Organic? Who cares?

I've never been a fan of organic food. Not because of some love for pesticides, genetic enhancements, or the like, but rather I don't want to pay through the nose for something simply because it uses a long list of allowed pesticides to be given a badge that says it is official organic. What's that? Didn't you know that organic produce uses pesticides and other treatments? You didn't think it was just grown with nothing but purest nature did you?

Well sorry to blow that little bubble if that does come as news, but to get that little Soil Association mark they must adhere to a set of rules which includes only using prescribed additives int he growing process. Don't be fooled into thinking that the organic mark means that they're like the products out of grandma's allotment. They most often aren't, and even if they were you wouldn't know because they don't label them in a way that you could tell.

However, putting that little bit aside, the most annoying thing about organic is when I have to be subjected to listening to their proponents telling me how much better it tastes. "Oh but organic tastes so much better, that's a fact" I get told. Err hello! "Taste" is a subjective thing, you cannot state that something tastes better as a fact, you can only ever say it tastes better to you.

You wouldn't go up to someone that hates curry and tell them that curry tastes better than something they liked and then tell them that it's a fact, would you? I prefer the taste of non-organic carrots to organic carrots, ergo organic does not taste better. To me, an egg from a hen in a cage tastes no different to free range egg, it tastes, funnily enough, like an egg.

The only fact is, when it comes to things labelled as organic, or things labelled as being ethically produced, is that it creates a warm fluffy feeling inside that you're doing your bit. The badge does make them taste better, only your senses make them preferable to you, it doesn't ever follow that they will be preferable to everyone.

Incidentally, the only reason I'm blogging about this is because in one of those bizarre through the looking glass moments, I have read two articles, in as many days, about organic. One from the Daily Mail talking about "A cancerous conspiracy to poison your faith in organic food", and another in the Observer titled Who is 'organic' meant to be better for?".

I however would say, "who cares? Eat what you think tastes best".