Despite the touted benefits of going organic, I remain firm in living the life of a commoner, meaning not spending money on organic products. That is, to eat whatever that is available and affordable. Why am I not swayed by this organic craze that is taking the world by storm, you ask?
Well, there are many reasons behind this, but the most important factor has got to be the fact that I am happy with the way we have been living. It is not as if humans have not been digesting some amount of pesticides for many decades now, and it never really killed anyone. Call me ignorant, but before organic food was founded, everyone had a ‘no organic’ mindset and lived just perfectly fine.
Regardless of the bovine growth hormone that we could be digesting along with our milk and beef, what actual harm has it actually done to us? Unless someone eats a particular food excessively, thus leading to a high amount of “evil” chemicals being introduced into our systems, there is really no need to get all paranoid about chemicals we could be harboring in our bodies.
Is Organic Better?
Is there really that big a difference between organic and inorganic food?
According to a meta-analysis done in 2002, there is no conclusive proof that organic food offer greater nutrition nor higher consumer safety, and since there is no proof that organic is truly better, then why should I make the switch to organic and burn a bigger hole in my wallet?
Yes, I understand that the livestock we consume may probably have undergone some sort of hormonal growth treatment. Yes, I know I could be ingesting some percentage of pesticide when I’m eating that apple. But that has been the way humans have been living for the past few decades and most of us turned out fine, didn’t we?
Regarding the kind of food I allow my 17-month-old to eat, he can feel free to eat anything that is safe for his age, and I am proud to say that he hardly ever falls ill even when the adults could be down with a bad virus.
Based on simple logic of introducing some germs into his system so that he may build immunity against it, I think our chosen method of going ‘no organic’ to raise our child has worked fine so far. Most of our parents didn’t even know what organic was, and we were similarly fed with whatever was available.
Organic soap is just plain weird
A well-meaning friend of mine had introduced a brand of organic baby toiletries to us when she heard about my son’s sensitive and dry skin. She had been using it on her own son and was very pleased with the results. Me – being reluctant to bow down to the ridiculous prices and the fact that I had to import the soap all the way from the United States – told her I would KIV it. After all, I had started my boy on Mustela toiletries and we were very pleased with the results as well.
Relentless, she purchased a gift set for us and presented it during my boy’s first birthday. Since she went out of her way to share it with us, I decided to let my boy try it. I whipped out the organic bubble bath and put a few drops into the plastic bathtub, and stirred the water to make it foam. I stirred, and stirred, and stirred, but the amount of bubbles were still pathetically few. Then I saw what was written on the bottle: “Because this is not a synthetic bubble bath, you must help the bubbling process by shaking/agitating bubbles under vigorously running water at the start of tub filling.”
If you ask me, that sounds like a lot of trouble just to have a bubble bath. As much as I would like to, living in an old HDB block with low water pressure simply doesn’t create vigorously running water. We would be lucky if the water didn’t go down to a measly trickle on some days!
My Verdict: No Organic For Us!
Nonetheless, my boy took a bath in that vaguely bubbled bathwater, and emerged smelling like… PLASTIC. I swear it’s true. The brand boasts of being “non-toxic, no fragrance, no Paraben and not tested on animals”. I guess they forgot to mention that their bubble bath also has “no bubbles”. The idea of a bubble bath that doesn’t bubble still sounds totally ridiculous to me.
I also let my boy try their 2-in-1 hair and body soap, which also resulted in my kid smelling (once again) like a piece of plastic after his shower. Despite feeling grateful to my friend for introducing the organic baby toiletries to us, it is certainly something that I wouldn’t bother importing from overseas. Mustela works well enough for my boy’s dry skin by moisturising it, making him smell pretty AND is easily purchased from anywhere.
And until the day the prices of organic items become affordable, and are more accessible, I see no need for me to go out of my way just to get my hands on them. No organic food and soap for us!
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