Does organic create or attract beauty?

Hi All,
This post is only half serious, so please don't overthink your responses. Also, I know this is a weird post... but that is why its in the ulcer factory forum.

I attended the Common Ground Fair here in Maine this fall. For those who don't know, it is a huge event (almost 70,000 people this year) celebrating organic farming, gardening, living, building, etc. I generally attend one or two of the more traditional state fairs as well.

Here is what I noticed. At the common ground fair, I would dare say that 80-85% of the women were very good looking. (The men too, but I don't swing that way). At the other state fairs, I would say the number is almost reversed with a mere 10-15% of women who are very good looking.

The hypothesis then, is that organic and beauty go together somehow? Does eating organically produce health that shows itself as beauty? Or does organic living attract people that already have beauty?

Let's keep this light-hearted, please.

I'm not traditionally handsome, nor am I a specimen of fitness, but I think the lifestyle trends towards giving folks a better chance of fitting in what we consider the time's beauty standards.

Homesteading is a physical thing. Maybe we are not spending our time tilling the soil and hand pulling weeds but there is always something else to do. Tossing a fifty pound feed sack or eighty pound hay bale builds muscle. Having access to the freshest vegetables and meats instead of solely relying on grocery stores has its perks. Heck, if you like to live in the sticks more than likely you are going to have to clean up your own brush from storms and shovel your own snow.

Matt McSpadden wrote:The hypothesis then, is that organic and beauty go together somehow? Does eating organically produce health that shows itself as beauty? Or does organic living attract people that already have beauty?

I can't think that there is a factor that would make beautiful people be attracted to an organic lifestyle...I'm more inclined to healthy people being more attractive, and I'm pretty sure that eating organic food with an active lifestyle will make people healthier.

It could even be more subjective than that however - the attractiveness or otherwise of the people was measured by yourself, who may be predisposed to value or like people with those lifestyle values. In other words we can't be sure there isn't some unconscious bias coming in. I think you'd need to take a sample of people from both types of events and show them to more people to get a fair measure of attractiveness or otherwise of the people at the events.

Has anyone else noticed the same thing I wonder?

Nancy Reading wrote:It could even be more subjective than that however - the attractiveness or otherwise of the people was measured by yourself, who may be predisposed to value or like people with those lifestyle values. In other words we can't be sure there isn't some unconscious bias coming in. I think you'd need to take a sample of people from both types of events and show them to more people to get a fair measure of attractiveness or otherwise of the people at the events.

Has anyone else noticed the same thing I wonder?

That is a fair point... I might be biased. I doubt its just me... but it could be. Anyone been to an organic fair or homesteading fair or Wheaton labs meetup and want to compare it to a traditional state fair or concert or something?

Timothy Norton wrote:I'm not traditionally handsome, nor am I a specimen of fitness, but I think the lifestyle trends towards giving folks a better chance of fitting in what we consider the time's beauty standards.

Homesteading is a physical thing. Maybe we are not spending our time tilling the soil and hand pulling weeds but there is always something else to do. Tossing a fifty pound feed sack or eighty pound hay bale builds muscle. Having access to the freshest vegetables and meats instead of solely relying on grocery stores has its perks. Heck, if you like to live in the sticks more than likely you are going to have to clean up your own brush from storms and shovel your own snow.

Also a good point. I do think the healthy food and active lifestyle are a big piece of it. I think mindset can also affect attractiveness. I think we all know someone who is physically beautiful, but has a nasty personality.

I notice that the face seems to change its shape in the course of a half day or so depending on how I am in terms of health. It is mentioned elsewhere that while fasting the complexion tends to be clearer. When I eat poorly or am worn out then the shape of the face changes into something odd and masklike, tense and strained. Conversely eating well or going without food, my facial muscles become relaxed and take on an entirely different appearance. The same would probably be true with other activities, with those that are more closely aligned with our nature—being outside, gardening, foraging, walking, etc.—causing the muscles of the face to become relaxed.

This is also the case with the eyes. When there is tension in the eyes it can be difficult to change the focus well or quickly and that can cause our vision to worsen. When this isn’t the case then it is easier to see and focus the eyes, and so they are sharper.

Maybe there is a superficial beauty based on one’s facial structure (which is highly variable by population) but there is also a transient beauty which is more rooted in patterns of tension and relaxation in the body and might have a physiological basis. Possibly also inflammation is involved? These muscles can go easily unnoticed when we are not paying attention, but are quite visible to others. So it might be that when people are into organic food and natural things, the state of health is reflected through the tension in the muscles of the face and that is what is seen in this scenario.

People wear the signs of unhealthy habits on their body.  Physiological signs like this are something doctors are trained to pay much attention to. It has been shown that organic produce is healthier for human, and it would be ridiculous to suggest that it would not also have benefits to other life forms.

Sure some bacterium and things might have adapted to utilize toxins in our environment, but I would suggest that these are more similar to cleaning pathways than organisms who thrive from pollutants.