To the original question, I happened to just be reading an article that addresses this point:
Is organic food worth the higher price? Many experts say noThere are some omissions and incomplete details, but it seemed like a well written and useful article, for the popular press.
I am concerned about the impact many farming methods have on the environment, surrounding water, people who work the farms and the animals we raise for meat, but I'd be skeptical of any claims that suggest a difference to consumer health, at least from consuming organic vs conventional crops. I do feel the environmental impact issue is better address at the regulation level then through trying to buy organic, but perhaps it's a start (I don't know enough about this issue).
So we don't go out of our way to buy organic, and I have no problem at all with GMO crops, in fact I think GMO and other technologies might be a great way to reduce the over reliance on pesticides especially, while maintaining economic growing conditions. If you could find me a label that let me buy food bought with less pesticide and fertilizer use, using GMO as needed, I'd be all over that. Organic isn't that label.
We do try, somewhat, to limit our meat consumption based on raising/living conditions.. then again, if we really cared about animal welfare maybe we wouldn't be eating them in the first place, so perhaps that's a moot point too :)
As other people have said, our best produce buying experience has probably been with a
CSA. It was relatively cheap, very convenient, and the produce was delicious. I think the difference in taste was noticeable (and I don't have the finest palette) because it was hyper local, and the only things being sent to you was what the farmer thought was the best to harvest at that time.. it wasn't defined by just getting stuff out to the wholesaler and getting some bulk rate.
The communication with farm was also excellent. When we initially signed up, it was an organic farm.. part of the time through, they decided there was some kind of new mulch or something that they wanted to use, which hadn't yet worked it's way into the organic regulations. They thought it was the best alternative out there, and communicated that they were purposely giving up their organic certification to use it. I thought that was great.