Organic food in supermarkets

smallblueplanet

Quasar wrote: »

...and I forego the organic choice for those foods whose edible part is more shielded from contaminants...

I understand choices, but what I was trying to find out was whether what seems your logical choice, fruit protected from pesticide/herbicide etc by skin, is actually accurate. Perhaps the amount of exposure fruit gets or the type and 'where it goes' might be just as relevant if it's poisons you're hoping to avoid?

http://eartheasy.com/eat_pesticides_produce.htm

...Not all pesticides can be washed off fruits and vegetables. Although some pesticides are found on the surface of foods, other pesticides may be taken up through the roots and into the plant and cannot be removed.

[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Peel Fruits with Higher Residue Levels[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]Peeling fruits, especially peaches, pears and apples, will help remove residues. Be sure to keep the peelings out of the compost. Some pesticides permeate the skin of the fruit, so this method does not guarantee residual free produce in all cases.[/FONT]

Quasar

smallblueplanet wrote: »

I understand choices, but what I was trying to find out was whether what seems your logical choice, fruit protected from pesticide/herbicide etc by skin, is actually accurate. Perhaps the amount of exposure fruit gets or the type and 'where it goes' might be just as relevant if it's poisons you're hoping to avoid?

You may certainly be right here, but as I have to check my expenditure, I do it where the chances of contamination are smaller, ie where the pesticides do not penetrate as much as in a thin skin such as in apples, potato, carrots or greens.

I do not know the precise nature of the poisons I'm trying to avoid as there are hundreds of them. I need to stay within a budget and have made my choices, which some find sound, some find not so sound. In the face of so much disagreement (websites, books, threads etc), I have to reach my own conclusion, right or wrong as they may be.

Incidentally, the piece you have quoted mentions the items that I DO buy organic as their skins are thin and besides I do not peel them. Ditto for root vegetables. It's the THICK skinned items that I do not buy organic, as I said in my previous post. Anyway.

smallblueplanet

Quasar wrote: »

... I have to reach my own conclusion, right or wrong as they may be.

Yeah, it could drive you mad trying to figure out all the contrary evidence! :rotfl:

Edwardia

That's why OH said to me buy organic and know you're doing the best you can to avoid the carp instead of worrying about it.

I do shop around though.

Abel & Cole organic fresh milk is 1.92 for 2L whereas Moo organic UHT milk is $1 for 1 ltr and Riverford fresh organic 99p for 1ltr same as Lidl for 2 pints/1.136 ltr.

Yeo Valley organic natural yogurt is cheaper at A&C unless on offer at supermarket and A&C mature organic cheddar is cheaper than Cathedral City when it's not on offer.

Heinz organic cream of tomato soup is cheapest at Sainsbury's (and on offer $4 for 5 last week).

Last week I got a hand of organic Fairtrade bananas for $1 at Lidl whereas normally 1.85 Ocado and 1.50 Sainsbury's.

ASDA had 24 organic Weetabix for 2.48 (not offer) and Ocado price is 2.99. :eek:

I find Ocado veg box best value of the veg boxes and if I just buy veg separately I delete anything I buy that's cheaper off Ocado order as I go round.

For loo rolls I'm looking for cheapest softest recycled/we plant trees brand I can find and I bulk buy stuff like anti-perspirant deodorant and Evian on offer wherever I find it cheapest be that Ocado, ASDA, Poundland, Shorters Club etc. Buy kitchen rolls 6 for 99p at 99p Stores as it gets composted by council.

System

I agree about not buying organic oranges and bananas because we don't eat the peels. I done some googling today and this was the best study I found:

http://www.kirj.ee/public/Chem/2007/issue_3/chem-2007-3-3.pdf


Interesting points:

Table 2. Distribution of pesticides
pesticide Thiabendazole, mg/kg pesticide Imazalil, mg/kg
Peel 0.29 0.64
Pulp 0.00 0.04


so the pulp(flesh) has very almost 0 pesticides, the peel clearly has a lot.
It also says worryingly:
s. At the same time a small amount of
imazalil was found in the pulp as well. This fact can be explained by diffusion of imazalil through the peel of oranges. The inside of
oranges is more polar because of the high content of water. This explains the tendency of polar imazalil to diffuse through the orange peel.



Effects of washing oranges on thiabendazole and imazalil. Concentrations are presented in mg per 1 kg of orange peel
Thiabendazole, mg/kg Imazalil, mg/kg
Treatment

Without washing 0.28 0.93
Cold water 0.24 0.58
Hot water 0.00 0.56
Soap 0.13 0.92
Dishwashing soap 0.00 0.67
Ultrasonic bath 0.13 0.44

frugal_shopper_2

Edwardia wrote: »

Buying organic isn't just about avoiding exposure to pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, it's about avoiding synthetic fertilisers and human sewage used as fertiliser.

(Apologies to anyone eating)

The soil association has been campaigning to change the rules on using biosolids as fertiliser in organic farming for several years now. Details in this publication.
http://www.farmingfutures.org.uk/blog/between-rock-and-hard-place-threat-peak-phosphorus

Edwardia wrote: »

For loo rolls I'm looking for cheapest softest recycled/we plant trees brand I can find

You may want to try these.
http://www.loorolls.com/envirosoft_luxury_100_percent_recycled_3ply_toilet_rolls10x4_pack/
Due to delivery charges it's most economical to bulk buy 5 cases of them (works out under £1.25 per pack incl delivery that way) but they are one of the softest recycled papers on the market.
The packaging is compostable (as is the used paper if you have either a jenkins style heap or a Hotbin composter).

Kirri

Am on the hunt, if it exists, for British organic sugar beet sugar - after watching Countryfile as I didn't even really realise it was produced here though from the quick google so far it seems the British sugar beet industry usually involves heavy use of herbicides, pesticides and fungicides.. The organic sugar I have all so far I think has been sugar cane, flown in thousands of miles.

Edwardia

Kirri I would suggest contacting British Sugar. There is a PDF about organic sugar on the website but it seems to be cane sugar.

Much of the beet sugar in the world is Monsanto Roundup Ready and maybe we don't grow organic here ? Seems to me like British Sugar would know.

Kirri

British Sugar aka Silver Spoon, didn't realise that till last night! - found a list last night that put them bottom of ethical sugar production! Have found a few references to organic sugar beet trials in the UK but not looked into it in detail yet.

frugal_shopper_2

UK grown organic beet sugar was previously available but I haven't seen it in years. It first appeared in 2003, it was originally supposed to be available from 2002 but they messed up in the factory & mixed it with conventional sugar so had to postpone the product launch.
http://www.thegrocer.co.uk/topics/british-sugar-delivering-a-uk-first/85728.article