Do you feed your LO organic?

[nevernormal]

We don't. There are a few things I try to buy organic for us from the dirty dozen list, and in general I avoid canned veggies if I can get them frozen. I buy glass jars of pasta sauce instead of the canned kind which is a little cheaper, or even making my own from canned tomatoes, since tomatoes are one of the big ones I see warnings about BPA because of the acid in them leaching it out better or something.

We just don't have a lot of extra money to spend on stuff like that, so I buy what I can and when I can. I do find that choosing the organic lettuce, potatoes, etc. is a "cheaper" upgrade than meat, eggs, & dairy, so that's where I tend to buy if I can. DH isn't really a believer that organic is any better than conventional anyway, so it's kind of hard to justify the extra expense to him!

 

[staralfur]

I don't personally believe organic is better. And I think people who create websites like the one OP visited are of limited intelligence. Buying organic just encourages them.

Even if you don't buy the health benefits, organic is inarguably better from an environmental standpoint, so please don't be "against" it just because some people take it too far. There are extremists on almost any subject.

 

[Pearls18]

That's interesting what people say about tomatoes and cans, sainsburys put their chopped tomatoes in cardboard cartons like what you get juice in from last year which is what I buy now purely because it's the cheapest being in their basics range, wonder if it's related or just cheaper for them.

 

[sue_88]

No I don't. I work in the food industry as a developer and know what goes into supermarket produce. No need for organic IMO.

 

[Pearls18]

No I don't. I work in the food industry as a developer and know what goes into supermarket produce. No need for organic IMO.

This is what I thought, I'm so glad The One Show didn't lie to me

 

[justmeinlove]

What was the website?

 

[Sarah125]

Sometimes. It just depends what looks best in the supermarket really! Or if we go into our local greengrocers that's all organic anyway so obviously we do then. I do that just to support our community though rather than to buy all organic!

 

[sue_88]

I also don't agree with the better for environment argument. Certainly in Britian, rearing organic crops and cattle causes more water use, more petrol use by tractors and organic cows contribute more methane to the atmosphere which damages the ozone layer.

If all britains crops were organic there would be no hedgerows for wildlife, forests destroyed just to make the room.

Conventional pesticides in 2014 are mostly biodegradable, whereas you'll find 'natural' pesticides pump the likes of copper etc into the ground killing insects etc and staying in the soil.

So nope, I don't see it as better for the environment.

 

[Heramys]

I also don't agree with the better for environment argument. Certainly in Britian, rearing organic crops and cattle causes more water use, more petrol use by tractors and organic cows contribute more methane to the atmosphere which damages the ozone layer.

If all britains crops were organic there would be no hedgerows for wildlife, forests destroyed just to make the room.

Conventional pesticides in 2014 are mostly biodegradable, whereas you'll find 'natural' pesticides pump the likes of copper etc into the ground killing insects etc and staying in the soil.

So nope, I don't see it as better for the environment.

Very interesting!

 

[justmeinlove]

I also don't agree with the better for environment argument. Certainly in Britian, rearing organic crops and cattle causes more water use, more petrol use by tractors and organic cows contribute more methane to the atmosphere which damages the ozone layer.

If all britains crops were organic there would be no hedgerows for wildlife, forests destroyed just to make the room.

Conventional pesticides in 2014 are mostly biodegradable, whereas you'll find 'natural' pesticides pump the likes of copper etc into the ground killing insects etc and staying in the soil.

So nope, I don't see it as better for the environment.

Very interesting!

Also imo, a REALLY 'pick and choose your facts to suit your arguments' sort of comment...!

 

[Heramys]

I also don't agree with the better for environment argument. Certainly in Britian, rearing organic crops and cattle causes more water use, more petrol use by tractors and organic cows contribute more methane to the atmosphere which damages the ozone layer.

If all britains crops were organic there would be no hedgerows for wildlife, forests destroyed just to make the room.

Conventional pesticides in 2014 are mostly biodegradable, whereas you'll find 'natural' pesticides pump the likes of copper etc into the ground killing insects etc and staying in the soil.

So nope, I don't see it as better for the environment.

Very interesting!

Also imo, a REALLY 'pick and choose your facts to suit your arguments' sort of comment...!

Nope, I just found it interesting.

 

[justmeinlove]

Not you - Sue, the original person. I don't agree with her statement at all (but am sleep deprived and it's late so am not going to argue specifically right now)

 

[Heramys]

Not you - Sue, the original person. I don't agree with her statement at all (but am sleep deprived and it's late so am not going to argue specifically right now)

Ah ok, thought you meant me so got a bit confused

 

[staralfur]

You're right, there are arguments for both sides. "Inarguably" was a bad word, I was just dumbfounded that someone would ignore the benefits of organic farming because they don't like people pushing it. My reaction was probably stronger than it should have been.

Based on the research I've read and the classes I've taken, I do wholeheartedly believe that it is better for the environment, but I of course acknowledge that there are always two sides.

 

[sue_88]

Yeah I agree there are two sides. I do also buy free range chickens and eggs (which are usually raised organically because of who I buy them off) purely because of it's more humane than stuffing 20chickens in a metre sqaure of space, but I do not, and will not, support organically raised beef. It's far too damaging to the atmosphere, global warming is already ruining enough of the world.

Just a quote from "The Food Revolution"

Next to carbon dioxide, the most destabilizing gas to the planet’s climate is methane. Methane is actually 24 times more potent a greenhouse gas than carbon dioxide, and its concentration in the atmosphere is rising even faster. The primary reason that concentrations of atmospheric methane are now triple what they were when they began rising a century ago is beef production. Cattle raised on pasture actually produce more methane than feedlot animals, on a per-cow basis. The slower weight gain of a grassfed animal means that each cow produces methane emissions for a longer time.

Meanwhile, producing a pound of grassfed beef accounts for every bit as much nitrous oxide emissions as producing a pound of feedlot beef, and sometimes, due to the slower weight gain, even more. These emissions are not only fueling global warming. They are also acidifying soils, reducing biodiversity, and shrinking Earth’s protective stratospheric ozone layer.

This I find inarguable, in all honesty. The answer is to eat less beef, but that is not going to happen so the other option is to stop producing by organic methods.

I shop in Morrisons as they use all British farms which provide the meat conventioanlly (unless labelled) however they have strict welfare standards and animals are well looked after (none of this battery nonsense) but are not damaging the environment.

 

[staralfur]

Interesting, thanks for sharing. I'll be sure to look into that further.

I do agree that cutting way back on red meat consumption is probably the only 'win'. Growing livestock is so horribly inefficient.

 

[nevernormal]

If people only ate free range meat/if that's all that's available, they probably would eat less of it in general because the cost is so much higher, so it might balance out really. I know that would be the case for our family if we switched to all free range meats.

There's so many factors on what gives something a carbon footprint. An organic vegetable shipped across the country might have a bigger environmental impact than a conventionally grown vegetable from the farm 20 miles out of town. It's not a simple answer! As far as what is best for each family and what you want to (or can afford to) feed your children, I think that's up for an individual to decide and be confident that they are making the best decision for their family, and that's enough.

 

[Peggy O]

Organic veggies and fruits, Lily has only had meat once (tonight!) she barely touched it, NON organic beef ravioli. Some of her jar mush fruits and veggies are organic, some are not. We use organic whole milk, and she likes Wegmans organic whole wheat pasta. In a perfect world I would by 100% organic stuff for us all, but we cannot afford it for us all right now. We have a decent size garden in the summer. She didn't eat much out of it last year, only zucchini, but I bet she will this year. We will have our own chickens in about a month (just set up an indoor brooder last week, still putting together the chicken house kit. I'm so EGGcited!!!)

 

[TryinFor1]

Thanks for the input ladies!!

To the woman who asked what the website was, I am so sorry but I can't remember. I do remember it was a .org, which means it was made by an organization and some of those can be very biased!

I posted this same thing on a facebook baby group I am in and another member in the group posted this article in response. It really made me feel much better about my choices of not buying everything organic! https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/29/organic-produce-kids_n_4688476.html

There is the link if anyone wants to look at that particular site!

I also found out the lining on the canned foods I do buy are actually BPA free, so that made me feel a little better as well.

Ultimately I just want what is best for my child. I know that as long as I am giving him a variety of foods, fruits, veggies, whole grains, proteins, meats, eggs, what have you, that he is getting good nutrition whether they are organic or not! It is just hard when you ONLY want what is best but there is A LOT of controversy about what that is, so it is up to you to make that decision for your family. It gets confusing sometimes!

I appreciate the outlooks. There will be a few changes in my household (mostly just not drinking bottled water all the time and getting natural, organic eggs) but I think we will be doing what we are doing!

Just with childhood obesity, heart disease being the #1 killer, and cancer on the rise, I am so scared of what I am putting into my child's mouth! I feed him pizza and then feel like I just ended his little world because that isn't the healthiest thing ever. Lol. I get some pretty bad anxiety about it sometimes!

Anyway, thanks again everyone!

 

[justmeinlove]

You're doing great!

and re methane, basically all cows produce methane and the only option as you say, is for people to cut down on meat intake. Your quote basically just says that because they live longer before they are killed, they have more time to fart.