Organic flour

[bob_bob]

Whats the difference in food value between standard flour the the organic stuff you pay through the nose for?

[Biscombe]

we grow all our own organic veg, beans and pulses plus eggs, cheese and yoghurt, it just seems to make sense buying organic flour, especially with the money we save on veg. Thanks for the link

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by bob_bob

Whats the difference in food value between standard flour the the organic stuff you pay through the nose for?

Organic farming doesn't use synthetic chemicals which means that production harms the envirnment less and therefore us less too. Water supplies are less likely to be contaminated from the run off. Animal care is different too as antibiotics are not routinely given as they are in "normal" supply chains. Nor are homones given. They are also given far better conditions in terms of space, food, time outside... Also no gentically modified foods are used, which is common practice nowadays in the current food chain.
If by food value you mean vitamins and minerals I don't know, but I imagine it would be similar. IF the organic food is fresh, which it isn't always, then perhaps there would be a better food content in it

[bob_bob]

I wish I could believe the hype surrounding the organic industry ... I don't. I look at some of the tat on sale in shops at ludicrously high prices and despair. I like good meat, use a local butcher, some of the meat is organic and spend about £50 a week with him, but the veg and other organic food products I've no faith in, no healthier, lots of urban myths banded about all helping maximise the profits in what I see as a quack industry. If it floats your boat then go with it, personally I think most of the organic movement is a con.

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by bob_bob

I wish I could believe the hype surrounding the organic industry ... I don't. I look at some of the tat on sale in shops at ludicrously high prices and despair. I like good meat, use a local butcher, some of the meat is organic and spend about £50 a week with him, but the veg and other organic food products I've no faith in, no healthier, lots of urban myths banded about all helping maximise the profits in what I see as a quack industry. If it floats your boat then go with it, personally I think most of the organic movement is a con.

I think it's like anything else - there are some ripoff merchants, there are some honest producers. There are some things that don't see a big turnover so they are left on the shelf too long. There are some people who'll put eco organic on anything they see (much like in the past people would use Italy to sell clothes) and there is also some very good stuff to be found. If you're interested in it and you have a minimum of intelligence you can easily see what's good and what isn't. For example until about 18 months ago the legislation in Spain about putting the prefix Eco on anything or Bio was very lax. So there were some dietry aids called Biocentury (now called Bicentury strangely enough). Would really expect that kind of product, marketed in the way it was marketed, to be ecological/ organic/ "green"? Many yoghurts had to change their names too including I seem to remember Activia. But those products, if you read the labels didn't contain anything different from other similar products. What's more they contained chemical additives so how could they be what they professed to be? If you're interested you'll find out about makes and brands (Like biscome and his/ her flour) that you can trust, just like a DIYer will find a type of paint to rely on. It's easy to find out about these things and read up on it if you want, but I suspect that you don't, having already made your mind up on it.
I do object to the idea that
1. people who want to buy this kind of thing are victims of "Urban Myths" and have the wool pulled over their eyes. To my mind it's the other way round. People put blinkers on and say for example, BOGOFF?? That's got to be a good buy, and don't think about why stuff is so cheap, what's gone into it, where it's come from and what effect that has. Chickens in Tescos for 1.99? Gives me the heebie geebies!
2. Why organic/ eco production has to be perfect. Nothing is. You can get a bad deal buying garden tools, an exercise book, a pair of boots and a bunch of bananas. Some things you like, some things you don't, but I wouldn't right off a whole organisation for one price tag or one freaky product.

[bob_bob]

In years to come people will look back on the late 20th early 21st century and see images of supermarket isles full of bottles of water from France, Italy, UK etc then see images of people a couple of thousand miles away dying from having no access to clean water.

They will see talk of the organic movement in Europe, a movement advocating food production that if taken on across the board would not produce enough food to feed Europe and at the same time see images of babies a couple of thousand miles away dying in droves because they can’t even get dried milk.

The organic idea is not a sustainable one for a global approach to feeding us, those people in the future will think what a self indulgent bunch many were back in the day.

Its an indulgence, a band wagon I’m not prepared to jump on.

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by bob_bob

In years to come people will look back on the late 20th early 21st century and see images of supermarket isles full of bottles of water from France, Italy, UK etc then see images of people a couple of thousand miles away dying from having no access to clean water.

They will see talk of the organic movement in Europe, a movement advocating food production that if taken on across the board would not produce enough food to feed Europe and at the same time see images of babies a couple of thousand miles away dying in droves because they can’t even get dried milk.

The organic idea is not a sustainable one for a global approach to feeding us, those people in the future will think what a self indulgent bunch many were back in the day.

Its an indulgence, a band wagon I’m not prepared to jump on.

As far as I understand it organic food has nothing to do with bottled water nor dried milk (Aquabon (Pepsi) and Nestlé perhaps??)

Organic farming could serve the world very well, but it would involve dietry change which many people and governments are unwilling to make, like eating less meat for example.

I'm not interested in band wagons and I'm certainly not jumping on any (I've got a dodgy elbow which might just give out at the moment I'm hauling myself up). I apppreciate nice food without unnecessary chemicals added which harm me and the environment, and which somebody else has decided to add to my food.

I wish people would get information before forming an opinion.

[bob_bob]

The water and free to choose 'organic' food V being dead from bad water and starvation was just a way of demonstrating the indulgence of it and to a degree the western way of life.

If all intensive farming was binned we'd not be able to feed ourselves. You won't drop dead eating 'normal' veg and fruit and as a meat eater I really don't care how the chickens live, if I cared I'd not eat meat. Just because foghorn leghorn has lived in a field does not stop him getting 'murdered' so I can cook him now does it? I doubt he lays back at night counting the days to his death thinking how nice the field was. No nutritional benefit from eating organic veg, in fact organic veg is often lower because its been sitting on the shelf of farmer Giles organic farm market loosing its vitamin content by the day.

I too will indulge my fancies from time to time, enjoy salt marsh Lamb for instance but by and large I've no faith in the organic movement, its a money maker for the producer selling to the gullible public. Just my opinion

[Pesky Wesky]

Originally Posted by bob_bob

The water and free to choose 'organic' food V being dead from bad water and starvation was just a way of demonstrating the indulgence of it and to a degree the western way of life.

If all intensive farming was binned we'd not be able to feed ourselves. You won't drop dead eating 'normal' veg and fruit and as a meat eater I really don't care how the chickens live, if I cared I'd not eat meat. Just because foghorn leghorn has lived in a field does not stop him getting 'murdered' so I can cook him now does it? I doubt he lays back at night counting the days to his death thinking how nice the field was. No nutritional benefit from eating organic veg, in fact organic veg is often lower because its been sitting on the shelf of farmer Giles organic farm market loosing its vitamin content by the day.

I too will indulge my fancies from time to time, enjoy salt marsh Lamb for instance but by and large I've no faith in the organic movement, its a money maker for the producer selling to the gullible public. Just my opinion

You probably won't drop dead from eating non organic food, and I didn't suggest that you would, did I? However the chemicals used in food are often found to be non beneficial to say the least and may exacerbate certain illnesses and conditions. They, in many cases, are just something unnecessary and are something more for your body to eliminate. In other cases like the hormones and drugs used to create super chickens and cows they are harmful.

The fruit and veg I agree are sometimes not in the best conditions as I wrote earlier on. Sometimes cos they haven't been treated to the same make over as more traditional supermarket food (wax rubbed into apples to make them shiny for example) I'm lucky enough to have fresh stuff delivered every week direct from the farmer (whose farm I've visited)

But we all have different interests and priorities in life and one of mine is this. I of course don't think I'm "gullible". I also find it strange and kind of insulting that when somebody has made a (informed) choice to consume something different we are assumed to be gullible and innocent. I would say that the public in general just put their blinkers on and buy according to cheap cheapie and cheapo, which I happen to think is a mistake, but I'm not interested in crusading about it either!

[bob_bob]

Buy and eat what you want. I'm in the very fortunate position of being able to afford whatever I fancy but not all folk are.