Why Organic?

[DrakeMaiden]

While I don't have all day to refute the GLORY of GM crops, in terms of how they help Africa, you may want to read this article ("GM Crops Irrelevant for Africa") about how they are ineffectual at solving the hunger issue. (Excerpts follow). There are plenty of native populations that subsist on eating just ANIMALS and ANIMAL PRODUCTS, especially in drought-plauged regions -- this has been a survival technique to such peoples, because they can glean better nutrition in arid regions from animals that feed off of just grass. Crops aren't always the answer to hunger, and GM crops aren't necessarily what they are talked up to be.

An Associated Press article in June profiling Robb Fraley, Monsanto's chief technology officer and Robert Horsch, its vice president of product and technology cooperation, notes that Horsch manages a Monsanto program designed to help farmers in developing nations improve their farming methods. Horsch is reported to have said his mission is twofold: "create goodwill and help open future markets." . . .

Meanwhile, conventional crop breeding methods, which cost much less and produce better results, have failed to attract attention from both African governments and biotech companies.

More alarming is the amount of money earmarked for these crop innovations, when cotton and sweet potato are not even major crops in Africa and thus will not in any way solve Africa's poverty/hunger problems.

[emphasis added]​

 

[DrakeMaiden]

And to answer ksacres, no . . . I'm pretty sure I AM eating GM gunk and not having a say in it. However, I tend to make as much of my own food as I can from basic ingredients over which I have a little more control, when I purchase them. I do eat in restaurants occassionally, so I am eating from the communal trough just like everyone else.

However, as in most things, I don't think this is an all or none issue. I think the more we consider where our food comes from and try to make better choices, the less risks we take in exposure to all manner of chemicals and empty calories (both of which are currently contributing to health epidemics).

If you'd like to question my ability to do my "homework" then I'm sure we can get into that as well. Suffice it to say that until I see your sources backing up your proclamations, I don't feel swayed by your logic.

 

[greginshasta]

Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay :

Quote:
Are implying that conventional agriculture is unhealthy or are you stating that YOUR choice for healthy living is by using Organic?

Jim

I'm declaring my belief that some aspects of the conventional ag industry and the management agencies that exist (for the public good), have been corrupted by and in favor of corporate profits, and that quality has suffered.

I'm declaring that I am not satified with the massive factory farming practices in which meat chickens and egg-laying chickens exist in spaces so small they cannot spread their wings, and that I will invest whatever is needed to express my disgust with those practices, and to improve the quality of the food I ingest. (See "the natural history of the chicken", a 1-hour video released in 2001.)

For example, we exclusively purchase organically raised chicken for meat. If it's not organic, it does not get purchased by us. That's our choice and we believe (and pray) that our long-term health will benefits from that choice.

I'm declaring my belief that in the face of the looming future it is important, no - critical, that I choose to consume food that to the largest degree possible is grown as close to home as possible - thus saving the fuel and related costs of transporting that food.

And yes, to the extent that we have that choice, we opt for organic and fair-trade products. That ranges from condiments such as mayonnaise, mustard and ketchup to cereals, meats and produce. We purchase fair-trade coffee, and even enjoy organic ice cream when we get up to Ashland. Regretably, the local feed supply doesn't offer an organic poultry feed so that's not a choice we have easily available to us. I just can't see ordering 50# bags of feed online and having it shipped. But if the choice were there, we would make a choice.

I hold big-Ag and the monster chemical companies like Monsanto and others in complete disgust, and loathe what they are doing to our world. As you can tell, GMO is a very serious issue for myself and others in this thread. I want nothing to do with their franken-foods, and make reasonable efforts to avoid their purchase or consumption. But without legislation requiring labeling, there's really no way to always be sure.

Can we agree on any of this?​

 

[DrakeMaiden]

And LASTLY (I promise) isn't soil a resource? Then you should consider it in your equation on making the most of our resources with conventional and gm crops. It has been DOCUMENTED that gm soy produces poorly in droughts compared to soy in organically maintained soils.

SEE??!!!???

Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes.

"First and foremost, we found that corn and soybean yields were the same across the three systems," said Pimentel, who noted that although organic corn yields were about one-third lower during the first four years of the study, over time the organic systems produced higher yields, especially under drought conditions. The reason was that wind and water erosion degraded the soil on the conventional farm while the soil on the organic farms steadily improved in organic matter, moisture, microbial activity and other soil quality indicators.

QUIT SPREADING MISINFORMATION!!!!​

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Want more?

"Organic Farming Can Feed the World"

Yields in developing countries could increase dramatically by switching to organic farming, Perfecto said.

While that seems counterintuitive, it makes sense because in developing countries, many farmers still do not have the access to the expensive fertilizers and pesticides that farmers use in developed countries to produce those high yields, she said.​

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

That data has been shown to be falsified, manipulated, and fabricated.

Jim

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Show me the sources and I might consider your opinion. Otherwise . . .

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Personally, I trust the U of Michigan . If the data were proven false, they would remove their claims from their website, or at least annotate that there has been disagreement. We are talking university research here, they aren't going to show a BIASED opinion. Again, show me your sources, please!

 

[Rosalind]

I don't feed organic layer pellets because I would have to order a whole pallet at a time and I don't have the storage space or sometimes the spare cash, for that. Also, I have no way of unloading pallets from my pickup once I get home. I do feed organic veggies, scraps, treats and eat organic as much as possible myself. That includes dairy, veggies (I'm mostly vegetarian), grain.

This is because I do not trust the endocrine or neurological disrupters used in most pesticides. I read the MSDSs and toxicology reports on them. There is significant scientific controversy over what dose is harmful, and whether the dosage curves are properly linear, nonlinear, or hormetic to some extent.

Also, I personally know some of those folks at Monsanto. I work with many ex-Monsanto employees, and I taught a fair few soil science students in my day. This is going to show my academic snobbery, but I don't care: Some scientists are better than others. I wouldn't trust most crop science folks as far as I could throw them. A lot of their published data has holes in it you could drive a tractor through.

 

[Lazy J Farms Feed & Hay]

Quote:
Here is the on-line source I have.

http://gmopundit.blogspot.com/2007/09/calims-that-organic-food-can-feed-world.html

Jim