5 ms·

In my experience, locally grown farmers market produce is significantly tastier than store-bought produce from Canada and Mexico (and in the bay area, it's freq

by varelse 14y ago

In my experience, locally grown farmers market produce is significantly tastier than store-bought produce from Canada and Mexico (and in the bay area, it's frequently cheaper too). That doesn't seem like it ought to be a surprise given the former was likely picked a day or two before I bought it and the latter up to several weeks beforehand. The local farmers here tend to grow organic because that's what their market demands. Similarly, I spent some time in Vietnam recently eating the local poultry and the stark difference in taste and texture between it and American agro-chicken is astounding. And finally, what good reason exists to O.D. poultry and livestock on the same antibiotics we depend on to avert bacterial pandemics just to increase yield?

sliverstorm 14y ago
You're making a critical logical error. Locally grown produce which qualifies as organic, does not represent all produce sold under the organic label. The tomatoes I grew on my porch this summer were the best tomatoes I ever had. They would qualify as organic; should I then attempt to apply that anecdote to this discussion, holding it forth as proof that organics are better?
- varelse 14y ago
  Then I was being unclear - I tend to buy organic because I buy from farmers who breed for flavor and there's a strong correlation between that and organic farming in my experience. Does that clear it up? My only strong belief against conventional farming is the bat guano insane (IMO) use of antibiotics to increase yield.
  - sliverstorm 14y ago
    My personal experience suggests you're paying attention to the wrong indicator; rather than "organic", "local" is probably a better clue.
  - jonny_eh 14y ago
    So you're saying your comment was off-topic? The article is about organic farming, not local farming. The fact that you like local produce says nothing about organic food.
    - varelse 14y ago
      Not at all, the chicken in Vietnam is likely organic and bred for flavor by somebody a couple doors down from the restaurant (you could hear the chicken coops everywhere throughout Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi), and the dry-farmed wines and tomatoes I love specifically embody organic techniques (reduced water consumption) in their production which are intrinsic to eliciting their superior flavor. Feel free to dry-farm some tomatoes and spray them with round-up just to prove your point though. As others have stated, the definition of organic at this point is too vague for it not to stray into areas like this.
rayiner 14y ago
I lived in Bangladesh until I was 5. I grew up eating chickens that were "local" in the sense that they were purchased live at the market down the street. The taste and texture is completely different. When we moved to the US, I couldn't even eat chicken for six months because it tasted so weird.
- WiseWeasel 14y ago
  My theory is that it's the diet and lifestyle of the chicken that most influences its taste and texture, hence why smaller-scale free-range chicken is more tasty and tougher than industrial chicken raised on grain and confined to a tiny cage their whole lives.
  - varelse 14y ago
    They've also been bred for yield rather than flavor for generations: http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/nass/industry-structure/specpo02.pdf http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/nass/industry-structu...
    - lightweb 14y ago
      I am growing out 50 chickens this year for meat and eggs. I got a few of the super-hybrid Cornish Cross birds in addition to Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and others breeds. I am growing them on locally produced organic chicken feed and pasture grasses and weeds (free roaming on acres of land). I have harvested a few birds so far and they taste so amazingly deep and rich that it was almost too much on the first bird. It's all about what the animal eats, IMO. I've had farm raised chickens from all over before we settled here and I've never had them taste this good. The fat layer is a deep golden/mustard/yellow color and there is LOTS of it. None of my Cornish Crosses exhibited any leg issues or anything and one Rooster has lived to be about 4 months old. He's in the fridge on a salt cure waiting to be roasted this weekend! FWIW. :-)
- adrr 14y ago
  You can buy live chickens, los angeles has a couple places that sell them. You can also buy "walking" chickens at most asian supermarkets, these are free range/semi wild chickens and meat is very stringy and has a more distinct taste.

by varelse 14y ago

sliverstorm 14y ago

You're making a critical logical error. Locally grown produce which qualifies as organic, does not represent all produce sold under the organic label. The tomatoes I grew on my porch this summer were the best tomatoes I ever had. They would qualify as organic; should I then attempt to apply that anecdote to this discussion, holding it forth as proof that organics are better?

varelse 14y ago
Then I was being unclear - I tend to buy organic because I buy from farmers who breed for flavor and there's a strong correlation between that and organic farming in my experience. Does that clear it up? My only strong belief against conventional farming is the bat guano insane (IMO) use of antibiotics to increase yield.
- sliverstorm 14y ago
  My personal experience suggests you're paying attention to the wrong indicator; rather than "organic", "local" is probably a better clue.
- jonny_eh 14y ago
  So you're saying your comment was off-topic? The article is about organic farming, not local farming. The fact that you like local produce says nothing about organic food.
  - varelse 14y ago
    Not at all, the chicken in Vietnam is likely organic and bred for flavor by somebody a couple doors down from the restaurant (you could hear the chicken coops everywhere throughout Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi), and the dry-farmed wines and tomatoes I love specifically embody organic techniques (reduced water consumption) in their production which are intrinsic to eliciting their superior flavor. Feel free to dry-farm some tomatoes and spray them with round-up just to prove your point though. As others have stated, the definition of organic at this point is too vague for it not to stray into areas like this.

rayiner 14y ago

I lived in Bangladesh until I was 5. I grew up eating chickens that were "local" in the sense that they were purchased live at the market down the street. The taste and texture is completely different. When we moved to the US, I couldn't even eat chicken for six months because it tasted so weird.

WiseWeasel 14y ago
My theory is that it's the diet and lifestyle of the chicken that most influences its taste and texture, hence why smaller-scale free-range chicken is more tasty and tougher than industrial chicken raised on grain and confined to a tiny cage their whole lives.
- varelse 14y ago
  They've also been bred for yield rather than flavor for generations: http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/nass/industry-structure/specpo02.pdf http://usda01.library.cornell.edu/usda/nass/industry-structu...
  - lightweb 14y ago
    I am growing out 50 chickens this year for meat and eggs. I got a few of the super-hybrid Cornish Cross birds in addition to Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and others breeds. I am growing them on locally produced organic chicken feed and pasture grasses and weeds (free roaming on acres of land). I have harvested a few birds so far and they taste so amazingly deep and rich that it was almost too much on the first bird. It's all about what the animal eats, IMO. I've had farm raised chickens from all over before we settled here and I've never had them taste this good. The fat layer is a deep golden/mustard/yellow color and there is LOTS of it. None of my Cornish Crosses exhibited any leg issues or anything and one Rooster has lived to be about 4 months old. He's in the fridge on a salt cure waiting to be roasted this weekend! FWIW. :-)
adrr 14y ago
You can buy live chickens, los angeles has a couple places that sell them. You can also buy "walking" chickens at most asian supermarkets, these are free range/semi wild chickens and meat is very stringy and has a more distinct taste.