The Organic Food Fad is officially dead

Federal Review ^ | Sunday, June 04, 2006

[Behind Liberal Lines]

The New York Times reports that Wal-Mart, the bane of all limousine liberals and aging hippies, has entered the "crunchy granola" market:

Beginning later this year, Wal-Mart plans to roll out a complete selection of organic foods — food certified by the U.S.D.A. to have been grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers — in its nearly 4,000 stores. Just as significant, the company says it will price all this organic food at an eye-poppingly tiny premium over its already-cheap conventional food: the organic Cocoa Puffs and Oreos will cost only 10 percent more than the conventional kind. Organic food will soon be available to the tens of millions of Americans who now cannot afford it — indeed, who have little or no idea what the term even means. Organic food, which represents merely 2.5 percent of America's half-trillion-dollar food economy, is about to go mainstream.

With organic food about to become as "mainstream" and "middle America" as Ford Explorers, Kraft singles and "American Idol," how long before the so-called "elites" find it no longer has the same "counterculture" appeal as Volvos, brie and NPR?

[tertiary01]

I have a patch of Musk Strawberries that are oh so sweet and flavorful but have a shelf life of about two days. They are ripe before they turn red, so birds tend to leave them alone, but they are a magnet for every bug around.

[RSteyn]

They're called 'Mexican marigolds," Tagetes lucida, and supposedly can substitute for tarragon. I'll see. All that is out there now are some tiny seedlings; the leaves look nothing like marigold leaves, but more like portulaca (moss rose)leaves. I have no idea what the bugs think of them, but I have ordinary marigolds growing in the same space. I'm growing nasturtiums to eat as well. If you have enough of them, you might want to consider making pansy freezer preserves. I did that with ordinary violets one year. It's easy--you just need a blender, pectin, and either a lemon or lime. Follow the general instuctions on the pectin package. The violets made a lovely mauve spread.

[RSteyn]

>In rat tests, rotenone -- an insecticide extracted from the roots of tropical plants -- has been shown to cause the symptoms of Parkinson's disease. The Environmental Protection Agency has described pyrethrum, another natural bug killer, as a human carcinogen.<

Ricin and botulinum toxin are both "natural" as well...peach pits are full of hydrogen cyanide...

[Theo]

I can taste the difference. Once you've tasted organic milk, it's hard to go back to the wattery "normal" milk....

[lndrvr1972]

Yep,You are so correct. All you need is a friend to fold the menu down and say the exact same thing. "I dont have much of an appetite."

[aruanan]

Some fresh organic stuff such as strawberries and tomatoes tastes better . Mostly because it is grown locally.

Anything grown locally and of a species that isn't used to stand up to harsh travel conditions by maturing slowly will taste better. This is why tomatoes from your own garden taste better. They ripen on the vine to a degree that could never be possible if they were going to be shipped any distance. "Organic" has nothing to do with taste.

Organic fertilizers don't do a thing until the organic material has been broken down by microbes in the soil into their inorganic constituents. Better to just go straight to the inorganics. It's cheaper, better controlled, and cleaner.

[Erik Latranyi]

Grouse is good...

I usually cook mine in a white wine sauce and served with wild rice.

[P-40]

ceviche

That is some good stuff...but I think I'd feel safer ordering it from a Japanese restaurant. :)

[RedStateRocker]

Here in Northern California the Farmers Markets are *VERY* trendy; I guess the yuppies are willing to slog shoulder to shoulder with the working class when the payoff is really really fresh food at excellent prices and knowing you're supporting the farmers who are still an important part of the community.

[Xenalyte]

You can't make a proper grilled cheese sammich with anything but white bread.

I know. I've tried. Oh, Lord, have I tried.

I think the white bread soaks up the butter better than the wheat does.

[Xenalyte]

Promised Land makes the best chocolate milk ever. It's halfway to being a milkshake.

[highball]

Doesn't address the original question though, does it?

[CarolinaGOP]

"The people in that store, in their ponytails and birkenstock sandals, were reeking of not having bathed in a while. They carried on conversations that made no sense whatsoever, and sat in the deli eating some unidentifiable mess that looked like it had been left by an ill pet.

Worse yet, those people are allowed to vote."


I just had to laugh at this! There is a store in the Charlotte area called the Home Economist. I needed barley flour for a bread recipe & it was the only place in town that carried it. The store had a strange odor, & the kid working the check out wore a tie-died tee shirt, & had a very long pony tail. (He looked like a leftover from the 1960's!)

[Ditter]

You can have my share, I have been allergic to chocolate for 40 years. Chocolate, corn and beer, allergic to 3 of the 4 major food groups.

[brytlea]

Yes! It just toasts better (probably those nasty chemicals or something!) I personally think that we eat too much refined stuff, however, the bottom line is we eat too much period and don't have to do much physical activity in our normal daily lives. Basing a diet on white bread and sugar and modified fats is probably a bad idea. Those things in small amounts are probably ok. But, we don't do anything we like in small amounts....even FR! ;)
susie

[brytlea]

I am SO SORRY! Well, beer I could live without and I don't eat corn...but chocolate?! You poor thing!
susie

[Concho]

The Home Econominst? What a laugh. It brings back memories. Until I went into business for myself, I worked for a well know State University. Their Extension service had Home Economists, and were commonly refered to as Home Ec Agents. The folks in the counties referred to them as Home Wrecking Agents.

[Ditter]

I'll bet you do eat corn. It is in almost every thing you buy as high fructose corn syrup, cornmeal, corn starch, corn oil, even Splenda is made from corn as is maltodextrin. Start reading labels and you might be surprised.

[brytlea]

Oops, you got me on the Splenda. Otherwise, no, I don't. I am very strictly low carb. OK, very occasionally I do cheat. I am of the opinion that corn is not really human food. ;)
There was a very interesting finding a number of years ago, involving ancient indian skeletons found in an area that had been populated from pre-corn to post-corn diets (in the Americas). Pre-corn the bones showed little evidence of certain diseases (going from memory here, so I may not get the exactly right) like arthritis. Post corn, those things showed up in goodly numbers. I think the point was that corn became the major part of the diet.
Anyway, our diets in this country do indeed consist of lots of corn, so you had a good shot of being right in your post to me. :)
susie

[Ditter]

I am hoping that ethanol (from corn) will become so important as a fuel, that corn will stop being used as an additive in food. (Fat chance of that) LOL! Interesting about the Indians.