From what I understand, as described by a nutritionist, “it’s a scam”
In: Chemistry
Agree with the other commenters that like in many industries, a word is used so often it has lost any significant meaning.
However, the intention of the term is to refer to the pesticides and fertilizers used in the production. Inorganic means not containing carbon, and inorganic pesticides often cannot be broken down by the body and can leach into our ground water and cause problems. This isn’t to say that all organic (carbon based) pesticides are somehow healthy, but they generally will be broken down by the environment and can be metabolized by humans.
Organic has nothing to do with GMO status. GMO stands for Genetically Modified Organism, and it means that basically the traits of a vegetable or whatever you are eating is the result of changing the DNA or that vegetable in a lab. GMO’s are quite common (seedless watermelons, for example) and there’s no evidence to suggest that GMO cause any health issues in humans, but we can never say for sure. Many people are also morally opposed to GMO’s because the idea of genetically modifying life is playing God in some sense, and has the potential to proliferate a trait that is harmful to humans or the environment, or damage the cells of the food we are eating.
Pretty soon we will start genetically modifying humans though, and rich people will be able to design their own babies! (Pretty fucked up IMO, but thats science!)
So organic is pretty much a buzz word, doesn’t mean shit. Gmo has been greatly overstated for what it really is too. Lots of negative press because of fringe issues it’s caused. In reality, almost every crop you consume has had repeated gmo cycles. I used to work for a plant breeding company that produced mainly barley and rape seed. They of course use gmo tech to ensure the varieties have the best yield and resistances for the price.
You’re mixing up a few things here. “organic” means different things in different countries (the term is usually regulated) but usually there’s restrictions on the types of pesticides, fungicides or fertilizers or varieties (eg. no GMO varieties) used when growing the food. That can be good or bad. There is no measurable difference in food quality or healthiness but pesticides in farming are generally thought to be a big factor in the collapse of insect populations. In general the damage is environmental. Due to lower yields, organic farming needs more land but that land is not a mono-cultural ecological desert…
And then you have GMO’s. There are very few crops that are genetically modified, but a few big ones usually are. Corn (and everything with corn syrup in it:a lot). The most common modification is herbicide resistance. GMO corn won’t die if you spray it with herbicide (ex.. Round-up). Strangely enough, that means you have to spray less and with less toxic chemicals. GMO corn is also more suited for no till farming, which helps prevent soil runoff. But you’re still creating huge swaths of land where nothing grows except corn. So some benefits and some disadvantages for the environment there as well. But no descernible difference for consumers or their health. Except that in general, stuff with corn syrup in it is usually junk food and not very good for you.
“Organic” isn’t a legally protected term (USA), so there is no basis for comparison. What it means to one company or product it might be completely different to another company or product.
The point of GMO products is to make them; more resilient in the growing stage, produce more, produce larger fruits/grains/creatures/etc, contain more nutrients, tastier, and/or more aesthetically pleasing depending on the product in question.
There’s really no danger whatsoever from GMO products, and in fact they’re more-or-less responsible for modern humans having cheap, easy access to nutritional foods. Without them, our farms would be producing a lot less food for a larger cost, so it’d be a lot more expensive at the check-out aisle.
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