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Mediterranean Turkish Cook said...

Sandra, I have been thinking about whether to trust the supermarkets with organic, natural labels for a while now. I almost wrote a post about it. Anyway, you are right, they are not always truthful about the labels. In fact, when I try to read the labels carefully, they include a statement that says something similar to this "our products may not be 100% organic" in tiny words.

I loved the garden in the picture. Is it your garden? I had to zoom in, the veggies looked so good!

Take care,

Nihal