Cheap Unhealthy Food?

Discussion in Food & Drink started by Denis Hard • Feb 8, 2015.

  1. Denis Hard

    Denis HardWell-Known Member

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    I just read an article that advises readers to avoid buying organic food when they can avoid it because:

    a) organic food is more expensive.
    b) is not as great as people are made to think.

    And other reasons which didn't make much sense. Anyone who denies that organic food has health benefits is delusional. People used to be healthier and lived longer in the days before artificial fertilizers and pesticides were invented. But there's no point in trying to prove that organic is better, you all know it.

    Question is, would you buy cheap "unhealthy" food just so you could save money?

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    "A study by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) identified more than 55 pesticides that can leave cancer-causing residues in food"
     
  2. Theo

    TheoWell-Known Member

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    Not all cheap food is unhealthy, but it depends on what it is and how you eat it. I don't think organic is the be all and end all, it is healthier but how much more?

    For example is organic pasta a lot more healthier than normal pasta? With vegetables and fruit they may be more of a difference, but food goes in and out of the body and doesn't last long, so it's a long term thing, so I use a little of both to balance things out, because you have to still be sensible about your budget.
     
  3. ohiotom76

    ohiotom76Well-Known Member

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    I think the media, particularly quack armchair health experts (coughbloggerscough), are spreading too much misinformation and pseudoscience, and fearmongering about food as of late. "Food Babe" with her yoga mat fiasco would be at the top of this list. There was a great takedown of her lately on the following web site:

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    This is the same person who was schilling some overpriced goofball blender with a magnet in it, which was supposed to change the "molecular structure" of water to somehow make it healthier.

    Gardening with manure is "organic" for example, but not necessarily safe at all since you can contract E.Coli, parasites, tapeworm, roundworms and other fun stuff from animals. I've also read that in some places, such as Mexico, where there are less regulations around produce, they have to soak their vegetables in water prepared with iodine in order to prevent getting sick from them due to how they are grown and handled.
     
  4. clairebeautiful

    clairebeautifulActive Member

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    You make a couple of gigantic leaps in your original post, suggesting that if it isn't organic it is automatically "unhealthy" and the idea that "organic is better" because we all know it.

    It has actually been proven that the "organic" label here in the United States, very often gets thrown on produce and meat that when observed from the source, very much resemble all the rest of our produce and meat.

    I'm guess that the article you likely skimmed was bringing up points to that end. Not that actual organic food isn't healthy, but that the organic label that jacks up prices in grocery stores might not in fact be telling of a product that has been treated any more differently than everything not considered organic.

    I do not buy specifically labeled "organic" meat and produce. The fact is, it IS more expensive, and it is not necessarily better. Most pesticides used on produce can be removed from a thorough washing. If I was looking for healthier meat, I'd go with "free range" over "organic," or one better, I'd simply local grass fed meat.
     
  5. JosieP

    JosiePWell-Known Member

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    "certified organic" is a crock. I'd still eat it over processed garbage. Almost nothing is safe anymore. Just stop believing everything labels and commercials say and start taking responsibility for what goes in your body. Buy local first and foremost.. after that, look into their practices (you should do this regardless of what you eat and from where) and stop either oring everything. I see so many people on a highly processed, unhealthy diet staying away from healthy food because fruit and veggies have carbs GASP!! lol.. so back to eating garbage (full of sugar and salt and fat and cardboard and horse hooves lol and and and and and). So so weird. The type of foods you eat is the most important thing there is when it comes to your health. After that, check your sources.. organic farmers spray too. Look into and support your local farmers when possible.. and TALK to them. Find out how they treat their crops and animals and realize that either way, it's a whole lot healthier than the processed stuff no matter how you look at.
     
  6. missbishi

    missbishiWell-Known Member

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    There have been times where I've had no option but to buy cheap food because of my financial situation. What do you mean by unhealthy though? Are you referring to pre-packaged meals or simply produce which is non-organic? I'm not a great believer in the "organic" label at all, after all, I peel the majority of the fruit and veg I eat so the pesticides are removed. I'm not delusional in the slightest, I just refuse to pay for over-priced goods.
     
  7. LAGuy

    LAGuyMember

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    I'd like to see some proof that organic food is "healthier"... It's a pretty big statement to call people who don't buy organic food are delusional.
     
  8. Squigly

    SquiglyActive Member

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    I don't think you can conclusively state that organic food is better than non-organic foods. There are plenty of scientific papers which have shown otherwise.
     
  9. valiantx

    valiantxActive Member

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    I don't think organically grown and raised produce are better regarding the efficiency of farming, yet maybe it is better for human consumption in nutrients but this is still debatable. More over, there are many ways of farming organic foods, which some farmers do use some form of non-synthetic pesticides to prevent insect damages. Organic farming also takes a lot more energy and time to produce things than so-called inorganic farming techniques and yields far less amount, which isn't good in places where the environment is very harsh to grow flora and fungus foods. Overall, I do rather choose organic farming over conventional farming techniques, because I grew up farming this way with my family.
     
  10. hellavu

    hellavuActive Member

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    Er, like others said. Organic is not really this much healthier -- if you look at studies (other than the "summarized reports" that go on the internet about how much natural is always better) or at online courses about nutrition and food ('Food for Thought' is a good one to avoid falling in the claims made by medias and to actually be able to nuance out the truths). What organic is: better for the environment. What organic is: harder to produce. And many producers of organic foods also produce "regular" chemical-pesticides foods -- and many times the chemicals carry to the organic field anyway. So your claims, which you think are beyond proved and get a general agreement, actually don't stand to be this proved and have this much consent. Organic sells because it markets to a group of people. I used to believe I should fish out a lot of my money to buy it, but considering the scientific proof I found since, I realized it's much healthier to buy as much fruits and veggies as possible, non-organic, than just buy a few organic fruits and veggies because I don't have enough money to buy more of it.

    If people have this much money to put into "natural pesticides produced foods", I'd really rather that they invest in sustainable, cruelty free and no-antibiotic meat.
     
  11. sidney

    sidneyWell-Known Member

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    I go for the taste and price when buying food in general, so I'm most likely to skip organic food. And I think that as long as you cook your own food, you're safe from all those harmful, illness-inducing stuff that they put on food. My dad and his siblings are now all senior citizens, and they are all alive and healthy because they cook their own food.
     
  12. JoanMcWench

    JoanMcWenchActive Member

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    There are cases when organic fruit is clearly the better option. Like, as an example, an apple. You are eating pretty much the entirety of that apple. Skin included. Would you not prefer an apple that was not grown with poison? I would. as far as a banana is concerned, I'm fine with it being a regular old banana. That is unless i am cutting off the tips, dropping it in boiling water, & dusting it with some cinnamon. I would prefer an organic banana because I want the nutrients from the skin as well as the flesh.
     
  13. Kamarsun1

    Kamarsun1Member

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    I use to think like that in the past, but you end up paying for it later on in medical bills, now I don't buy all organic, but I would if I could afford it, instead I try to buy fruits with a protective shell, (less pesticides)