Traditional, Organic, Conventional?

[MINESAPINT]

I have seen vegetables labelled as:

Traditionally grown, Organically grown and Conventionally grown.

What do these terms actually mean to you?

[The Riff-Raff Element]

I have seen vegetables labelled as:

Traditionally grown, Organically grown and Conventionally grown.

What do these terms actually mean to you?

Other than "organic" they are probably marketing babble and completely meaningless. Organic does have to follow set standards though.

At a guess, "traditional" means grown in a field and cultivated by gangs of poorly-paid Eastern Europeans and with the application of lots of chemicals; whereas "conventional" means grown in sweltering polytunnels in Spain by illegal immigrants from North Africa bereft of basic employment rights (ie cheap) and using lots of chemicals.

[eccentric_emma]

i agree with Riff Raff. there is a veg shop near us that looks all beautiful and traditional and lovely however the veg is grown using traditional farming techniques - i picked up on this straightaway but i'm willing to bet loads of people shop there thinking it's organic...

[MKG]

"Traditionally grown" and "conventionally grown" are meaningless terms, and I'm still not convinced that "organic" means anything at all. So I, too, mainly agree with Riff-Raff. "Grown by me" seems to be the only term in which I can believe. Or, possibly "grown by my sister", but I'm not really sure about that either.

[contadino]

I use the 'traditionally grown' phrase on our products and I do so because so many people, particularly British, have such hang-ups and confusion about the 'organic' word (dur! organic and fair trade are different ). In our sales materials, I've gone on to explain exactly what I mean by it - growing produce as it was done here 60 years ago, before chemicals were available.

[ina]

Organic in itself doesn't mean that much - but applied to produce it has a very clear legal meaning! To avoid confusion, we should really always use the term "certified organic". (And if anybody wants to know what that means in detail, I have the Soil Association certification standards here in my drawer, and it's a very thick and heavy folder... And each certification body has slightly different standards, of course. )

[possum]

I hate the term organic, are there any vegetables in the world that are not??

[ina]

I hate the term organic, are there any vegetables in the world that are not??

On the Continent it's called "bio" - I suppose it has to have a name - don't ask me why this was chosen! Otherwise it would have to be a description (grown without a long list of chemicals and fertilisers, and with certain methods...). The name just stands for a very well defined method of growing them. (As say, the description of the method takes up volumes.) And it doesn't just go for veg, it goes for all sorts of other produce, too.

[possum]

I know it has to have a name, I just hate the mis-use of the English. Marketing stuff like "Home style" - does that mean burnt? Or years ago back working in BHS restaurant "Home baked pies" which meant the filling was defrosted and the pie lid defrosted, put into a pie dish and heated up, yes technically home baked, but not really home made which is what the customers would think.

[ina]

Know what you mean - somebody up here is selling home made icecream - well, they do stir water into the contents of a packet of powder on the premises...

Any of these terms are a bit wishy-washy, aren't they! Same as "chemicals": water is a chemical, too - H2O, last time I looked...

[contadino]

Oh, and there are at least 3 biologica certification associations here in Italy, each with their own list of permissible 'treatments'. One is more suited for cultivation of grapes, one for olives, etc...

[possum]

Any of these terms are a bit wishy-washy, aren't they! Same as "chemicals": water is a chemical, too - H2O, last time I looked...

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

[ina]

Oh, and there are at least 3 biologica certification associations here in Italy, each with their own list of permissible 'treatments'. One is more suited for cultivation of grapes, one for olives, etc...

3 is not too bad - I think it's around 10 in Britain. And yes, some are a bit easier on some products - can't remember exactly, but I think most large table bird producers are not with the Soil Association, because they are stricter than most others... And so on!

[MKG]

Any of these terms are a bit wishy-washy, aren't they! Same as "chemicals": water is a chemical, too - H2O, last time I looked...

http://www.dhmo.org/facts.html

Brilliant!!!! Had a good giggle over that one.

[hamster]

...couples that never ingest DHMO often find that their marriage suffers as well.