If you pay extra for something which is imposible to verify you
deserve
to
be fleeced.


It's actually quite likely that falsely labelled organic produce has a
worthwhile placebo effect - it's a shame it was stopped as it probably had
a beneficial health effect for those who are prone to worry that the sky
is
falling in.

Michael Saunby


it is an interesting point. I think that anyone with hands on food
experience knows that organic can taste better than some conventional. When
our house cow is dry we end up buying organic milk. This was because it was
the only milk we could buy that was not pasteurised, homogenised and
standardised. I came to the conclusion that these three processes render
milk virtually undrinkable. The organic we found was at least only
pasteurised so was merely disappointing as opposed to actively unpleasant.
The same could be said for meat. Because of the cost of organic grain, most
organic beef will be grass finished. Personally I am a great believer in
grass-finished beef because the flavour is so much stronger and superior to
grain finished (although the latter may well be more succulent.).
Our own milk which is not pasteurised, homogenised or standardised is better
than organic, our own beef, grass finished, is on a par with organic. In
these cases it is not that organic has any intrinsic advantages, it just
uses certain procedures that are known to give better flavour (or in the
case of milk, doesn't use certain procedures beloved of the supermarkets
that extend shelf life but ruin the flavour.)
As for any health benefit, it has been known for a long time that if you cut
stress you tend to feel better and your health will probably pick up. If you
are worried about various residues, then eating organic, even if
contaminated with the same residues, will probably reduce your stress level
and you will probably be healthier.
Because the levels that come through on conventional products are so low, it
almost certainly doesn't matter, from a health point of view, whether it is
being switched for organic or not. It is more a trading standards issue
rather than a public health issue. Something along the lines of buying knock
off designer label stuff in a street market.
Organic, if left to the producers, as opposed to the cliques who seem to
rise to the top of the certifying bodies, will almost certainly be produced
with rather more thought to flavour than to supermarket specifications which
are more about visual appeal. Indeed it will be interesting to see if the
flavour of organic produce degrades as the supermarkets start stocking more
of it, and start insisting on long shelf lives and visual appeal.

Jim Webster