Organic food - a double con

[Cort Haus]

Neither better for you, nor the environment.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/6595801.stm

Nevertheless, the professional foodies wave away the science:

The government and its independent watchdog, the Food Standards Agency are equally adamant there is no proof organic food is better for our health. But science alone cannot prove the point, says Lord Peter Melchett, a director of the Soil Association, who believes consumers must trust their instincts.

"Science doesn't tell us the answers so some of it we have to go on feelings," he says

Feelings? Oh do phuck off.

[LordShiva]

Hippies

[Joe Kick Ass]

Originally posted by LordShiva
Hippies

[MichaeltheGreat]

Dioxins DDT Overproduction and soil depletion

[Dinner]

We've known for a long time that the health claims were bogus but the environmental claims sometimes are scientifically defensible. The dead zones we find at the mouths of many rivers such as the Mississippi are a result of chemical fertilizer run off going into streams and rivers and then getting concentrated at the mouths of rivers. The extra nutrients cause an algae bloom which sucks up all the oxygen in the water killing all the fish.

Theoretically since organic farms don't use such fertilizers, preferring things like cow manure which is slightly less mobile then chemical sprays, there wouldn't be so much run off. Of course there is a decrease in field productivity with organic farms.

[Combat Ingrid]

Inorganic food

[snoopy369]

If you have a decrease in field productivity, then you need more fields, meaning you need to raze more forests to build fields ... so organic foodies are for the destruction of the rain forests

[General Ludd]

Organic doesn't mean what it used to. Things that are certified as organic are not neccisarily that much better than anything else.

Organic used to mean that the food was grown locally, in a sustainable fashion, without any poisons. These are not neccisarily true of the "organic" produce that you buy at the grocery store.

[Dinner]

Around here they call the locally grown stuff "locally grown" and it is entirely different from organic which has a strict legal definition in this state.

[Victor Galis]

Tripple con really, the super markets markup their organic stuff more than their normal products because they know the people who are willing to pay extra for organic food are willing to pay a lot more extra. They can separate out the those would would buy their foods at really high prices and charge them those prices, without losing the customers that wouldn't pay those prices.

[Japher]

Organic used to mean that the food was grown locally, in a sustainable fashion, without any poisons. These are not neccisarily true of the "organic" produce that you buy at the grocery store.

Most popular organic pesticide/herbicide; Rotenone. Not only we use it to "safely grow veggies", but we also use it to kill fish, and can be used to kill humans or to give them parkinsans disease! BEWARE OF ORGANIC! IT'S POISON!

[Dinner]

That is true and if suckers want to pay those prices then, hey, that's the free market at work. There is one great thing which has come out of this whole organic foods movement and that is that consumers have gotten a lot more choices which has indeed improved quality. One of the ways organic producers set themselves apart originally wasn't just that they were organic farmers but they also used heirloom verities of various crops which the big packing companies didn't want to touch.

Many of those heirloom verities really do taste better because they were selected/breed simply for best taste where as the packing companies select for things like toughness (so that they won't bruise), size, long shelf life, etc... Now some of the regular packing companies are selling traditionally farmed heirloom verities so that everyone can now get these fruits & veggies without having to pay the 20%-30% organic price premium. That's a positive development for consumers which wouldn't have happened without the organic movement.

[Geronimo]

Originally posted by Japher


Most popular organic pesticide/herbicide; Rotenone. Not only we use it to "safely grow veggies", but we also use it to kill fish, and can be used to kill humans or to give them parkinsans disease! BEWARE OF ORGANIC! IT'S POISON!

You're saying organic farmers use Rotenone? even if they do that's not a serious health threat. Rotenone breaks down pretty easily. There's going to be negligible residue by the time the produce is harvested much less when it reaches the market.

[Japher]

Rotenone breaks down pretty easily. There's going to be negligible residue by the time the produce is harvested much less when it reaches the market.

You're ruining my scare tactic...

[Dinner]

Just wash your food before you eat it. Potential problems gone.