Magnumchicken
Chirping
- Mar 9, 2021
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Just a few comments to those who might feel guilted into "do I need to do organic feed?". This is just my opinion, read at your own risk.
1 organic crops are much more damaging to the planet and require significantly more fossil fuels to grow. This is mostly due to the fact that organic farming raises half as much produce per acre as non organic farming. If all farming was to be organic we would need to basically remove every forrest on earth to have enough space to raise enough food at this lower efficiency.
2 organic grains and foods are often lower in nutrient value than traditionally farmed foods. This is due to organic plants being grown in stressed environments with lower fertility, more pests and more weed competition. Most of the organic studies on this are done by extremely biased research. For instance, they will say higher levels of antioxidants, but that would be compared to water weight, then not factoring that the healthier conventional farmed produce retains water better.
3 most organic farming requires significantly more tilling, reducing soil organic matter and increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. This is compounded by the need for more deforestation, and increased fuel use by more tillage. There is no till organic, but now you are talking 30% efficiency instead of half.
4 gone are the days of DDT and other dangerous pesticides. For instance the ld50, lethal dose estimated for humans, of a pyrethrin is enough to treat 100 acres of cropland at maximum labelled rate. If you try to drink the undiluted concentrate, you need to drink 3 gallons of it. Drinking 3 gallons of water alone all at once will kill you. A spoonful of pesticides from the 1960s like methamyl would kill you. They are banned now.
5. Other improvements in farming like no till or reduced till, cover crops, etc are most practical using non organic practices. This is better for our lakes rivers and streams.
6 eating organic is kind of like driving a Ferrari. It uses more fuel, is more dangerous to drive, but does prove you are richer than someone else.
I know this will ruffle some feathers here, but look for yourself beyond the myths Michael Moore is pumping the world with.
1 organic crops are much more damaging to the planet and require significantly more fossil fuels to grow. This is mostly due to the fact that organic farming raises half as much produce per acre as non organic farming. If all farming was to be organic we would need to basically remove every forrest on earth to have enough space to raise enough food at this lower efficiency.
2 organic grains and foods are often lower in nutrient value than traditionally farmed foods. This is due to organic plants being grown in stressed environments with lower fertility, more pests and more weed competition. Most of the organic studies on this are done by extremely biased research. For instance, they will say higher levels of antioxidants, but that would be compared to water weight, then not factoring that the healthier conventional farmed produce retains water better.
3 most organic farming requires significantly more tilling, reducing soil organic matter and increasing CO2 levels in the atmosphere. This is compounded by the need for more deforestation, and increased fuel use by more tillage. There is no till organic, but now you are talking 30% efficiency instead of half.
4 gone are the days of DDT and other dangerous pesticides. For instance the ld50, lethal dose estimated for humans, of a pyrethrin is enough to treat 100 acres of cropland at maximum labelled rate. If you try to drink the undiluted concentrate, you need to drink 3 gallons of it. Drinking 3 gallons of water alone all at once will kill you. A spoonful of pesticides from the 1960s like methamyl would kill you. They are banned now.
5. Other improvements in farming like no till or reduced till, cover crops, etc are most practical using non organic practices. This is better for our lakes rivers and streams.
6 eating organic is kind of like driving a Ferrari. It uses more fuel, is more dangerous to drive, but does prove you are richer than someone else.
I know this will ruffle some feathers here, but look for yourself beyond the myths Michael Moore is pumping the world with.
