my experience says that it's more about the aging process than about the 'mottling'. You may know that I live in a rural setting. I buy organic beef from a couple of wonderful 'old-folks' (rock-ribbed Christian conservatives of the type that are so far right that they're almost left). I can go see the steers and cows grazing the manure-fed grass at any time. They may get a little grain in the Winter, but not by force-feeding. In fact the fat content is lower than you might think optimal for taste. But the beef tastes like the beef that I had in Texas as a young'un and college student. I may not be able to convince you that that was the real deal back then, but it was the baseline for me; and I've never had a steak since - be it ever so expensive - that beat the common product back then.

paul spencer

Because the tasteless tomato is a cultivar that was developed by traditional methods for the purpose of storing and transporting well and having a thick skin that won't tear as easily as that of a tasty tomato. Blandness has nothing to do with growing practices in that case.

A vivid image of what should exist acts as a surrogate for reality. Pursuit of the image then prevents pursuit of the reality -- John K. Galbraith

i heard italy exports 60% of its organic produce.

~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~