Organic?????

[scorpian5]

I have a question about organic in general that has bothered me. The question is why if you dont use chemicals or anything not natural do you charge more for your organic stuff? It doesnt take longer to weed a garden that is organic does it? The way i see it is that you think its better for people to eat organic why put it out of the price range of them?

[donsgal]

Originally Posted by scorpian5

I have a question about organic in general that has bothered me. The question is why if you dont use chemicals or anything not natural do you charge more for your organic stuff? It doesnt take longer to weed a garden that is organic does it? The way i see it is that you think its better for people to eat organic why put it out of the price range of them?

Because you have more loss of product to bugs and disease because you do not spray chemicals. The law of supply and demand dictactes that if you get 30 tomatoes from one plant you can charge less than if you get 10. (Don't ask me who thinks this stuff up). Also, you have to use compost or organically certified manure not chemicals. Applying these products is more labor intensive than chemical fertilizer and organically certified manure is more expensive than regular cow poo because you have to feed them organic feed which is more expensive and it all dribbles down to the consumer, ultimately.

donsgal

[Ravenlost]

Check out this article. I just read it this morning...
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com...OnABudget.aspx

[Tricky Grama]

I thought organic products were more b/c it's the little farmer who's raising them, not the big conglomerate farms.

[comfortablynumb]

if it really a better quality product, then the price is justified.
if its the same quality product, only grown "organic" your getting ripped off.

I personally dislike the term "organic".
it is to easy to bend.
it should be "chemical free" or the like.


if you can see and taste the difference for your money, your getting a deal.
if it looks and tastes like store bought chemo-genetic-factory farmed and stamped/priced organic, then your getting hosed.

its up to the consumer to judge.

however I could grow stuff on total chemicals and pesticided, stamp organic on it and MOST buyers would OOOOO and AHHHHH at how better it is cuz of that label.

the collective ignorance of the consumer base drives the "fad".

Ive been buying organicfood for YEARS... so has my mom and my grandmother.

its called a neighborhood farmers market, where we know they sellers and know their farms.

it isnt new. its just a new marketing scam.

pay more for better quality, not just because the label sez "organic".

my worn out odor-eaters are organic... its a broad term.

[texican]

Originally Posted by scorpian5

why if you dont use chemicals or anything not natural do you charge more for your organic stuff?

Cause people are willing to pay for it.

Truth is, unless you grow it yourself, you have to trust other peoples word, when they profess their food is organic.

[marvella]

organic is more labor intensive, takes more hands on work than just dumping a bunch of chemicals on it. ditto about the small farmer having a smaller profit margin than big conglomerates. and most organic (not all) is better quality and more nutritious.

i buy what i can.

[MELOC]

organic as it was once known is "dead". it is indeed a big business. big business has pushed for regulation and leniency that has demeaned what it means to be organic. too many small guys were making a buck from high dollar organic produce, etc. and big business lobbied for regulations that allow for things like chemical fertilizers and the use of round-up for weed control in other areas of the farm besides the product parcel. small producers have a hard time competing and dealing wiht the beauracracy.

[stonykill]

Originally Posted by scorpian5

I have a question about organic in general that has bothered me. The question is why if you dont use chemicals or anything not natural do you charge more for your organic stuff? It doesnt take longer to weed a garden that is organic does it? The way i see it is that you think its better for people to eat organic why put it out of the price range of them?

I have always wondered the same. A good example is a local Nursery here. They have organic and non organic mulch. The organic mulch is much more per bag or truck load. We asked them what the difference was in the products. Their answer was " the organic mulch doesn't have any dye in it" I responded " then it cost you less to produce...therefore should cost less" I left and bought a chipper shreader and make my own " organic " mulch.

[stonykill]

Originally Posted by texican

Cause people are willing to pay for it.

so true, ...a lot of people will pay for it

[Jenn]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

if it really a better quality product, then the price is justified.
if its the same quality product, only grown "organic" your getting ripped off.

If it's really organic- grown without chemicals- then even if it's the same 'quality' it's really hgiher quality because it is lower risk to your health, to the environment, and if you care the folks growing it. I pay more for organic products when available and when the taste is good enough for us- some things we just don't like as much as the nonorganic versions (Heinz ketchup for one). Mostly we find the organic butter and Organic Valley milk and eggs are great, but can't stomach organic beef or Horizon products we've found. And DD prefers the regular Kraft or generic mac and cheese to the organic packs of any brand.

[ladycat]

Originally Posted by stonykill

so true, ...a lot of people will pay for it

Except of course, power shoppers like me get organic food really cheap.

[rivesjct3768]

Originally Posted by comfortablynumb

it isnt new. its just a new marketing scam.

pay more for better quality, not just because the label sez "organic".

my worn out odor-eaters are organic... its a broad term.

**********************************************

Uhmmmmmmm.............that's ONE item that I wouldn't want to have near me when I'm eating........whether it's labeled "ORGANIC" or not.

[ET1 SS]

I sale farm products at a Farmer's Market. We are working toward the 'organic certified', we just had our first annual farm inspection this past week. It takes three years of inspections before we can call ourselves 'organic certified'.

Reading through this thread, folks should understand that 'organic' does not mean chemical-free. Chemicals are everywhere!

Our seed is organic or wild.

Our fertilizers are very restrictive to what can be in them, but it is all chemicals.

Our pesticides are also very limited, to a small list of stuff we can use.

[Beltane]

The food in this country is so heavily subsidized that the prices are unrealistically low. For this reason, organic (non-subsidized) food seems to be much more expensive.

[bill not in oh]

Originally Posted by Beltane

The food in this country is so heavily subsidized that the prices are unrealistically low.

Probably not for long....


I have mixed feelings about the term organic. Some of you know that I have a BIG soap box when it comes to selling 'value added' products and the term 'organic' is very high on the list of 'value added' benefits. I know that there are a LOT of producers out there that provide products by using production methods that adhere to the concept of what organic is and my hat's certainly off to those folks for their efforts. The problem I have with the label is that what the regulations allow for producers to use doesn't match up with what the public perception is. That being said, it's certainly better than the alternative of using some of the chemicals that those same regulations prohibit.

[ET1 SS]

Originally Posted by bill in oh

... The problem I have with the label is that what the regulations allow for producers to use doesn't match up with what the public perception is. That being said, it's certainly better than the alternative of using some of the chemicals that those same regulations prohibit.

Well said.

We have also seen the difference in public perception when it deals with seed stock.

We have found that many folks seem to insist that hybrid seed and GMO seed can be called 'organic', at least for the laws around here; they can not.

[Thoughthound]

Really, if you are comparing apples to apples, and the organic apples are higher in price, then you are paying a grower for his methods because you believe those methods are better for the environment and for your health.

Organic is now a legal term with definitions set by a consortium.

If a farmer makes less than 5000 dollars annually, then he can claim his produce is organic without certification.

If a farmer makes more than 5000 dollars annually, then he must be certified which requires inspections and very detailed record keeping.

Organic is more labor intensive because there is little in the way of pre-emergent herbicides. Also spreading 30 tons of manure per acre is more labor intensive than spreading a few pounds pounds of granulated urea.

And there are all the regulatory hoops to jump through.

If a grower claims his produce is organic without certification, then it is the same as "all-natural" which could mean anything.

And just because food is organic, doesn't necessarily mean it tastes any better.

[babysteps]

[/QUOTE]Truth is, unless you grow it yourself, you have to trust other peoples word, when they profess their food is organic.-TEXICAN[/QUOTE]-

I agree. My DH and I have found out how easy it is to grow food for ourselves. We've read and experimented. We have to hand pick our bugs, but that just required a little education. We also have discovered that it is important to know what to plant when to get the biggest bang. We've had sucesses (like all the chard we've had) and failures (and last summer when 22 heads of brocolli were eaten by worms). But we keep adjusting and after only 3 years were are really making a signifiant contribution to our consumption of food. I know that everything we grow is so much healthier and I have reduced my contribution to global warming because some of it wasn't ship from California. I would love to start teaching others the simplicity and rewards of growing your own food.

[turtlehead]

It's real easy to spray miracle gro all over the garden and dump sevin dust on everything. It's much more time consuming and requires more self education to use manure, hand pick bugs, and learn which different treatments get rid of all the various pests and diseases. Some of the treatments I mix myself (like garlic pepper spray).

I used to be a MiracleGro/Sevin gardener. My garden produced well. Now I'm organic and it's a lot more demanding.

In addition to being more labor intensive and requiring more education, there is more loss (as was mentioned previously).