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Yeah don't judge quality by whether or not it's organic. Organic farmers ARE allowed to use pesticides, and still call their foods organic. Organic farmers are also allowed to grow and sell genetically-modified foods, and still call their foods organic. Some of the pesticides they use are just as unsafe for Fluffy and Joe Junior as the stuff Monsanto pushes, and the growers still use face masks and gloves to dispense it.
You can't even ensure that the foods you grow in your own back yard are going to be devoid of unhealthy qualities, unless you have soil testing done every 6 months to check for any contaminants your neighbors might have dumped into THEIR back yards, that the rain might have rinsed into YOUR yard's soil.
Absolutely true, my husband hauls herbicide and you all would be surprised how "organic" farmers use it.
The things people just don't know unless they are in the actual business...
Yeah don't judge quality by whether or not it's organic. Organic farmers ARE allowed to use pesticides, and still call their foods organic. Organic farmers are also allowed to grow and sell genetically-modified foods, and still call their foods organic. Some of the pesticides they use are just as unsafe for Fluffy and Joe Junior as the stuff Monsanto pushes, and the growers still use face masks and gloves to dispense it.
You can't even ensure that the foods you grow in your own back yard are going to be devoid of unhealthy qualities, unless you have soil testing done every 6 months to check for any contaminants your neighbors might have dumped into THEIR back yards, that the rain might have rinsed into YOUR yard's soil.
I'm not a fan of organic at all, but if they can market it and make a living I say go for it. but, I do know they can NOT use anything but organic pesticides and herbicides.
Its tough to be considered organic, if you follow all the rules. But with organic comes unpleasant looking produce.....ie bugs, etc.
Just fyi. I looked at converting some fields to organic a few yrs ago. Tough business.
I'm not a fan of organic at all, but if they can market it and make a living I say go for it. but, I do know they can NOT use anything but organic pesticides and herbicides.
Its tough to be considered organic, if you follow all the rules. But with organic comes unpleasant looking produce.....ie bugs, etc.
Just fyi. I looked at converting some fields to organic a few yrs ago. Tough business.
I have an organic herb garden in my yard. By organic, I mean - 0% human intervention with regards to the growing process, after the initial planting. I don't water it, or add fertilizer, or add pesticides or herbicides or fungicides. I don't wash them down, I don't plant marigolds to keep the bugs away. I do absolutely nothing to it other than weed it three times each season, cut it back for the winter, and harvest it whenever it spills over onto the walkway. If nature intends for it to grow, it'll grow. If nature intends for it to die, it'll die. I've lost my catnip, rosemary, and bush basil to that danged garden - so this year I'll dig up more of the oregano and mint, add a few rocks between the empty space and the existing growth, and hopefully leave enough space that my rosemary and bush basil won't get shoved out by the oregano and mint when I try to plant new ones next year.
True organic farming (using NO pesticides, NO herbicides, NO fungicides, and only planting complementary plants to encourage growth, feed the soil, and drive pests away), on the other hand, involves TONS of work, and the yield is pitiful. That's why they charge so much at the farmers markets, as compared to the supermarkets. Because they know *someone* has to pay the extra to cover the costs of loss, and supermarket customers would just as soon buy hothouse crap than organic, if the price difference was too significant.
Yeah don't judge quality by whether or not it's organic. Organic farmers ARE allowed to use pesticides, and still call their foods organic. Organic farmers are also allowed to grow and sell genetically-modified foods, and still call their foods organic. Some of the pesticides they use are just as unsafe for Fluffy and Joe Junior as the stuff Monsanto pushes, and the growers still use face masks and gloves to dispense it.
You can't even ensure that the foods you grow in your own back yard are going to be devoid of unhealthy qualities, unless you have soil testing done every 6 months to check for any contaminants your neighbors might have dumped into THEIR back yards, that the rain might have rinsed into YOUR yard's soil.
AnonChick, do you have any information or links that will allow me to buy truly Organic when I shop at the corporate grocery stores? If I pay extra for organic and demand organic, that is what I want. My thought is to contact the provider directly or visit their website to get an idea of what 'their organic' means.
Something must be done with GMOs and Organic growers that use 'cides' and advertise their products as organic. The FDA needs to change something and the consumers need to demand that when they buy produce that these 'cides' (insecticides, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides) and GMOs are clearly identified.
My garden is pretty immune from other toxins except for that which rainwater provides.
AnonChick, do you have any information or links that will allow me to buy truly Organic when I shop at the corporate grocery stores? If I pay extra for organic and demand organic, that is what I want. My thought is to contact the provider directly or visit their website to get an idea of what 'their organic' means.
Something must be done with GMOs and Organic growers that use 'cides' and advertise their products as organic. The FDA needs to change something and the consumers need to demand that when they buy produce that these 'cides' (insecticides, pesticides, fungicides and herbicides) and GMOs are clearly identified.
My garden is pretty immune from other toxins except for that which rainwater provides.
Well then, it's not immune. Either it's immune, or it isn't. Either it's organic, or it's not. I think you should be more concerned about whether or not what you're eating is healthy, in general - and not whether or not there might be a trace amount of a neighbor's chemical in the puttanesca sauce.
Also, if you have a neighbor who uses any chemicals on their lawn, then your garden is -not- immune from other "toxins." In addition, some of the bugs are toxic, so if you don't use pesticides, you risk ingesting toxins from bugs. Especially if there are flies in your part of the country.
Furthermore, there's something to be said for food that isn't grown using horse manure as a fertilizer. I personally find that idea pretty disgusting. Thankfully, I don't dwell on it, and am able to enjoy fruits and veggies no matter what was put in the farmer's soil.
For me, the only things that matter are: does it taste good and will it keep a few days without getting moldy? If the answer to both is yes, I'll buy it. Those are my primary criteria. Price is secondary, and which chemicals the farmer used last Thursday doesn't even show up on my list of priorities.
I gotta go ahead and dissagree with a lot of that.
There is no need to go all postal and say that since its impossible to eliminate all pesticides you shouldn't try to eliminate most of them. Thats ridiculous.
Don't get hung up on the term organic either. Its now just another USDA label that has been bought by agri business. Source your food locally from farmers you know and trust or grow it yourself. The chemicals they us in organic food products are supposed to come from naturally occurring compounds. For the most part they are but some are synthesized, so its better than not buyimg organic at all.....supposedly.
Its a myth that organic sustainable farms produce less. While that might be true for agri business organic farms, real sustainable organic farms grow more per acre than the industrial model. The problem agri business organic farms have is that they are trying to apply the industrial model to an old model of farming. The inputs are not effective enough to compete with the problems that have become resistant. True sustainable organic agriculture gets around this by avoiding the situations that cause the problems. Lower animal density, diverse biospheres and soil enrichment.
Besides pesticides another good reason to avoid agribusiness is so you dont support them financially. To that end a great way to seperate them is to research your brands. Almost all nationwide organic brands are owned by agribusiness. Checkout the brand and research it online.
Manure as fertilizer shouldn't gross you out nearly as much as some of the things sitting on supermarket shelves.
Yeah don't judge quality by whether or not it's organic. Organic farmers ARE allowed to use pesticides, and still call their foods organic. Organic farmers are also allowed to grow and sell genetically-modified foods, and still call their foods organic. Some of the pesticides they use are just as unsafe for Fluffy and Joe Junior as the stuff Monsanto pushes, and the growers still use face masks and gloves to dispense it.
You can't even ensure that the foods you grow in your own back yard are going to be devoid of unhealthy qualities, unless you have soil testing done every 6 months to check for any contaminants your neighbors might have dumped into THEIR back yards, that the rain might have rinsed into YOUR yard's soil.
Actually, you are not allowed to incorporate GMOs.
Actually, you are not allowed to incorporate GMOs.
If you have an organic farm growing Haas avocados, then the farm is growing GMOs. You -can- buy organic Haas avocados.
My contention is with the widespread hyperbole here: people say "there's no such thing" or "I know for a fact that there has never been" or "this is always true except for..."
If there is an exception, then the statement "it is always true" is false. Something CANNOT be "always" true, if there is even a single exception. It can be mostly true. Or most often true. But always prohibits exceptions, and exceptions invalidate always.
I don't need to do any research to determine how often something is untrue - because I only need to know that it has been untrue ONCE - to discredit anyone making claims otherwise.
I gotta go ahead and dissagree with a lot of that.
There is no need to go all postal and say that since its impossible to eliminate all pesticides you shouldn't try to eliminate most of them. Thats ridiculous.
Yes it is - that's why I never said that. I said it's pointless to obsess about demanding organically grown foods *because* of a lack of pesticides, because pesticides ARE allowed to be used.
Furthermore, just because it's organic, doesn't mean it's good for you. I can grow organic nightshade and it'll make you just as sick if you eat it, as if I had used chemical fertilizers. Organic wheat will make a person with Celiac very very sick, just as sick as if it was wheat grown with chemical pesticides. On the other hand, if I use Roundup outside the stone border of my garden (I use nothing at all in it), my oregano will taste and smell exactly the same as if I didn't use Roundup. The garden itself is left to nature to handle - but the surrounding area is not. Technically, my garden is organic. Even though there are trace amounts of chemical wasp killer and weed killer that have leeched through the soil from outside it. This is true for ALL properties within close proximity to growers who use chemical substances to nurture or protect their crops.
It doesn't mean you shouldn't try to eliminate them. It DOES mean that if you believe that your personal rejection of the use of pesticides in your garden, means there aren't any in your garden, then you need to adjust your belief system.
I dunno about gmo avocado but I do know almost all corn is either gmo or gmo contaminated. Even in countries that dont allow gmo they have found that the corn crops are contaminated with gmo. They have even found contamination in native corn crops in southern mexico where gmo hasnt been grown within 1000 miles of it. So if you wanna avoid all gmo then your best bet is to find out what crops have been gm'd and just not eat any of that product. Which for corn means about 80% or more of everything in most supermarkets.
Personally I dont think you can tell if any particular gmo is harmful to your health or not. One might be perfectly fine but it may cross with another and not be. It might have long term health problems that we wont know abouy for another 20 yrs.
Why I dont like gmos is because of the other problems. I think its wrong for 1 company to step in and buy all seed suppliers in an area then say if you want to grow this crop then you have to buy our seed. and then all the farmers are stuck paying high prices every year for seed. They effectively transfer all the farmers profits to themselves. Then they lobby the gov to subsidize those farmers. So reallly we are paying companies like Monsanto to copyright a food. Just google what bt cotton has done to farmers in India, or how farmers in the US have had there lands and assets seized trying to grow non-gmo corn.
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