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Originally Posted by aberkok
Well...maybe there's no difference in nutrition between the cheap chicken and the expensive chicken. For you, today and tomorrow, there's no difference.
But from what I learned (admittedly from that one source mentioned above), there is a bit more nutrition and in many cases, more taste in organic and naturally raised food.
You're also paying for a more sustainable system of production. Because there are less hormones and chemicals going into the the feed, there is less going into the soil as runoff from the waste. Many organic standards cover what the animal eats as well as how it is raised, so this has an impact on the soil in which the corn (or whatever crop) used to feed the animal is raised.
And that's just skimming the surface. It's amazing what people will pay for things and think their food is expensive. The price of my internet connection per month would probably help me buy into a more sustainable and nutritious chain of food production - and if I had to sacrifice that (thankfully I don't), I wouldn't think twice since we're talking about how I eat... this is no small thing. Nutrition is what keeps us from dying...shouldn't that be a priority!? Most people waste the amount of money it takes to improve their eating.
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I know people who take a more ethically-based stance, like sweetpea's, and others who take a more pragmatic-based stance, like aberkok (realizing that concerns about sustainability can also be driven by ethics--but for the sake of classifying two perspectives). I tend to take portions from both arguments, and also am concerned about the type of energy that goes into my body as fuel. Perhaps a karmic tradition, who knows how'd you classify that.
I also tend to suspect that well taken care of and so called "happy" food is better for me. For example, chickens that can expel their waste rather than living/eating/sleeping in it seem to be more yummy! From experience, I think organic food is more flavorful and, vegetables in particular, has deeper coloration, which is more aesthetically pleasing.
Almost all of my wife and my food is hand prepped and prepared. Yet, on occasion, we do eat at in-and-out or burger king.