Post #2: Organic Foods

Organic foods have been surrounded by much controversy. Are they really healthier, safer, and more nutritious than foods that are not organic? This is what Michael Pollan wanted to find out and I learned a lot after reading the entire chapter in The Omnivore’s Dilemma dedicated solely to organic foods. The advertising that is used to promote organic fruits and vegetables makes it seem like they are grown on the picture perfect family farm, but I was surprised to learn that the cheery images are just an advertising gimmick, and it works. I learned that organic farms are not much different than non-organic farms, they’re still big industrial farms that are far from the picturesque images seen on organic salad bags. The chickens are even still kept in the same cramped conditions; the only difference is they’re fed with organic feed.

As far as if organic foods are really worth paying the extra price, it seems like a wash to me. It is still controversial as to whether they are really better for your body and I have found that they taste about the same as foods that are grown non-organically. The only product I would want to pay extra for is organic milk because it is not injected with artificial growth hormones. I look forward to any groundbreaking new information that comes out about organic foods in the future

Response to The Omnivore's Dilemma

To be honest, when I first started reading The Omnivore's Dilemma, I could not stand it. After reading only one chapter, I had read so much information about corn that I never even wanted to look at corn again. I thought why should I care about what methods are used to grow corn, who grows corn, or what it costs to produce corn? But after reading the chapter on fast food it came to me, almost everything on the menu at McDonald's is made with corn, even salad dressings and milkshakes.

I was not new to the concept that high-fructose corn syrup may be to blame for the obesity epidemic in America because I have seen it advertised in health magazines and commercials, but Michael Pollan explained it in terms that were easy to understand. He broke down everything on the McDonald's menu that contained the sweetener and it was in an overwhelming majority of the food. Soda is almost made purely of high-fructose corn syrup alone...I'm glad I stopped drinking it a few years ago! As Pollan explains, its no wonder HFCS has such a bad reputation, it's an added sweetener that is used on top of other sweeteners (such as cane sugar and maple syrup) in foods. Reading this makes me want to only buy foods now that are free of HFCS.