In Michael Pollan’s book ‘An Omnivore’s Dilemma’, he discusses the different supply chains involved to get a conventional, large scale organic, local small scale sort of organic, and homegrown/foraged/hunted meal to the table. While it was published a while back and supply chains have probably altered somewhat in that time, it still changed the way I think about conventional vs organic. If we are really interested in doing the best good for the earth and our health, eating seasonally and locally is the best route to go.
Conventional ag is extremely efficient but exacts a heavy cost environmentally, and not just in the form of glycophosphate. The damage done to peoples’ health from the heavily processed foods created and distributed by big ag cannot be ignored.
Large scale organic can exact a heavy environmental cost as well, just in different ways. Few small farms can afford the organic certification, so you have big conglomerate companies (often branches of big ag companies) with very little transparency. Organic produce is often shipped further (read higher use of fossil fuels contributing to greenhouse gasses) because there are fewer farms producing that type of produce. Large scale organic creates heavily processed foods that aren’t any better for you than the conventional garbage.
Small scale local may not be able to switch over to organic for cost prohibitive reasons, much less afford the certification by the USDA, but you have transparency that isn’t available with big ag or big organic. You can get to know your local farmers, ask questions, see their operation, etc. You’ll pay more because you’re paying for the actual cost of producing that food, rather than something artificially low in price because of subsidies. You’ll also have to eat seasonally, which means giving up eggs year round and strawberries in January.
Growing/foraging/hunting your own food will be the best option but not always a practical one, since people have to work and whatnot. But it will be the best for you because you know exactly what went into it, and it will be picked at peak nutrition. If not, you have only yourself to blame.
I’d rather go with a good quality feed that’s made from locally grown grains purchased from a local store than something stamped ‘organic’. My husband studied environmental soil and water science and mentioned what others have said here - organic isn’t a guarantee of better, it’s just a guarantee of different farming practices. Unless you’re able to trace the sources of your chicken feed to the farms they were grown on and look into how those crops were grown, you have no way to really know if it’s actually benefitting your health or the environment.
There is a balance to be found. The ideals of organic farming are good ones. I think it’s counterproductive to shame people who are doing what they thing is best for their health and the ones they care for. Getting defensive because someone disagrees with the conclusions you have made based on the information you have is also counterproductive. We should be willing to learn from each other, consider new information from a variety of sources, make the choices we think are best for our particular situation, and allow others the grace to do the same.
