tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271164688440930415.post1348508412170735211..comments2023-10-31T05:48:02.869-04:00Comments on Food, Farms, and Famine: What’s in a label? That which we call USDA // By any other name would taste as sweet.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271164688440930415.post-49032610391881287222010-06-29T10:43:18.551-04:002010-06-29T10:43:18.551-04:00:=):=)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271164688440930415.post-32230481908241411462010-05-05T13:35:58.470-04:002010-05-05T13:35:58.470-04:00I love organic food ... but Is the data in the lab...I love organic food ... but Is the data in the label Real??<br /><br />Rose<br /><a href="http://www.taebotraining.com/" rel="nofollow">taebo training</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271164688440930415.post-2773496374544562772010-03-11T22:32:02.286-05:002010-03-11T22:32:02.286-05:00So, I'm only going to address one small part o...So, I'm only going to address one small part of Nadia's comment- the part about half the world starving.<br /><br />My understanding now is that the world currently DOES produce produce enough food to feed everybody in the world (see this http://www.worldhunger.org/articles/Learn/world%20hunger%20facts%202002.htm which cites this http://www.fao.org/docrep/003/Y6265e/y6265e00.htm). <br /><br />The issue isn't necessarily with producing food, but getting it to the people who need it. <br /><br />The UN World Food Programme says it better - "Among the key causes of hunger are natural disasters, conflict, poverty, poor agricultural infrastructure and over-exploitation of the environment. Recently, financial and economic crises have pushed more people into hunger," (http://www.wfp.org/hunger).<br /><br /><br />Long story short, we (the world) have conquered the issue of producing more food on less land (which comes with its own chemical-health-environment consequences). So I'm not sure that producing a fraction of the food organically will affect world hunger that much. I'm of course assuming that not all food production corporations (farmers just seems misleading) would shift to organic. <br /><br />And history time: Despite the adverse health and environmental consequences of pesticides and fertilizers, their use began because of increasing population and subsequent food crises. Horse manure just wasn't cutting it anymore. The explosion in the development and use of fertilizer is what prevented Malthus' predictions from coming true. While I'm not arguing that we should consume mass produced food unquestioningly, I do think it is important to understand the how we got to where we are today. (And, conscious consumption of organic foods is different than purchasing for status or because its the popular thing right now)<br /><br />(The Alchemy of Air, by Thomas Hagar writes about the history & development of chemical fertilizer).Ashleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05649620626371709809noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271164688440930415.post-19168703834015236262010-03-07T01:31:49.169-05:002010-03-07T01:31:49.169-05:00I thought I'd preface this with a note to say ...I thought I'd preface this with a note to say that I am not attempting to pick a fight. I don't think I know enough about farming to make a call here and I am posing these questions in the hope that someone who is better informed can actually address them. When I say I am sceptical, I mean I am unconvinced, not cynical, and I am prepared to be convinced if I'm the one whose got it backwards. <br /><br />See I'm sceptical of the whole 'organic'-is-better argument. So far I find the term mostly meaningless. The quote from Imagine that you linked to says nothing of substance. In what way do these farmers 'create a balance with nature'? What is this balance? Do other farmers not do this? Systematically?<br />'These farmers focus on soil improvement and rely on biological systems.' Wouldn't soil improvement benefit all growers? Do we know for certain that 'conventional' farmers do not care about soil improvement? And if they don't do this, how come they haven't gone out of business? Also, what 'biological systems'? That's a huge term. Everything that is living can come under 'biological systems', including conventional farmers.<br />As for them producing high quality food with minimal impact on the environment, has it been proved that organic food is nutritionally better than conventional food? From what I have read, there is no difference in nutritional content.<br />Also, the minimal impact on the environment claim is dubious. If organic farmers do not use pesticides (or, as I understand is more often the case, use 'organic' pesticides - same chemicals, different form) then their crop yields would be smaller than factory farms and the like, yes? That means they need more land to produce less food. Given that half the world is going hungry at the moment, can we really afford to support something like this? <br />The idea of organic food is appealing, certainly. But I am not convinced that it is actually anything other than a marketing ploy. <br />Things like this: http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4019 and this http://skeptoid.com/episodes/4166# do not help, really because they raise more questions. As I don't live in the US, the apparently awful farming methods used in the States aren't actually reason enough for me to buy organic all the way over here in Australia. Yet. What do you think?Nadiahttp://www.insanityworks.org/mixednutsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-271164688440930415.post-25749562987136070252010-03-04T12:57:39.668-05:002010-03-04T12:57:39.668-05:00Very well written post. I love the Shakespeare exa...Very well written post. I love the Shakespeare example and succinct way you address the issue and use multiple sources to address labeling of organic products. There really needs to be a better way to distinguish between the organic products in the supermarket today. It gives me a headache!scottishstarlet7https://www.blogger.com/profile/10761462011603067074noreply@blogger.com