Subscribe!
Susie J posted an interesting, balanced article on organic food. Unfortunately, I’m utterly unbalanced when it comes to this and my comment rapidly degenerated into a howling polemic. So I thought, out of politeness, I’d better move it here.
I started off mildly enough…
OK – We’re a VERY organic family when it comes to food (though I think Soil Association standards in the UK are a little stricter). It’s more likely to be ethical (and if you’re not going to buy organic, do try and buy Fairtrade) [Uh-oh - already issuing orders]
Susie mentions research about higher levels of fungal elements and ‘insect parts’. One person’s dangerous fungal toxins is another persons wash your veg before eating – anyone amongst these people heard building up immune systems? Genetically engineered plants – I’d better not get started. Organic farming is sustainable for Third World farmers – doesn’t require expensive chemicals, doesn’t require (if properly managed) expensive genetic varieties – doesn’t require Western companies further exploiting and ripping off already struggling farmers. Isn’t it funny how every one of these huge ‘feed the world’ advances basically means parting already cash-poor farmers from their money? Haven’t we stolen enough from developing countries already???
Sorry – got carried away. But choosing organic food shouldn’t just be about lifestyle – it’s about understanding the real cost of things.
Susie goes on to comment about her unease about big companies muscling in on the organic movement and (predictably) I do agree. CorpWatch has an interesting article on this – dated 2004 but the concerns (treatment of animals on a large scale farm, waste etc.) are still valid. Also, when big supermarket chains get involved, unfair treatment of small suppliers is seldom far behind (Scottish Green Party claims that Scottish farmers are royally screwed by big supermarkets. Tesco’s begs to differ. A comparison of the suicide rates amongst small US farmers and WalMart managers might be instructive but I couldn’t find one.)
Ultimately, there’ s sound health, taste and ethical reasons for supporting organic food from local or fairly traded suppliers wherever possible. It doesn’t have to be more expensive – less and better quality red meat has got to be better for both your foodie cred and your cholesterol levels, right? – and, really, how many more rain forests put to the axe for cheap cattle grazing and GM soy can the planet sustain?
Oh dear, that was utterly biased, wasn’t it?
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Fair Trade, good taste, organic food, rant
Snowflake and I are vegetarians so this is an important issue to me. I really don’t consider it a rant, but to me a well said truth. Everyone is slapping organic on whatever they can. We have no idea if what we buy is GM or not. SICK. Snowflake gets all the organic I can buy. I eat the crap so I can afford to buy it for him. That is bullshit.
Totally there with you. I wish we could afford to buy more organic and biodynamic food; it kills me to eat all this conventional food that I know is not only unhealthy for our bodies but also for our economy and environment.
I skimmed over SusieJ’s blog earlier, and I was a bit turned off by her emphasis on food cleanliness. I’m more interested in boosting my immune system than worrying about eating a little dirt. Or maybe it’s that I’m not that worried about getting sick.
I think that “organic” has lost some of its meaning since the advent of large-scale organic farms and ranches. I think sustainable is a much better word for what most of the original organic farmers were trying for. It’s great that organics are increasing in popularity, and the more acreage that’s not doused with chemicals or planted with GM crops the better. But we can go much, much farther to improve the quality of both our food and our lives by supporting small-scale, local farms.
I think you did great. And sorry, Henitsirk, if my emphasis on cleanliness turns your off. One of my little sons came down with e-coli — and he really fought for his life. I am by no means a clean freak, and I do know the importance of giving our immune systems a chance to develop. But after taking care of him through that, it’s tough for me to pick up a melon without wondering who held it before me, and if they care about making sure our earth is sustainable.
Very little organic food is available where I live. I was wishing yesterday we lived where we used to live (area not accommodation!) because there was an excellent health food supermarket there. Then again, we eat loads of veggies and probably wouldn’t be able to afford to buy them all organic. Organic meat, on the other hand, is another issue altogether. I get freaked out that I can’t find organic meat here. I would pay a lot extra for that (not that I eat it but Kiko and his Daddy do).
Heh, I don’t mind too much about Kiko pouring dirt over his head in the park and it getting in his mouth but I do totally scrub our vegetables. I got into this after I saw a woman in the veg store eating the cherries from the cherry display and spitting the stones back in with the unsold fruit. Even though I washed the cherries I bought (I’d bagged them before I noticed what she was doing) Kiko’s Daddy and I “suffered” in a way that I will leave to your imagination. Yuck! It’s not just the farmers that put baddies onto the food.
I’m trying to stay away from blogging today and catch up with academic work. But 1) cost of organic food is something which I was insensitive about – sorry, Heidi and Henitsirk. Weird that living in a big city actually gives you more opportunity to eat more naturally and 2) I scrubbed a lot of potatoes today.
Oh and 3) look out for my “five ways in which I totally threaten the environment” Consistency is for saints. Name five interesting saints other than their preferred method of martyrdom.
Peace!
This is such a big issue for us. We struggle to get organic produce here in Alaska, but the stores do carry it. I buy what and when I can. Strangely, another kind of organic here is eating moose, salmon, and other wild foods, but that’s not an option for vegetarians. I pick and freeze all our blueberrries and raspberries. We have several great local organic farms and that helps us cope with the distance much of our food is shipped. We grow a garden and raise our own chickens too. Just trying to do our best, I suppose.
Hi – that’s quite a testimony (I’ll have to check out your blog – I know nothing about Alaska other than Northern Exposure re-runs and you must be so sick of that image!) Another reminder of the weird contradictions of living in a big urban area. When we went on holiday to Wales recently, finding organic food (in the middle of the country that produces most of the UK’s organic lamb and is basically an agricultural economy post the devastation of the mining industry) was equally difficult.