Organic...
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I used to work on an organic farm. They were held to very high standards and NEVER used pesticides. You know how we got rid of these guys? Hand picked them off the plants and squished them!
I doubt that the big industrial farms touting the organic labels like Olivias and the like are going to be hand picking bugs off.
Buying from smaller local farms is always better but not always possible year round. The organic label you see in the supermarket may or may not be truly organic, since there is not much policing going on, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if pesticides are allowed (which they are, they just cannot be synthetic, they must be derived from natural sources) they will be for many of the items you see in the store.
And soon a synthetic pesticide may be allowed on produce carrying the USDA Organic label. If you want to keep organic to non-synthetic you should write or call your cogressional respresentatives, and do it soon.0 -
Stopped reading at this false statement: "We know that any remaining pesticide residues on both conventional and organic produce aren't harmful to consumers. "
We know that none have been proven harmful. Which is vastly different than knowing they are not harmful.0 -
My garden is all grown from organic seeds and I buy organic milk and eggs but it gets pricey to buy everything organic.0
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I used to work on an organic farm. They were held to very high standards and NEVER used pesticides. You know how we got rid of these guys? Hand picked them off the plants and squished them!
You can't ever truly use no pesticides. Plants themselves all have SOME level of pesticide they produce - a plant isn't looking to have things eat it, other than to an extent, fruit that is usually looking to only feed birds or other highly mobile animal eat it, not insects.0 -
I used to work on an organic farm. They were held to very high standards and NEVER used pesticides. You know how we got rid of these guys? Hand picked them off the plants and squished them!
I doubt that the big industrial farms touting the organic labels like Olivias and the like are going to be hand picking bugs off.
Buying from smaller local farms is always better but not always possible year round. The organic label you see in the supermarket may or may not be truly organic, since there is not much policing going on, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if pesticides are allowed (which they are, they just cannot be synthetic, they must be derived from natural sources) they will be for many of the items you see in the store.
It was actually a usda fully certified organic farm where we hand picked bugs. The guidelines for that label are stringent, not lenient like you are putting forth.0 -
I used to work on an organic farm. They were held to very high standards and NEVER used pesticides. You know how we got rid of these guys? Hand picked them off the plants and squished them!
You can't ever truly use no pesticides. Plants themselves all have SOME level of pesticide they produce - a plant isn't looking to have things eat it, other than to an extent, fruit that is usually looking to only feed birds or other highly mobile animal eat it, not insects.
Chemicals that the plant produces to protect itself is not a human using pesticide, though.0 -
FYI, buying local might taste better / be fresher, but it is probably WORSE for the environment.
Far more energy goes into the actual growing of crops than does transportation, so if crops are grown where it is ideal - like if Idaho for potatoes, or Midwest for corn - they will use so much less inputs in growing, it probably outweighs the environmental cost of transporting it across the country.0 -
I don't go out of my way to buy organic produce, but I do sometimes buy it. I probably would buy more of it if it was cheaper and lasted longer. There are some people who obsess over organic EVERYTHING. To me, buying a package of "organic crackers" is a waste. Would I like fewer pesticides in my life? Yeah, I guess that would be good. But it's definitely not at the top of my list. I'd rather focus on me and my kids eating lots of fruit, veggies, healthy fats, and lean protein (with some treats, too!).0
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This past weekend my brother-in-law raised an excellent point regarding the production of organic food... something I had never considered. In summary he stated...
"We live in a world that has people starving to death; generally speaking there's not enough land to produce the volume of food needed to feed the population. The production of Organic Food requires more land area to yield the same volume of NON-organic food therefore, one of two things (or combination thereof) must occur each time a consumer chooses 'Organic':
1) another person in our world goes hungry, and/or
2) additional land must be cleared to produce more organic food."
His logic is sound but sadly it's not something that "us" North Americans (or Europeans) consider when we're filling our carts at the grocery store.0 -
I used to work in the file room of the pesticide chemicals branch of our local environment office. Pesticides allowed for use with foodstuffs have a very short half-life. There's nothing dangerous left on the fruits and vegetables when they are ready to be picked.
Clostridium botulinum, however, is dangerous. Local organic sprouts have been recalled because of botulism contamination.
Living is dangerous. I take reasonable precautions.0 -
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FYI, buying local might taste better / be fresher, but it is probably WORSE for the environment.
Far more energy goes into the actual growing of crops than does transportation, so if crops are grown where it is ideal - like if Idaho for potatoes, or Midwest for corn - they will use so much less inputs in growing, it probably outweighs the environmental cost of transporting it across the country.
Can you explain further?0 -
I am fortunate enough to live in an agriculturally rich area. I grow my own veggies, raise my own chickens, and get milk and some meat from a local farm where I know no steroids, hormones, etc are used by the family. But, I can see where cost could seriously prohibit one's ability to shop organic! I sell chicken/duck eggs for $2 per dozen, but have seen them in grocery stores for $5+!!0
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They grew the plants, so yeah, they were using pesticides, they just didn't select them, they let the plant's evolutionary history do that.Need2Exerc1se wrote: »
I used to work on an organic farm. They were held to very high standards and NEVER used pesticides. You know how we got rid of these guys? Hand picked them off the plants and squished them!
You can't ever truly use no pesticides. Plants themselves all have SOME level of pesticide they produce - a plant isn't looking to have things eat it, other than to an extent, fruit that is usually looking to only feed birds or other highly mobile animal eat it, not insects.
Chemicals that the plant produces to protect itself is not a human using pesticide, though.
The bigger picture is - your body doesn't care about how a pesticide came into existence - plant developed, man made, one plant made it and humans transferred it to another plant's genes. There was a naturally bred form of celery that cause photosensitive dermatitis (a kind of chemical burn on the hands when exposed to light) in the workers picking the stuff - sure it was natural, and it definitely kept away insects, but not what I think of as a healthier. I'd rather eat plants that have artificially been changed to express Cry Toxin that can't react in a mammalian stomach any day.0 -
I try to buy organic as much as possible and when not possible I follow the clean 15 list. I figure my grandparents didn't eat foods smoothered in synthetic chemicals, why should I? I value local over organic during the summer though. I don't eat a lot of meat so I don't mind splurging on high quality grass fed meats when the craving strikes.0
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jenibethbu wrote: »I am fortunate enough to live in an agriculturally rich area. I grow my own veggies, raise my own chickens, and get milk and some meat from a local farm where I know no steroids, hormones, etc are used by the family. But, I can see where cost could seriously prohibit one's ability to shop organic! I sell chicken/duck eggs for $2 per dozen, but have seen them in grocery stores for $5+!!
Are you eggs organic? I raise my own eggs too, but they wouldn't qualify as organic because all their feed isn't organic.0 -
I used to work on an organic farm. They were held to very high standards and NEVER used pesticides. You know how we got rid of these guys? Hand picked them off the plants and squished them!
I doubt that the big industrial farms touting the organic labels like Olivias and the like are going to be hand picking bugs off.
Buying from smaller local farms is always better but not always possible year round. The organic label you see in the supermarket may or may not be truly organic, since there is not much policing going on, and you can bet your bottom dollar that if pesticides are allowed (which they are, they just cannot be synthetic, they must be derived from natural sources) they will be for many of the items you see in the store.
It was actually a usda fully certified organic farm where we hand picked bugs. The guidelines for that label are stringent, not lenient like you are putting forth.
Yes the guidelines are stringent. The enforcement is not. The consumer is dependent on the integrity of the grower/producer/distributor. Because USDA is not enforcing it like they should.
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FYI, buying local might taste better / be fresher, but it is probably WORSE for the environment.
Far more energy goes into the actual growing of crops than does transportation, so if crops are grown where it is ideal - like if Idaho for potatoes, or Midwest for corn - they will use so much less inputs in growing, it probably outweighs the environmental cost of transporting it across the country.
If you are buying local, chances are very good that you are buying produce that does well in that area/climate.
I live in Montana and both potatoes and corn grow very well here0
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