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@cambriana - to become "certified organic" is a long, expensive and extremely strict process. The soil has to be purified for 7-8 years, for a start. And DavidinCT is certainly correct that organic farms use pesticides just as much as non-organic farms do. The problems usually start AFTER certification - nobody's out there testing organic produce from a farm after it's been certified to make sure it's 100% organic, so for the most part, it runs on the honor system.

However, I'm a little confused as to why you think "so many people have gotten sick" from organic produce. I've never heard of that happening, if it has, it might have something to do with the misapplication of organic pesticides, but again, that doesn't mean it's not organic.

Organic farms use insecticides. Rotenone and Pyrethrin are two common ones and they are not innocuous.

I kinda get what cambriana is saying--I think one of the problems with buying something automatically because you see the word "organic" is that lately there's been a huge surge in big business organic. You're buying a lot of products that are manufactured by companies like Kraft, which are completely pushing small, family farms out of business.

I'm happy to see some people say that buying locally is more important than buying organic--Whole Foods has great stuff, yeah, but people like my dad (who farms a small, pesticide-free but can't afford to be certified organic farm) just cannot compete. Yes, it's important to make sure we take care of the environment and our bodies by purifying the ingredients in our food, but it's also equally important to keep those small family farms afloat, or we'll be overrun by big business, "organic factories."

@cambriana - Actually, for what it's worth, the USDA does regulate the "organic" label for food; in addition to not being sprayed with pesticides or grown with petroleum-based fertilizers like conventional crops, no organic food can be genetically-modified, which is huge, as about 80% of conventionally-grown soy and corn (and a growing proportion of wheat, fruit, and vegetables) are GMO, and these do not have to be labeled as such. (And of course, we have zero idea what genetic modification will do to our bodies in the long term, but experiments on lab animals have been quite scary.) Organic animal foods come from animals fed organic feed and who have received no antibiotics or hormones; every conventionally-raised animal receives both...and again, this is a relatively new development in human history, so we don't understand what the long-term effects on health will be - that is, unless we're seeing them now, in the constantly escalating rates of obesity, diabetes, cancer, and autoimmune diseases.

Though of course now that "organic" is a marketable term, food corporations are constantly trying to undermine it, and have succeeded a little bit. Organic foods don't always taste better, but that's not why they're worth the extra money: organic (or small-farmed mostly-organic) growing is simply the only sustainable way to produce food. Corporate monocultures will eventually cease operation, either because the soil becomes so stripped it simply won't produce food anymore, or because consumers and legislators force corporations to steward our soil more responsibly. I don't have a great feeling it will be the latter.

Given my budget and a number of other things, I'm apt to roll my eyes at people who take organic to a freakish level. I'm probably just being obnoxious because I'd do the same if I had the money, but for the most part all of my produce is organic. Every Saturday I go to my local farmer's market and stock up on all kinds of goodies that are locally grown. Aside from that, anything else I get that's organic is just a plus.

@cybercita. Duh. I knew that! (slaps self on forehead). I have a mental block between baking powder and baking soda. Not only can I never remember which one goes into the making of the other, I also have to read the container to make sure I'm grabbing the right one.

On the other hand, I have my AP flour and my bread flour in unmarked containers, and I never forget which is what.

I was thinking someone was making their own baking SODA.

I need to reboot my brain again, I think.

We shop for organic too. I also do my best to buy local. My grocery store carries a lot of local organic produce and they feature local & organic meats and poultry, which is great. We feel better eating food that is produced minimally & naturally without hormones, antibiotics and other junk. Our dogs also eat organically. I know it costs more, but I feel that it is better for the environment, supports sustainable farming, etc. We also use natural cleaning products and soap.

Can you taste the difference...we think so. The food tastes much better. We have friends that always comment how much better the food is when they come to our house to eat.

I buy as much organic as possible. In the summer, I buy from my local farm market. I do not like preservatives or chemicals. Foods that come with their own packaging, like bananas, I just buy what looks the best. Eggs and milk are never anything but organic.

With that said, DH pokes fun at me for being so concerned about the foods we eat, when I will pour a glass wine in a NY minute! ;-D

Buying a variety of healthy food that tastes good is the number one priority--buying organic would mean I would have to cut back on the produce I love in many instances. I buy organic by chance, because I eat lots of healthy food, and the only time I make a point of buying organic is to avoid high fructose corn syrup and/or too many additives. However, simply buying food with short ingredient lists is more important than the 'organicness' of it

I'm in similar situation as @bobcatsteph3; I've had health problems for years, and spent the better part of last year bedridden (at one point, it was so bad that I didn't have the energy to even bathe myself). As a result, I ate a lot of instant and processed food, because the Other can't really cook and I didn't have enough energy to cook. After being hospitalized earlier this year, a doctor suggested I try altering my diet to avoid processed foods and buy as organically as I could. I thought he was ridiculous - but you know what? Eight months later I'm no longer bedridden, I'm able to hold down a job for the first time in years, and I'm down to two prescriptions.

These days, I would say that 80% of my grocery bill is local and organic/free-range, and if I could find the other 20% organically, that would be as well. Is it expensive? Surprisingly, not really. Making food at home from raw ingredients has reduced my grocery bill for certain essentials (a loaf of homemade organic whole-wheat bread is about $0.50, as opposed to $3 at the grocery). In other cases, buying directly from farmers or in bulk results in prices equal or less than the grocery store. The hassle might not be worth it for some people, but it's made all the difference for me.

Oh, golly. I can eat almost anything, but durian gives me the gag reflex! I went to Malaysia with DH in 2000 and ate jellyfish, chicken feet, thousand year old eggs, pretty much everything except that fruit. Yuck!