Rethinking "Organically Grown" Produce

I'm all for buying "organic" whenever possible and affordable and I don't put all that much credence in government certified anything, but when it comes to buying foods organically grown in China, well, for me and mine, forget it. That goes for organically grown in Mexico, or South America as well. In fact, we buy very few agricultural products grown in Mexico or South America and none that are grown in China (that I know of, anyway).

Why is that, you might ask? It's because of unhygienic production and processing of produce. Just because you can buy it in any given store, doesn't mean it's fit for human (or even animal) consumption.

So, we try to buy as close to home as possible.

We love fish, but China is processing mega tons of fish these days and the packaging and processing conditions have reportedly been abysmal.

Yeah, we're pretty spoiled over here. We like things clean. We like it when food handlers wash their hands after going potty. I'm not sure they do that everywhere. I'm not even sure they do it here, but at least our growers and food handlers are schooled in what American consumers demand...clean food, whether it's organic or not.

I don't know exactly what all is going on politically between China and our politicos, but China has been exposed for exporting all kinds of substandard stuff and how are we to know fact from fiction when food processed there makes it to our local stores?

It just makes sense to buy as local as possible. Visit your Farmers Market if you have one nearby. So what if it cost a little more. They're your neighbors!

UPDATE: China vows to clean up toxins amid food scares.