Shoppers To 'Abandon Organic Food To Cut Bills'

The Telegraph (UK) ^ | 5-20-2008 | Harry Wallop

[hunter112]

Riverfood Organic, which runs one of the largest vegetable box schemes, has found that supermarket organic food, on some lines, is 70 per cent more expensive than the same produce at farmers' markets or local shops.

Now that's what I call a scheme!

[Revolting cat!]

A lady who had come here from Eastern Europe once said to me: “Carrot cake? We had to eat that during the German Occupation!”

[swmobuffalo]

I avoid buying anything with an “organic” label on it. Highpriced malarky and in the end no real guarantee that it’s “organic”.

[RichInOC]

I like the old guy. He might be rude sometimes...but then, so am I.

[Inyo-Mono]

I avoid buying anything with an “organic” label on it. Highpriced malarky and in the end no real guarantee that it’s “organic”.

Same here. The whole "organic" thing is crazy anyway. I mean, if it is grown in or on the ground (vegies, chickens, beef), no matter how, it's still organic.

[Cicero]

Living in the country in Vermont, we get plenty of local produce. I just bought a 5 pound jar of local honey yesterday for $13.95, which I thought was a pretty good deal. And from time to time we buy half a pig or a quarter of a cow.

[Octar]

"You have got to be emotionally committed to it – but if you stand back and be open minded about it, it is quite difficult to really find where it has been a real benefit.''

I tend to stand with the Duke on this.

[AlaskaErik]

Shoppers who have previously been willing to pay up to 50 per cent more for organic meat, or fair trade coffee, could soon ignore ethical concerns in favour of keeping their shopping bills down.

I seriously doubt that most people buy organic because of ethical considerations. Yes, there are fanatical extremists who think that way, but a more likely reason would be the health aspect. I've bought organic before, when it was cheaper that non-organic, or when the difference in quality was extreme. But for the most part, I consider organic to be a passing fad.

[Calamari]

Wild dandelions are also great for salad.

[Colorado Buckeye]

Care to elaborate on that? I’ve heard that they’re edible and I’m curious about dandelions as food. Do you use the flower, leaves, stem? Are they bitter, sweet, bland?

[ccmay]

Organic food is one of the all-time great scams. There’s not the slightest evidence that it is better for you than food treated with fertilizers and pesticides.

In fact, many vegetables such as broccoli produce their own “natural” pesticides that experiments show to be far more likely to cause cancer than what farmers are allowed to spray on their crops.

[Calamari]

Just the leaves. Pick them early before they flower. Make sure you get them from a place that is free of pet droppings. Wash them well. Make a salad from them and use an olive oil and vinegar dressing that is a little heavy in vinegar. Salt them lightly before you dress them.

The taste will be on the bitter side but not as bitter as mature arugala.

Make sure that you know what you are picking.

[Sender]

Yeah, that’s some expensive chicken. Here in GA, chicken is practically free by comparison.

[reformedliberal]

The very last time we shopped at Whole Foods, about 3-4 years ago, we watched at the meat counter (featuring $45/lb veal, BTW), as the butcher weighed out chicken breasts for a customer.I think I recall it being $8/lb. The total was over $40 and she simply said:”I can’t afford that” and walked away.

I am fairly certain that most people in the organic shops are buying a small bit of this and that and loading up on homeopathic remedies and bulk grains. Unless one is wealthy with a guaranteed income and can live without driving,heat or electricity, I do not understand how they can feed a family on organics.

The 2 non-organic grocery stores in my closest town have organic departments. Heavy on grains, nuts, teas and packaged foods. The packaged foods always seem to still be on the shelves and the organic produce looks old and tired and is 2x the price of regular. Organic meat is always frozen.

OTOH, the organic co-op store is packed and seems to be doing well.

[Colorado Buckeye]

Thanks for the tips.

[j_tull]

I drive Subarus (the weather here sucks and they are good in the snow) and I am usually flipped off by the unshaven pit skanks that are my fellow Subaru drivers. My stickers are W-04 and Bush-Cheney. When they flip me off I point to my crotch and lick my lips. They leave me alone now.

[j_tull]

It would have to be a big f’n chicken to cost $40, even at those prices.

[elkfersupper]

I drive Subarus

You look like a fellow traveler to other Subaru drivers until they get close, then they realize that you play for the other team.

You then turn into an adversary and traitor to the cause.

I would consider getting some other vehicle. This sort of thing compounds their anger, and they are vicious.

[dalereed]

Won’t save us anything since we won’t buy or eat it!