Does Organic Food Taste Better? The Serious Eats Community Taste Test
In a piece in Saturday's New York Times about Stonyfield Farms' founder Gary Hirschberg being dispatched to Paris to introduce and market an organic yogurt brand, he said something quite thought-provoking: "If organic is going to be relying on being better for the environment or saving farmers, then I don't believe it's going to be successful in Europe. It has to be about better taste."
Does organic yogurt taste better? Does an organically grown tomato taste any better than a conventionally grown one? My experience in trying to answer this question in general has not been kind to the organic movement. In taste tests Jeffrey Steingarten and I did on our regional cable television show a few years ago, organic milk and organic butter did not fare very well at all. They were both among the lowest rated products we tried in each category.
But I'm going to start conducting blind taste tests in multiple product categories, and perhaps some Serious Eaters want to join me and play along at home and online. Let's start with full-fat yogurt. It would be great if we could find a brand of yogurt that puts out both an organic and nonorganic product, because at least we would be comparing apples to apples. But I'll see what I find, and all of you do the same, and let's report back by the end of the week.
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6 Comments:
Usually it's an unfair comparison because I buy organic stuff at the farmer's market and conventional at a supermarket.
But I have noticed that the organic celery at Whole Foods thas a lot more flavor than conventional supermarket celery.
Maybe it was an fluke? A blind taste test on celery?
Robb Walsh at 10:08AM on 05/14/07
Yoghurt is a hard test because there are so many additives even to organic brands. Milk powder, gelatin, starches, guar gum, caregeenan and so on. I get the feeling many people don't actually like yoghurt, and give high ratings to the adulterated stuff since it's less like yoghurt, and more like pudding or custard or sour cream.
I tend to buy the trader joe's french cream line because it's one of the few brands that tastes fresh and clean. I don't actually like the non-homoginized cream line, but it's the only brand I can find that is pure. The very best yoghurt I get to eat is from my local Indian restaurant. They make it fresh all week long from just milk and cultures. They normally serve raita with dinner, but you can request plain yoghurt. Fantastic stuff!
peekpoke at 12:18PM on 05/14/07
In my experience, organic milk and yogurt taste noticeably better, but not so of butter. Also, I definitely find organic herbs to be more flavorful, but nothing tops a homegrown tomato, organic or not (though I do grow all of my own food organically, so who knows). When it comes to produce in general though, I admit I have not been able to tell much of a difference yet.. Interesting idea on the blind taste test though! Do share the results :}
myzkyti at 1:44PM on 05/14/07
I'm not so sure taste is really any different (though not sure about dairy products). I think the real difference is the freshness, not whether or not it is organic.
I still tend to buy organic when I can, but it has nothing to do with taste.
feep at 2:00PM on 05/14/07
LOCAL food always tastes better, whether or not it is organic. Travel time ruins taste.
Maryanne at 7:20PM on 05/14/07
organic
fresh
local
These are not synonyms. Just because something is organic does not mean that the grower/producer has chosen the most flavorful product, he's just grown it without resorting to conventional pesticides/antibiotics.
I like the idea of taste testing celery. It's a single ingredient, not a composite flavor like yogurt.
Judith klinger at 10:54AM on 05/15/07