Delicious and Nutritious

So, there I was looking through aisle after aisle of foodstuffs in the CO-OP which screamed at me in flashy labels, declaring things like; "Organic," "No G.M.O.," "No High-Fructose Corn Syrup." Well that's great, clearly these products are of a higher quality. If price is anything to go by, these items must be substantially better products, right? Or... Perhaps not.

I looked through the fruit section, and thought I saw Garcia Lorca down by the watermelons. I wanted to find a product to compare that was actually relevant to the everyday college student's life. Tomatoes, while no doubt greatly appreciated in their canned marinara form, don't quite hold as high of a place in the life of a poor college student. When one takes a step back, one realizes that very few foods hold a significant place in our conventional lives because we can't always afford food. We can always however, afford beer.

This, is the content of my test. USDA Certified Organic Chocolate Stout (Pictured Right), and its non-organic Obsidian Stout counterpart.

 

So I consulted two friends of mine to join me in this delicious adventure to see which beer is "better," based on taste. I decided to give two identical glasses filled with two different beers to each of my two friends and waited for them both to finish before explaining their results.

As you can see, both beers look fairly similar in color. The taste, as I came to found out, were fairly different. 

And now, The RESULTS! 2 Votes for the USDA Certified Organic Chocolate Stout, 1 Vote for its non-organic counterpart.

So what does this painstaking scientifically immaculate research mean? Well, truth be told I'm not entirely sure. It would appear, in a test of a very small group of people, Organic Beer is actually "better" than non-organic beer. But how does this apply across a broad spectrum? 

For me, the question is inherently flawed because it examines quality based on taste preferences. For example, for somebody who really loves the taste of tomatoes, organic tomatoes may be "better," because this person would prefer the actual taste of a tomato. However, someone who dislikes the taste of tomato may find the non-organic cousin of an organic tomato to taste "better" because it inherently tastes less like a real tomato. 

 I actually really enjoy the taste of fresh and organic meats and vegetables, be it steaks, asparagus, tomatoes, or beer. So with this opinion, I try to actually find products under this category that taste more like how they are "supposed" to taste. 

In some recreational research, I have found that many vegetable products grown inorganically actually have greatly reduced numbers of nutrients. So yes, you are paying less for what looks like the same product; Big leafy greens, crisp with moisture from the usually inopportunely spraying misters, actually are dramatically different products.  

I also found this handy little fact on http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/organic-food/NU00255.

According to this website, and first hand accounts from friends who grow certified organic food, a product only has to be 95% organic to be labeled as such. So.... what in the hell is in the other 5%?