[shankar.balan]

I love buying food stuffs at WholeFoods in America and in Nature's Basket in India.
On account of their huge consumer goodwill and quality brand names, I tend to trust them on the Organic Products.

[Ananthang]

Hi All, Let me write some details I know about Organic. My wife reads a lot about Organic food and we do buy a lot of organic stuff here in US.

General Information
In India there is lot of abuse with respect to usage of pesticides and fertilizers than GMO. Usage of chemicals in India have not spread as much as it is in the West. Indian farmers have not gone to that extent yet. So we are just starting
In India what they call as Organic is only 33% and not 100% Organic due to various reasons
Not all products needs to be bought Organic, Thick skinned Fruits and Vegetables can be conventional. Vegetables, Fruits and Rice, Dhalls etc with thinner skin or used directly are ones we need to go Organic preferably.
It requires 3 years of continuous natural farming for the soil to lose the previously sprayed/ loaded fertilizers and pesticides
Even though there are awareness measure taken by Govt. of India, they are no enforced rules and regulations from Govt. even now. With Organic farming it is mostly governed by USDA.
Simple and best practice is thorough wash of the food atleast 3 times before use. It is the simplest and best.

Food Products
Milk & Egg
Milk, Egg are loaded with Antibiotics and stimulators. If there is an option, please move to Organic. For people in USA, Please move to Organic without hesitation. In India, if possible and available at reasonable cost. Indian farmers have also started used stimulators like pointed by another Tbhpian

Vegetables
Key vegetables to avoid if you don't get organic - Cauliflower, Bell pepper/Capsicum loaded with pesticide both in US and India
Carrot, Potato, Green leafy stuffs, Tomato are the next popular ones to be loaded with pesticides and chemical fertilizers

Fruits
Thick Skinned fruits like Jack fruit, Water Melons, Avocado don't need to be Organic
Pears, Plums, Grapes - Yes move to Organic. If possible leave the seedless ones that we get in Melons, Grapes, processed with chemicals that reduces seeds (read as Fertility), so we may get affected too. (No scientific proof though)
Banana in US, please buy Organic also there is not much a rate difference anyway. Banana in India - Please try to buy the small ones that we used to get when we were kids and leave the yellow colored new big ones which is genetically modified, loaded with pesticides and stimulants.

Rice/Dhall and Sugar
Rice/Dhalls – Preferably Organic and spend time to rinse them 3 to 5 times before use
For folks in US, Costco sells Organic Royal Sona masoori rice for $17, cheaper than the cost in Indian Grocery shops. Go for it guys, it cheaper and healthier
Sugar - The crystal white sugar that we get from branded companies is processed with lot of chemicals to get the white color. The Organic sugar that we buy here is sandy brown in color, yes it looks unclean but atleast less chemicals. I buy Organic Sugar also from Costco.

One of our uncles, who has renal disease; usually needs a Dialysis on alternate days; when they moved to Organic there was lot less chemicals dispensed out of system. He moved to 2 times a week Dialysis schedule in 3 months of using Organic.

They did three life style changes – Rinse all vegetables and rice 3 to 5 times, using Organic, cook any food for 10 minutes and drain that water out (Taste is lost). These changes in life improved his condition a lot, his Urea/Creatinine values improved.

In conclusion, let us give our kids a good health. It is like passing over 1 crore to them. I don’t have Organic farm or endorse anyone, infact an IT guy with a very nominal salary living in US of A.

[condor]

For those interested in Organic food & related items:


HSR Layout, Bangalore.
Dec 7 &8, 2019





(Shared as received in one the groups I am part of )

[condor]

Folks, got a message in another group about organically grown Chia seeds.

Rates pretty cheap since direct from farmer. If anyone interested, pls DM me - will share contact details.

note: he is asking for 2kg order, so you may need to club with someone.

[Gansan]

I don't believe any "organic" stuff, unless I grow it myself. Also I think the entire organic circus is a hype and overdone. Having worked for a major fertilizer company for 35 years, I can tell this. India's green revolution would not have been possible, and we would not have moved on from a country of frequent famines which got food doles from the west, to a food surplus nation that exports food today, without the aid of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. And even today, without the aid of such agri inputs, we will slip back to good old sixties in quick time.

Edit: The same holds good for the White revolution and India becoming the largest producer of milk in the world too.

[rdst_1]

Originally Posted by Gansan

I don't believe any "organic" stuff, unless I grow it myself. Also I think the entire organic circus is a hype and overdone. Having worked for a major fertilizer company for 35 years, I can tell this. India's green revolution would not have been possible, and we would not have moved on from a country of frequent famines which got food doles from the west, to a food surplus nation that exports food today, without the aid of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. And even today, without the aid of such agri inputs, we will slip back to good old sixties in quick time.

Edit: The same holds good for the White revolution and India becoming the largest producer of milk in the world too.

And the low population would have been a blessing in disguise. However, I do agree that using inorganic sources as fertilizer isn't that bad. What is bad however, is the use of pesticides, insecticides, fungicides and weedicides.
The problem with fertilizer use is that dosage is not proper which does lead to degradation of soil. If one does proper soil testing and use combination of organic and inorganic sources of nutrition then that is the best compromise.
I also agree that I only believe that stuff is organic if I grow myself or buy from another farmer whom I know.

Edit - Saw all the older posts in this thread. Would like to hear back from the people on whether their opinion has changed over the years or not. Especially, the ones who have posted that pesticides can be washed off easily. Now that we have more knowledge about Systemic Pesticides/Insecticides/Fungicides and how they remain inside all the tissues of the plant. And especially after the current settlement in US over the weedicide 'Roundup' causing cancer and the company knowing about it.

[condor]

For those who say chemical fertilizers and pesticides are fine:
Well, small quantities will over time lead to large quantities. And accumulate in the soil. The chemicals will impact the microbes in the soil - microbes that gave the plant the required nutrition. And pesticides gets absorbed into the leaves and then onto the fruits / seeds.

Punjab has a train that is colloquially called the cancer express. That;s the amount of pesticides used there to boost agri production.

[Gansan]

^^ They are not fine, but they are inevitable. Without them our annual food production will fall drastically and we will end up as net importer of food. Like so many things (antibiotics, for example) they are also being misused.

The so called "organic" foodstuffs are a luxury, and the average Joe can't afford them. They have to be priced higher, because the per acre output will be significantly lower than the regular methods of cultivation. I still remember the wheat and milk powder shipments (doles) arriving in the Madras port making big news in the late sixties and early seventies.

[srishiva]

Not sure how getting used to things applies to chemicals. The effects are cumulative. If one can buy ones without chemical fertilizer or pesticides, it should be good. I dont remember us using pesticides for vegetables back in our village.

[Gansan]

^^ In your house garden, you wouldn't have. Me neither. But if you have relatives who are farmers cultivating in acres, check with them.

As for buying organic food, do so if you absolutely trust the source. In my opinion mostly the same stuff goes in to both organic and normal packs.

[am1m]

Originally Posted by Gansan

^^ They are not fine, but they are inevitable. Without them our annual food production will fall drastically and we will end up as net importer of food.

Your assertion has been proved correct in our neighboring country:

https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/05...arming-crisis/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/07/w...ertilizer.html


Must admit, I too was beginning to believe in all the hype about organic farming and how it is the way to go. But this makes for shocking reading.

[Gansan]

^^ The green revolution itself, which ushered in intensive and scientific methods of agriculture with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, was started because the traditional methods of agriculture followed till then could not produce enough food for India. We faced frequent famines. Those methods used manure from dung, neem as pesticide etc, just like what the organic farming pundits advocate today. It simply didn't work.

Instead of going around with a begging bowl, today we are a food surplus nation. The few instances of scarcity and starvation we hear about are due to faults in distribution, nothing else. We have such a huge surplus of rice and wheat, that India is now in a position to intervene and stabilize world wheat prices, to compensate for the loss of wheat from Russia and Ukraine. We have 25 million tons in government storage, no less. We are rushing 40k tons of rice to Sri Lanka right now.

Ditto with the white revolution and the dairy industry. We are today the largest milk and dairy products producer in the world.