What is so bad about non-organic potatoes and what the heck are conventional apples, red delicious?

For the popcorn thing it's the butter flavoring that's making people sick--not the bag lining: http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/toxic-chemical-diacetyl-still-finding-its-way-into-microwave-popcorn/19273632.

Turn on your kitchen exhaust fan, open a window, and walk into the next room while it's popping?

Munson heresy (my Da Vinci Code sequel character name)

I really question what makes these people "experts"? They all seem to have their own agendas or work for companies that want you to use their products. These days anyone can publish studies and call themselves experts; that does not make them one.

The expert who recommends buying organic apples is Mark Kastel, former executive for agribusiness and codirector of the Cornucopia Institute, a farm-policy research group that supports organic foods

It's like asking a barber if you need a haircut.

Sheesh, before I read the article, I thought it would have included things like Szechuan peppercorns or Absinthe or other foods that had a mysterious reason for being banned in the US etc.

Szechuan peppercorns were banned because they are a disease vector for some pine tree disease, or something,

Prevention is alarmist crap. But, conventionally grown apples do have a heck of a pesticide load. Cleatus has it about the microwave popcorn (I cook my popcorn in a paper lunch bag, in the nuke for about 3 min. It is a lot cheaper, but keep an eye on it or you'll have a fire). Farmed salmon are very unhealthy and spread parasites and disease to the wild salmon population. Probably the corn fed beef thing is a combination of the old vegetarian thing about it being inefficient and the corn monocrop thing.

No idea why potatoes are evil. Potatoes are my cuddly friends.

According to that article, store bought potatoes do not sprout? I wonder what i'm doing wrong ( or right) i always end up with sprouting potatoes if they aren't consumed quickly enough. In fact, the potatoes from my garden are the product of sprouted store potatoes from last spring. The other things i don't worry much about because i don't eat that sort of thing on a regular basis.
The popcorn is a very real danger, but the amount that you'd have to eat would be a problem first. People that work in producing the "flavoring" are most at risk. Once you pop your own and use real butter, you'll never go back.

Meekrat: I'm with you on the 'taters. Don't sprout? The heck they don't. We keep them in a bag in the pantry and if they don't get et, in two, maybe three weeks and those suckers look like something out of "Alien."

I just think so much of that list is sheer nonsense. Either the "experts" are compromised or they backtrack on their own advice and say "Well, there's not a clear link yet." So few clear links, so little time.

Ulyanovsky planking (my epic Russian novel character name)

When I was growing up in the south, we used to cut up potatoes and plant them in the garden. Today's potatoes may sprout in the bag, but they don't grow plants. You should hear all the old boys at home complain about this.

Popcorn solution: Put your popcorn kernels in a paper lunch bag and pop them in the microwave. We do this all the time. Works great, and cheap, too.

Can you discuss more about popping popcorn in a paper lunch bag...how much oil or butter to use, sealing the bag, etc. Thank you!

Yes, I've had taters sprout on me too. Lately though, I've been eating more sweet potatoes than white ones.

And I'd like to hear more about how to pop popcorn in a paper bag...

hey, a potato captcha:

agreed tuberous

Meekrat and Cleatus, I too have come accross potatoes in the back of the pantry that have sprouted.

As far as the popcorn, I bought a hot air popper and it works great.

I use a third cup of kernels (I think, might be a scant half) in the regular paper lunch bag. Fold over, close with a plastic clip. High for 3 min., be ready to pull it out if the pops get more than a couple seconds apart.

I melt the butter (in a ceramic bowl) in the nuke (often with some Aleppo pepper) before I put the popcorn in.

Dump the popcorn into a bowl, pour the butter on top, salt, toss the popcorn in the air a few times to mix, eat.

Simple, cheap, no preservatives, no fake butter lung injuries.

EL, you forgot to include #6 on the list, "Milk produced with artificial hormones". I think I'll stick with the milk at the local grocery store, thank you very much.

Well, that's embarrassing, isn't it? Thanks. Actually, this is the only one I follow religiously. The evidence is pretty compelling that the hormones in milk are a problem, including contributing to adult acne, and perhaps to the fact that younger and younger women are getting breast cancer. Hormone-free milk is available at your local grocery store. EL

Some good points raised by those with a skeptical or cynical point of view. The trouble is you don't know what to believe because almost everybody has a self-serving agenda. Public trust has been compromised to such an extent that we are a nation of cynics, understandably. .

They left off the Chinese pine nuts that are ruining taste buds.

I actually do avoid all farmed fish and seldom buy beef. I will buy organic produce if it looks good and the price isn't outrageous. But what is it about canned tomatoes? That is a staple in my pantry, too.

The 4:14 post is a shill.

But oh what an indelicate shill it is, too.

This list of signs you're a foodie was linked to that Prevention story:
http://www.prevention.com/obsessedwithfood/index.shtml?cm_mmc=Yahoo_Blog-_-LosingIt-_-7%20foods%20experts%20wont%20eat-_-Are%20you%20obsessed%20with%20food%20RL

I'm eating everything and betting global warming kills me before I get sick.

Captcha: Europe obscene

I'm pretty sure the deadliest thing in my kitchen is the teflon slowly but surely flaking off of my hand-me-down Tfal.

I'm pretty sure the most dangerous thing in our kitchen is me.

[captcha -- violations lasalle, a former employee of the Two O'clock Club]

I actually do avoid all farmed fish

I understand the concern, but I think it is difficult to lump all farmed fish together. In some cases, such as catfish, farmed fish is not only sustainable but also preferable in taste to its wild counterpart.

bra1nchild: "I'm pretty sure the most dangerous thing in our kitchen is me." should the comment of 2009. Love it.

RoCK: I'm with you on some farm-raised seafood. Oysters and mussels, for ex. have got to be cleaner than the stuff that grows wild. Uniform size and shape are other bennies of farm-raised. And not all aqua-farmers use steroids, hormones, and antibiotics.

William miskito (my Navaho shaman name)

Well, I guess I'd take up the farmed catfish challenge, RoCK, except that no one in my family is terribly fond of catfish (except maybe the cats).

Catfish is one of my favorite fish.