Organics as we recognize them today are not the same as they were in the beginning, they have gone largely industrial, allow a large amount of fairly dangerous chemicals to be used, and it has become very expensive and difficult to become certified organic, especially if your a small scale farmer. The origins of the organic movement go back to some hippies in the 60's who wished to grow vegetables and other plants without the use of petro chemicals, the founders of this movement also stood for small scale localized economies instead of large scale industrial everything, modern day organics have become so twisted and fragmented that it is hard to recognize them as the same entity. My first problem with organics is that it is hurting local farmers, yes you read that right, hurting them. In my area to be even considered worth buying from at a farm stand or farmers market you have to be certified organic, a lengthy and costly process. Several farms could not afford to make the leap to "organic" and as a result closed down. Ounce certified organic the farm must conform to the rigorous organic regulations, which can often be costlier for a small farm than standard farming techniques. But its all worth it if its better for the earth and the consumers, right? Not necessarily these are farms that have been in operation for countless generations on the same soil, I have to jump to the conclusion that if they were harming the earth too much they probably wouldn't be able to reuse the same fields year after year. As for being healthier for the consumer, local farms have never been huge proponents of slathering chemicals all over there plants, they may use a fertilizer here or there, but now under organic they are severely restricted to what they can use. I talked to one farmer at an educational farm who said he was beyond organic and would rather sacrifice his entire crop than use any chemicals, I applaud his fortitude but if your trying to feed your family i have no problems with doing a ounce over spray down to take care of X disease or Y bug. The same farmer also had miles and miles of petroleum based synthetic black plastic cover for the plants and disposable drip line, both of which would get thrown away at the end of the season. The chemicals used in farming that i have real problems with are the thousands of acres of corn that need, literaly need, to be consistenatly sprayed down with petrochemicals just to make them grow, that is a case in which the soil is merely a base for the plant, providing no nutrition. Also, the organic feed you buy at the feed store is probably sprayed with pyrethrum, a pretty scary chemical that can cause all kinds of problems. I could go on for hours, but i have stuff to do, I'll let people respond, and then post more of my points, please go easy on the flaming, i'm hoping that we can have an educated and civilized debate about this controvertial topic.
