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  1. Status signalling (the Hansonian variety--to raise the relative status of groups/ideologies/etc that you favor.)
  2. Well constructed studies which establish that preservatives, pesticides or sprouting inhibitors applied to the produce in question carry significant harmful effects for consumers.

If #2, can you please supply these studies in the comments. I do realize there is a difference between thick-skinned and thin-skinned produce and the use of systemic vs. non-systemic pesticides nor do I wish to belittle your harm-reduction or avoidance strategies, I'm just curious.

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Why force us to choose between two answers that may be false? These are hardly the only possible reasons to choose organic. Myself, I choose organic to avoid water pollution and to protect farm workers from the health consequences of close contact with pesticides, as well as to support local farmers. Since I don't wear T-shirts proclaiming my CSA membership, there's no "Hansonian" signaling involved. And by the way, signaling has a long history in evolutionary thought; you can't credit Hanson with it - he's the first to say so himself. – Wowza Mar 31 2012 at 17:11
don't put words into my question that aren't there. Nowhere do I say those are your only choices, as the other commenters have realized, and nowhere do i credit Hanson as inventing signalling (hence the use of "Hansonian" as modifier.) What my question has revealed, is that #2 is unpopular not because it isn't possible to answer in that fashion but because people have tired of the pubmed link dump style of argumentation and are managing risk by the intersection of ideology and intuition. Signalling, bTW, doesn't require a t-shirt but simply telling other people that you do/are/want somethin – Nandalal_Rasiah Mar 31 2012 at 22:54

8 Answers

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Because the pesticides, preservatives, etc. might have a harmful effect, and while organic is often more expensive, it's not prohibitively more expensive. So it's more of a "playing it safe" kind of thing rather than a "scientifically proven" kind of thing for me. Also, I like buying local when possible, at the farmer's market, and more of that tends to be organic.

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Cause I saw an ape throwing the banana shell of a conventional banana away while eating an organic one without even peeling it.

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For real? Where? – Primal Toad Mar 30 2012 at 19:30
snark gets voted up here on the regular. I would vote for it too but just for the dog face. that's a goooood buddy. – Nandalal_Rasiah Mar 30 2012 at 19:50
@Primal Toad: Local zoo – Sam Mar 31 2012 at 22:06
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  1. Organic tastes better.
  2. Organic is more sustainable.
  3. Organic is more nutrient dense.
  4. Local produce is usually either Organic or is in the process toward certification, and since I'd rather support local farmers, it's 'organic-ish' by default.
  5. Then there's the whole GMO/pesticide/herbicide/mycotoxin thing, but that stuff mostly applies to grains which I rarely eat, so it's not really an important point in my diet.
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I don't buy organic produce because I don't trust most of it. I do trust other local farmers I know, but don't buy from them much because they grow the same stuff I do.

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3 - It tastes better.

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 Not sure why my answer turned out so big and bold..... – DanielleO812 Mar 30 2012 at 21:26
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 Because it's true. – mdasilveira Mar 31 2012 at 17:05
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Not #2.

I have found that it tends to taste better, especially with regard to fruits and vegetables. Organic pears remind me of the pears I used to get at a local, organic-in-practice-not-name (before certification was common, but it was owned by hippie-types) orchard when I was a child; I have never found a conventionally grown pear that tasted quite as good.

There is also the pesticide issue...it skeeves me out, and it seems that if I can afford to buy plants not coated in those chemicals and cut down on potential risk, why wouldn't I? There is no real downside if you can afford it. Plus, I like to wander farmers' markets and support local farms. It makes for a good Saturday morning with the husband.

I also raise my own organic fruits and veg. It's not very difficult, and I'm squicked out by the idea of spraying conventional pesticides on my "babies." They do great without.

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Local/organic often has dirt still on it. Dem probiotics.

Though it could have harmful parasites. Not good.

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I buy organic roots (carrots, parsnips, potatos) because they always taste better. The rest I buy local and wash well before eating/cooking. Sometimes it's organic, sometimes not. In switzerland the regulations for what passes as "organic" are stricter than in the US, and also just in general stricter for conventionally grown produce, so I don't stress too much about it. If your motive is the environment then it's way more sustainable to buy local fresh than organic transported from South America or whatever.

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