Preferably Organic

Several times a month I come across some article explaining how to make something, and one or more ingredients on the list says something like "preferably organic" or "organic, I am sure you know why."  I am pretty sure I have shared my opinion about "organic" foods before, but just in case, I'll briefly go over it again.

Organic foods are, by definition, foods that are grown using outdated techniques.  This is not entirely true, as there have been some recent advances unique to organic farming, but very few organic farmers actually use them.  Organic farming contrasts with industrial farming in its refusal to use modern products or techniques that supposedly reduce the quality of the food.  So far, I have seen no evidence that organic farming does actually improve the quality of crops.  There are some potential benefits in the realm of sustainability when it comes to organic farming, but in practice, they are paid for by using much larger areas of land to grow the same amount of food.  The only really compelling argument for buying "organic" foods is in who your money supports.  If you buy industrially farmed foods, your money supports large food corporations that are using irresponsible farming techniques to increase yields and use less land.  If you buy organically farmed foods you are giving significantly more money to smaller growers (but more and more large corporations are adding organic food product lines) who use outdated farming techniques that do less damage over much larger areas for the same amount of production.  The fact is, there is no evidence suggesting that the food itself is any different, and in either case you are supporting what amounts to irresponsible growers.  (Of course, techniques could be combined, if industrial farmers were not so resistant to change or if organic farmers were not such religious purists about their outdated farming techniques.)  This is my opinion on organic foods, and it is based solidly in the science, research, and evidence behind different farming techniques.

Now, what this is really about: When I read someone's food recipe, and it says an ingredient should be organic, how does that reflect on the writer?  Well, I'll tell you: My opinion drops.  For food recipes, I might still use the recipe, but I will ignore the nonsensical suggestion that using organic ingredients is magically better.  And when the writer adds something like, "I am sure you know why," when suggesting the use of organic ingredients, my mind says something like, "Yeah, because you are a superstitious, gullible person who believes whatever you hear, instead of actually doing research to make sure you are right, before risking looking like an idiot."  No offense intended, but come on!  If you are going to start publishing your opinion on the internet, at least make sure there is not solid evidence proving it wrong!

Of course, today, I came across a recipe for a sugar scrub.  Supposedly it makes your skin feel smooth, but more importantly, it is supposed to reduce skin irritation caused by shaving.  I read the claims at the beginning of the article.  Sugar is cheap, so I had no reservations in just trying it.  Then I got to the recipe, and it says "preferably organic" on the sugar, which is the very first ingredient.  This was a red flag.  My response is, "Wait a minute.  Here I am looking at a recipe for a health care product.  The claims sound good, but then the author says, 'preferably' organic, indicating that the author does not actually know anything about a common health claim.  Should I really be trusting someone that so blatantly has no clue what she is talking about?"  If you post recipes for stuff on the internet, read that last part again.  Perhaps some of your readers see "preferably organic" and think, "go girl!"  (Or perhaps "go guy!")  But keep in mind that for every few readers that revel in your affirmation of their unsupported superstitious hocus pocus, you are losing someone who just came upon your article who now thinks you are some kind of quack witch doctor.  Don't get me wrong, you might know exactly what you are doing when it comes to the product, but when you publish one totally wrong thing, it brings everything else you claim into question.  I cannot gauge your qualifications based on anything but what you publish, and if you publish one thing that I know is total crock, I cannot trust any of the other things you say that I don't know about.  So, am I going to try making the sugar scrub?  Perhaps I will, as I know none of the ingredients are harmful, and the risk is very low.  Will I ever visit that site again?  Probably not.  The sugar scrub might work, but even quacks get lucky some times, and I don't want to be the guinea pig that discovers some other recipe is dangerous.

I am not saying that people should not share their opinions online.  Sharing opinions is an essential part of constructive dialog.  Do your research though.  The problem with common sense is that it is hardly ever actually sense.  That organic foods are superior to "normal" foods seems like common knowledge on the internet.  Everyone just knows it is true, and because everyone knows that it is true, everyone assumes it is true.  The fact however is that it is not true.  Just like milk and meat produced by cows with or without hormones, there is no difference!  Organically farmed, industrially farmed, and GMO foods are all the same when it comes to health and nutrition.  The only difference is price and sustainability, and currently, GMOs have the most promise when it comes to that.  Please do share your opinions, but first, make sure you have the facts right.  Look up research on the subjects you are going to discuss, especially when it comes to the health of your readers.  Make sure the research you are reading is written by qualified authors.  (I once had a conversation in the YouTube comments on GMOs.  I asked one guy for scientific sources supporting his claims.  He gave me the titles of two books, one written by a lawyer and another written my an economist and historian.  Neither of these authors had any education in genetic engineering or even agriculture!  These are not valid sources by any stretch of the imagination.)

Agreeing with your readers about things may help them to identify with you better, but if you are wrong, you will end up driving off a lot of people you might have been able to help.  Think about this: Are you posting these things to get friends, or are you trying to legitimately help people?  If you are trying to legitimately help people, being wrong will not only drive off people who need your help, you could end up actually harming people.  And even if you are not willing to do the research so you can be right, would it be so bad to leave your unsupported personal opinions out of your recipes?  Are your existing readers really so dumb that you have to explicitly say that they should use organic products in places where you would expect them to use them?  Do you really think that specifying that a product should be organic will cause people who don't agree with you to do it?  The fact is, the only value in saying an ingredient should be organic is in deliberately alienating people who have a different opinion from your own.  Be a witch doctor if you want, but please don't pretend to be anything more.  If your products really do work, and if your goal is legitimately to help people, please leave silly superstitions out of it, and stick to verified facts.  Otherwise, there are a lot of us out there that are having a really hard time telling whether you are just superstitious about one small thing or a total quack that cannot be trusted to be right about anything.