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marfknox
SFN Die Hard
USA
3739 Posts |
 Posted - 04/07/2007 : 19:28:18
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I have to pay taxes for the first time this tax season, and this has me thinking about the fact that my income is finally getting to the point where I might actually have some disposable income to use for good causes. One possible use for this extra income could be purchasing organic foods instead of non-organic. I came across this FAQ on organic foods here: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/
Generally I liked this FAQ, especially #8 where she says that organic is not necessarily the best to go with. Because I have easy access to them, I mostly buy local produce. Having been to lectures and reading articles about organic foods, I've come to the tentative conclusion that organic farming is better for the environment, but the effect on personal health is marginal.
One thing I did not like about this FAQ:
quote:
In the absence of this information, the safest
course is not to expose yourself to chemicals designed and
proven to kill other forms of life.
The American Cancer Society has had to put out info encouraging people who feel they can't afford organic produce to still eat non-organic fruits and veggies (especially fruits) because eating non-organic fresh produce is way healthier than eating less fresh produce. It is very important to stress this point when talking about the heath effects of organic produce.
My question is how much does organic farming help the environment? This FAQ isn't detailed enough for me to judge for myself whether the extra cost is worth the improvement to the environment.
What do other people here think of this FAQ and the issue of organic farming being good for the environment?
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"Too much certainty and clarity could lead to cruel intolerance" -Karen Armstrong
Check out my art store: http://www.marfknox.etsy.com
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Ghost_Skeptic
SFN Regular
Canada
510 Posts |
Posted - 04/08/2007 : 01:16:57 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by marfknox
I have to pay taxes for the first time this tax season, and this has me thinking about the fact that my income is finally getting to the point where I might actually have some disposable income to use for good causes. One possible use for this extra income could be purchasing organic foods instead of non-organic. I came across this FAQ on organic foods here: http://www.nrdc.org/thisgreenlife/
Generally I liked this FAQ, especially #8 where she says that organic is not necessarily the best to go with. Because I have easy access to them, I mostly buy local produce. Having been to lectures and reading articles about organic foods, I've come to the tentative conclusion that organic farming is better for the environment, but the effect on personal health is marginal.
One thing I did not like about this FAQ:
quote:
In the absence of this information, the safest
course is not to expose yourself to chemicals designed and
proven to kill other forms of life.
The American Cancer Society has had to put out info encouraging people who feel they can't afford organic produce to still eat non-organic fruits and veggies (especially fruits) because eating non-organic fresh produce is way healthier than eating less fresh produce. It is very important to stress this point when talking about the heath effects of organic produce.
My question is how much does organic farming help the environment? This FAQ isn't detailed enough for me to judge for myself whether the extra cost is worth the improvement to the environment.
What do other people here think of this FAQ and the issue of organic farming being good for the environment?
Envrionmental reasons are probably the best reasons to eat organic. Herbicide, pesticide and fertilizer runoff are a major environmental problem (fish probalby consume a lot more ag chemicals than humans consuem) and organic farming is generally more energy efficient. However, buying local may be better from a greenhouse gas perspective as well as better nutritionally since the produce didn't spend a week getting there. Unfortunately as organic has become trenidng many organic producers are using the same industrialized agricultural techniques as are used by "convential agriculture." For example Earthbound Farms salads come from huge dead level irrigated fields jus like any other sald greens. This irrigation is often not sustainable.
If you eat meat, milk or eggs, organic producers usually treat their animals better however this is not gauranteed. Many organic meat and egg producers use inhumane confined animal feeding operations. You have to check it out. We eat bison rather than organic beef it is cheaper and the Alberta Bison Association covers the important issues - no animal products in the feed and therapuetic antibiotics only. I don't care if the rancher uses pressure treated fence posts (not allowed for organic farming).
Feeding grain especially corn to cattle is unhealthy for them and ineffecient whether the grain is organic or not. At lest organic meat producers do not give their animals antibiotics continously - a practice which is just plain idiotic since it causes the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Oh wait - this is the same conspiracy of godless scientists that are perpetrating the MMGW hoax.
I reccmment reading The Way We Eat: Why Our Food Choices Matter by Pter Singer and J. Mason(I became interested in Singer thanks to you and GK Paul!). Another good book on the subject is theOmnivore's Dillema by Michael Pollan.
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"You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. / You can send a kid to college but you can't make him think." - B.B. King
History is made by stupid people - The Arrogant Worms
"The greater the ignorance the greater the dogmatism." - William Osler
"Religion is the natural home of the psychopath" - Pat Condell
"The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the supreme being as his father in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter" - Thomas Jefferson |
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FAQ on Organic Foods
