Do you like the taste of organic food?

[Anonymous]

I'm trying to go more organic, as in grass fed beef, no antibiotic chicken, free range eggs, that sort of thing. I buy top quality stuff from Balducci or Whole Foods. But they all taste awful. Is it a just a matter of getting used to the taste or are there certain brands that taste good? Help anyone?

[Anonymous]

I generally do like the taste, yes. Beef is the one thing I actually like the taste of conventional meat better, but since I won't eat convention meat if I can help it I just suck it up. You could try just buying the things you DO like free range, organic, etc.

Let me ask you: why are you doing this? I do it for the animal welfare and environmental reasons, primarily, and I feel so strongly about those reasons that I simply can't stomach conventional meat and eggs anymore. That probably helped me retrain my taste buds.

What do you mean by "awful?" Just generally different? Strong? Rotten? Its hard to help when all animal products raised in different ways taste bad to you. A free range egg would taste "bad" differently than a no antibiotic chicken (which would probably taste no different from a grocery store chicken, since "no antibiotics" is a meaningless phrase that everyone now uses). Is it possible you've got a bit of a mental block or bias?

[Anonymous]

We typically buy groceries from Whole Foods. Sometimes I'll go to Giant, and the chicken there tastes exactly the same to me. So I wouldn't know if there's a taste difference.

[Anonymous]

No taste difference for me, either.

[Anonymous]

I cannot tell the difference between organic and conventional chicken and eggs. I actually like the texture of all-natural chicken much better because conventional birds are often injected with water, which makes the meat mushy. Eggs? Cannot tell any difference.

I definitely find that grass-fed beef is an acquired taste, but organic (presumably corn-fed) beef tastes similar to conventional.

[Anonymous]

I think the problem is that a lot of organic brands make crappy products. Its not something inherent to being organic which, on average, ought taste better.

[Anonymous]

(Although grass fed beef is a weird case. It always tastes different than corn fed beef. I like it better, but plenty of people don't. And if you don't, changing brands won't help.)

[Anonymous]

I have often found that organic produce (apples, pumpkin, lettuces, sweet potatoes) taste better than conventional. Not always, but once in a while I try some organic produce and notice this.

[Anonymous]

OP can you clarify what you mean by "products"? You said "products" and when I hear that word, I think a processed packaged food item. Like cereal, crackers, or hummus.

However then you go on in your OP to cite beef, eggs and chicken. Which are, I know, technically "products" in the MBA sense of the word. But I basically think of these unprocessed items as just "food." Like, an apple. Or a fresh chicken. Or grapes, or almonds.

So pls come back and clarify. Because I have a theory as to your issue.

[Anonymous]

Keep in mind that advertising is a huge industry. So orange juice has artificial coloring to make it more orange, and then you buy organic and maybe think it looks a little dull which your brain translates to not tasting as good. Watch out for that.

[Anonymous]

grass-fed beef does take some adjustment

haven't noticed big differences beyond that

[Anonymous]

For meat and produce, I try to shop local AND organic (from farmers' markets); with local before organic, if I have to choose.

I find the produce and the meat to be much much better, but part of that is that they have stronger tastes. They taste more like themselves, if you will--a local organic chicken is, well, chickenier than a supermarket chicken.

[Anonymous]

I don't eat beef so can't speak to that, but I definitely prefer the taste of organic chicken (air chilled) and eggs to conventional. But an even bigger factor for me is quality - farm fresh eggs from our CSA are way better than store bought organic or conventional. Also, you can purchase well-prepared conventional food that tastes much better than ill-prepared food (I usually dislike WFs organic toasted chicken, for instance).

[Anonymous]

Try a different brand or store. I remember having been pretty disappointed at the flavors of some organic, some free-range brands. I'm assuming you're in DC, but if you make it out into VA, I have bought and been happy at the Vienna Market (whatever it's called) and at Mom's.

Grass-fed, grain finished beef is the best.

And I don't think I will ever develop a real taste for grass-fed milk. Blech.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP can you clarify what you mean by "products"? You said "products" and when I hear that word, I think a processed packaged food item. Like cereal, crackers, or hummus.

However then you go on in your OP to cite beef, eggs and chicken. Which are, I know, technically "products" in the MBA sense of the word. But I basically think of these unprocessed items as just "food." Like, an apple. Or a fresh chicken. Or grapes, or almonds.

So pls come back and clarify. Because I have a theory as to your issue.

Never said "products."