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‘Organic’ food not superior

DEAR EDITOR:

In the Aug. 1 Tribune Chronicle on Page 2D, there was an excellent column about regular and organic produce.

Any person who does not believe in throwing money into a wishing well in hopes of getting rich should read the column. Let’s think about foods labeled as so-called organic foods. A popular misconception is that there are organic and nonorganic foods. If it contains carbon atoms, then your body, being a carbon-based life form, can use the food for energy.

What so many folks cannot understand is there are pesticide-treated foods or nonorganic regular produce, and some supposedly non-pesticide-treated foods, organic.

If you worry about labels, see if it states no pesticides / chemically treated produce. If you think that you can detect a flavor difference, think again.

On a cable TV program some years ago, producers set up food stands in a farmers market in California. On display were half-sections of various foods. Passers-by were stopped and asked if they would take a taste test to tell which foods were organic and which were nonorganic. The kicker is that all the food samples were regular produce, just cut in half and placed on two separate serving plates.

As expected, with the human mind conditioned to believe advertising about dangers of regular foods, most fell into the trap. Every participant who believed there was a difference between the two samples thought one was the organic pesticide-free food. Each was stunned to find out there was no difference between the samples. The only difference was in their minds, conditioned to believe the organic food tasted better. What really makes a difference is how much time has passed since the produce was picked and how it was stored before being served.

If I stand at the organic food display at the local grocer or farmers market, will you kindly donate to me the extra cash you were willing to throw away? I will gladly spend it on the nonorganic carbon-based food section.

Studies have found there is still residue from various pesticides on organic foods and the organic foods are not more nutritious. Nutrition depends more on the freshness of the produce.

Regardless of how much you pay or which produce stand you visit, remember to rinse off the vegetables for safety.

Only living things grow, not businesses. Businesses can only expand.

ELIAS J. VUJOVICH

Southington

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