The other day, at our local grocery store, as I was checking out, the half a dozen bananas I picked up scanned for $12!
"I think your scanner is messed up," I said to the cashier. "A banana can't be for $2?"
"Organic bananas, sir. And these are on sale today," he replied. "You want them?"
"On sale? So what's the difference between organic bananas and regular bananas?" I asked.
He just shrugged. "More expensive..... and more natural, I guess," he said.
More natural? And regular bananas are synthetic? Churned out in a factory in China? Please... give me a break!
Then the same day at home, my wife was all excited because a friend of ours brought a bag of "Organic sugar" for her. So I asked him about the difference between organic sugar and regular sugar. I got the same answer that I got from the grocery store cashier -- a shoulder shrug, and "I guess its more natural than regular sugar!"
So what's all this talk about organic food? Do we get it because it's healthy or just because it's chic? Is "Organic food" just like any other brand name? All these questions came up in my mind, so I researched a little bit. There is a lot of information out there about the real 'organicity' of organic foods. And not all of it is good. I have nothing against organic food, but I think we should at least think a little before joining the bandwagon. A lot of us (including me, unfortunately) believe that if a product is more expensive, it has to be better than its cheaper counterpart. We have an environmental hysteria of sorts going on. I think a part of it is justified, but a lot of folks do tend to go overboard.
A lot of us also suffer from a belief we are so intelligent & smart, that as a consequence we don't even try to ascertain facts before forming an opinion. As Oscar Wilde once said in a lighter mood-- "I am so clever that sometimes even I don't understand a single word of what I am saying!" Always remember, that it is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he already knows.
So nothing against organic food, but please research, think and then make an opinion. The video clip below highlights what I have tried to convey to you all.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw
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