I suspect that local vs. Big Ag makes more of a difference (if it doesn't need to travel as far, it doesn't have to be bred to hold up like a baseball, which often means it tastes like one).

But this would actually be easy to test.

Absolutely!! I've particularly noticed a difference with organic apples and berries. I think Beth G is right, too, that how local the produce is can have a big impact, too- if something has been traveling for 6 days, of course it is not going to taste as good as something that was picked 24 hours ago.

I grow my own veg and don't do it organic and it tastes better than organic veg I get at the farmer's market or the supermarket, so I think it's more a local versus trucked in thing.

The term "organic" is not the same as "pesticide free" so there's a problem with the core premise of this statement. Organic farming allows for any sort of fertilizer or pesticide that is not petroleum based, and organic farmer may choose to use no pesticide but most organic foods are grown by ginormomous "big ag" businesses and/or shipped from far away countries.

I'm going to go with the other sentiments here. I prefer to buy my food as locally as I'm able versus focusing on a tag that is as meaningless as "organic."

"Since they aren't protected by pesticides..."

That's simply false. There are plenty of "organic" pesticides that can be used on USDA Certified Organic produce. I'm not disagreeing with the science, only the improper application of it's conclusion.

@MissMarnie

Darn, you beat me to it, and I didn't even bother looking!

Real food grown locally from interesting seed stock makes as much difference as organic. Imported ag-business organics aren't great usually.

Of course, I live in California where I get the best of all worlds. Our local, organic, seasonal produce is amazing.

There is no way to evaluate this post unless we subscribe to Lucky Peach. I can't find a copy of the referenced article and I'm curious because as a scientist I know that some of the "scientific" assertions above are just false.

*IF* organic veg/fruit ramp up defensive compound production there is no guarantee those compounds taste good to us. Sometimes they may, but just as often they will be bitter and make the food taste worse to us. Why would something that drives away a caterpillar have a pleasant taste to a human?

And, to put it plainly, I wish more people would research the FDA definition of organic. The Kitchn's readers clearly have and know to be skeptical of posts like this one claiming that organic food is grown without pesticides.

Parting shot: don't be so quick to dismiss pesticides. They can reduce soil erosion and allow for larger crop yields (=feeding more people from less land). Organic certification is expensive and many small farmers can't achieve certification. But "Big Ag" can. Who do you think owns many of those organic brands?

@Leilaeliz

I'm guessing when you say that pesticides can reduce soil erosion, you're referring to no-till farming? The tradeoff is that increased pesticide application typically manifests itself later in degraded water quality due to run-off. Plus, it's much more expensive for the farmer.

Another tradeoff is that application of chemical fertilizers and pesticides can contribute to soil-sterility--basically, help to wipe out good bacteria in the soil over time. It's a really delicate biochemical balance to strike, and the less farmers tamper with it, the better off the soil tends to be.

As far as organic's reduced yields are concerned, I've read a couple articles that suggest that reduced yields typically occur during the transition period between conventional and organic farming. I wish I had a citation to send you, but I don't. One key point, though, is that organic farming does require a lot less economic input--it can be more labor intensive, but it does not require increasingly expensive petroleum-based chemicals.

The combination of declining soil viability, oil scarcity, and degraded water quality will eventually raise the price of conventional agriculture to match its cost. It will quite simply become extremely difficult for anyone to raise food without increasing application of chemicals to compensate for the damage that chemical application causes.

It's good to point out a distinction between organic and sustainable agriculture. As you noted, Big Organic may not necessarily be sustainable. So yeah, it probably is better to buy food raised on small farms close by, even if they do use chemicals. But there are programs designed to help farmers incorporate more sustainable practices on their farms, including some government funding. This is why more people should pay attention to the Farm Bill every few years; it affects how the government treats agriculture. So if we want to see more small sustainable organic farms, we should probably be voting for the people most likely to support spending our tax money on support for those farmers.

Full disclosure: I grew up on a sustainable organic farm, and both my parents work for non-profits that offer financial and educational support for farmers looking to address specific sustainability concerns on their farms. So while I'm biased, I've also witnessed firsthand that small organic farmers really aren't disadvantaged compared to their conventional neighbors, at least when it comes to grain and livestock production. The truth is most small farmers have to supplement their livelihoods with off-farm income; I know one family that I think basically incorporated their farming operation between brothers (I want to say five of them?). A lot of conventional farmers are in huge debt, paying for both chemicals and the implements to apply them--not to mention the start-up costs for large-scale conventional livestock operations. The last time my parents went into debt for a farm purchase like that, it was $11,000 for a new tractor, which was paid off within a year. As far as I can tell, Dad's never had problems with low yields before, and because the soil quality on our farm is superior to those of our neighbors, we tend to do better in drought years.

*These* are all good reasons to support sustainable/organic agriculture. I'm not so sure about spurious claims about flavor, though. :)