Why Organic?

[DrakeMaiden]

Bioaccumulation.

A lot of toxins are fat soluble, which means that the purity of the feed you feed your chicken is even more important than the purity of the produce that you feed yourself.

http://www.reneeloux.com/go_organic/dirty_dozen.html

Those of you who are foregoing organic milk should think again. Milk and butter are probably the most important organic products to buy (aside from meat and eggs).

It's all about the fat! It has also been shown that the more fat you carry on your body, the higher your risk of cancer.

Edited to clarify that SOME PESTICIDES ARE FAT SOLUBLE and will therefore BIOACCUMULATE. To further clarify -- fat soluble toxins cannot be easily excreted from the body, like those that are water soluble

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
I mentioned above that we have this composting operation, and I mean serious pile of stuff, but left out a few details.

In our community there are 2 organic markets, the regular market and the produce distributor. We drive a late model Subaru Outback which has a spacious rear cargo area. As frequently as possible we hit the rear of these 4 businesses.

Each day the guy in the produce department goes through and clips leaves and culls the veggie bins, discarding anything that isn't simply perfect. Into a large cardboard box (at the organic markets) or a 50-gallon plastic bag (at the regular market) goes potatoes, onions, zukes, heads of lettuce, tomatoe, chard, and every imagineable vegetable and fruit. Those go to the rear of the store, with the regular market & produce distributor dumping their bags in the dumpster, and the organic guys placing the box on the ground knowing that it will only be there an hour or so before someone picks it up (frequently me.)

It is simply unspeakable, in this community with a population of 5000 or so, that so much food is thrown away. It is simply not unusual for us to retrieve on a single outing 2-3 of those huge bags from Ray's, 2-3 boxes (banana crate size) from Mountain Song, another box from Berryvale. And when we hit General Produce, sometimes we get so much that we nearly have to go home - unload - and go back for more. Some nights we simply could not fit all of it in the car. The recyclying runs we make to get rid of all the cardboard becomes silly. Indeed, we wanted to shred and compost the cardboard as well, but it clogs the shipper and didn't work out well.

The bottom line is that much of the produce that comes from these bags and boxes are still edible, and all we end up having to do is cut out a brown spot. Or with radishes, for example, cut and pitch the green tops - the radishes are still just fine.

We have to retrain our shoppers to accept the food that the rest of the world does readily, and perhaps end up with more to sell/share.

 

[CarlaRiggs]

Though I agree with the idea of growing with organic methods, that just isn't always possible. Mother Nature being what she is, those who farm for a living sometimes need to fight with a larger arsenal than simply organic methods.
I have nine fruit trees, a small vegetable garden, flowers, bees, butterflies and birds on my little quarter acre lot in Pasadena. I don't use pesticides and haven't in some time. Although I used to purchase organic fertilizers, I don't any more. They are expensive, and the organic has to break down into inorganic before it is accessible to the plants. My soil is now organic in its own right because of my constant amending over the years. I have lots of microbes and bacteria doing their thing.

As for genetically modified plants, I believe this is a wonderful blessing in our day and age. Corn has been modified with other plant genes so that it can resist worms, rice has quadrupled its output, with less fertilizer in developing countries to feed hungry people. I could go on, but you get the idea.

I don't believe in doing as our forefathers did concerning husbandry practices..... those practices helped to create the dust bowl of the 30's! But as we grow and learn more about the earth, we can hopefully pick and choose for the best.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

All GM crops are owned and many have terminator genes. That means there is a high price for those who chose to grow them and/or eat them, as well as possibly a high price for everyone. The myth that poor and hungry people will benfit from GM crops is a flat out lie. They are there to make the industry profits, not to reduce the misery of others.

 

[greginshasta]

Quote:
Corn is made worm-resistant by exuding an unnatural level of a natural pesticide from every cell in the plant, 24x7. Sounds OH SO yummy to my tummy... NOT! We avoid purchasing products that we suspect may contain GMO corn.

There are studies indicating that BT corn is causing a loss of insect populations such as the Monarch Butterfly. What else is happening that we are not noticing.

And then there is the result of massive lobbying so that the growers are not only required to identify what food is GMO and what is not, they are specifically prevented from law from doing so.

No GMO for me please...

 

[CarlaRiggs]

This reminds me of the presidents of Zambia and Zimbabwe. Over 10 million people (30% of the country) of Zambia alone are starving to death, yet the dictator President Levy Mwanawasa states that the modified grain offered is 'unsafe'.
Starving, drought striken, warring Africa has been fed gmo grain since the early 90's and there has been no report of any health/death concerns.
During the 70s some vocal people were entirely against nuclear energy. Now we are in another oil crisis, with more pollution throughout this country and others.
It seems that if there is anything new, people are quick to call it bad. I don't agree. As far as big business and money being involved in this.... so what??? Isn't that what our country is about? Capitalism is a good thing ~ it encourages others to build a better mouse trap.

And Greg, if you're using leftover food stuff from the stores for your compost pile or to feed the chicks (which is a great idea!) then your operation is not organic.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

FYI, bigger and more complex "mouse traps" often backfire and indeed become traps, just traps we never intended. The more complex of a solution you try to find, the more likely it will fail. That is just the nature of complexity.

Really? Do you believe nuclear energy is an answer? Where do you suggest we store all the waste then? We are talking pollution that won't go away in a time frame that is significant to the survival of our species. Shall we send it in rockets directed at the sun and hope we don't have any Challenger incidents? Shall we bury it and cross our finger that it won't leak into ground water? Shall we dump it in the ocean and continue eating all the fish (which by the way has already happened).

Even if GM crops were safe, which I don't believe, farmers in poor countries will be forced to buy GM seeds EVERY YEAR instead of saving their own seeds for the next season. How is that going to help the poor? I recall that indeed there have been a few reports of health concerns from GMO's, but these are never given much press. I would have to dig to find some of it, if you are in fact interested in hearing it.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

For those who are interested in potential health concerns related to GMOs here is a page that outlines the results from one study on feeding GM soy to rats, and also has links to other concerns with GMOs:

http://www.pccnaturalmarkets.com/issues/gmconcerns/reproductive.html

 

[greginshasta]

I'm not claiming to be entirely organic. Someday perhaps, but I'm enough of a realist to know how hard it will be to meet such a challenge. But we avoid spraying our crops with chemicals, and choose to purchase organic over the alternative.

Speaking of Africa, did you know that the Bush Administration held funds intended for Aids Relief subject to an agreement to accept GMO crops? Is this also acceptable conduct to you?


Another element of serious concern appeared when the US passed legislation tying assistance on AIDS to acceptance of GMOs in May. The United States LeadershipAgainst HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003 allows the US authorities to apply pressure on African states to accept GM food aid before releasing support for the AIDS/HIV and related illnesses alleviation programmes.

Article here

 

[SeaChick]

Hey guys, we can agree to disagree, OK? I think this is an interesting thread: lets not get it shut down. Y'all are starting to sound a little testy.

Greg: have you read Omnivore's Dilemma? Before reading that I had NO IDEA how much GMO corn we consume as Americans. I mean, before reading it I avoided actual corn products unless they were organic: frozen or canned corn, tortillas, chips, corn oil..... but as it turns out, all parts of the corn are processed (can you say petrochemicals?) into a zillion innocent-sounding ingredients like high-fructose corn syrup, stabilizers, etc. It's shocking now to go to the supermarket and look at the ingredients on a package of just about any processed food, read down the list, and see its basically" corn, corn, corn, corn, soybean, corn, salt, corn. All GMO. YIKES!