The Colossal Hoax Of Organic Agriculture

Forbes.com ^ | 7/29/2015 | Henry I. Miller and Drew L. Kershen

[Beave Meister]

Organic agriculture is an unscientific, heavily subsidized marketing gimmick that misleads and rips off consumers. The federal government should stop promoting and subsidizing it.

Consumers of organic foods are getting both more and less than they bargained for. On both counts, it’s not good.

Many people who pay the huge premium—often more than a hundred percent–for organic foods do so because they’re afraid of pesticides. If that’s their rationale, they misunderstand the nuances of organic agriculture. Although it’s true that synthetic chemical pesticides are generally prohibited, there is a lengthy list of exceptions listed in the Organic Foods Production Act, while most “natural” ones are permitted. However, “organic” pesticides can be toxic. As evolutionary biologist Christie Wilcox explained in a 2012 Scientific American article (“Are lower pesticide residues a good reason to buy organic? Probably not.”): “Organic pesticides pose the same health risks as non-organic ones.”

[Beave Meister]

I see heads exploding....

[Sacajaweau]

my local farmer clued me in years ago.....m o n e y

[miss marmelstein]

I’ve always wondered why modern organic vegetables always look so much prettier than “conventional” veggies. In the old days, and I’m the child of a health nut, the organic stuff was loaded with pits, scars and bugs.

[stboz]

my local farmer clued me in years ago.....m o n e y

What a racket. No pesticide costs and double the price for a crop....until a hoard of locusts finds your field.

[The Great RJ]

My favorite example of organic folly is “organic” vodka. This vodka, as many vodkas today, is multi level distilled. This level of distillation would pretty much insure there would be no pesticide residues regardless of whether the starting grain was organic or not.

[Beave Meister]

Many years ago when I worked down at the Chicago Board of Trade, in the Soybean pit my bosses took me on a trip with them one weekend. We went on a small plane and flew all over the Midwest to view the crops. We landed in some small town in Iowa to get something to eat. I saw a crop duster flying spraying this one field. I noticed they did not spray this one area. I asked this farmer who was there and he said that’s the Organic section. I laughed and asked, doesn’t the wind just blow the pesticides over to the Organic section. He said, “Hell yes, but they get to charge double and triple the price just for saying it’s organic.” What a rip off.

[rktman]

LOL! Mrs. rktman mistakenly led me in to the local “w-hole foods” market. I just about lost it totally when we cruised down the cereal aisle and I saw the different choices of “Enviro-Kid” breakfasts available. Indoctrinate ‘em early for future success. And I know folks who are undergoing chemo for cancer and yet decry and want to boycott Monsanto. Hmmm. Anything from Monsanto involved in that chemo therapy? Maybe somewhere along the line.

[eyeamok]

In the real world, the word “Organic” is a marketing term and has virtually no meaning legally speaking.

[GeronL]

end all subsidies

[goodwithagun]

I'm currently dealing with cancer, about which we will get PET results tomorrow (I humbly ask everyone to pray for a clean scan). My cousin is a pathologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. When I told her what was happening, the first thing she told me is that if we're not eating ALL organic already, begin now. She said that was all she was going to say on the subject when I questioned her, and we moved on to what I needed to ask my docs. After I hung up I remembered that when we visited her parents the month before (her dad -my uncle- is also a doc, as is another of his daughters), they had all organic products in the fridge and pantry. A wine enthusiast, he also had a few organic wines in his collection.

[GeronL]

All food is organic, so are humans... are people eating rocks out there?

[GeronL]

For the vast majority of products, no tests can distinguish organic from non-organic—for example, whether milk labeled “organic” came from a cow within the organic production system or from a cow across the fence from a conventional dairy farm.

That's all one really needs to know. There is no real difference at all for the vast majority of products.

[lormand]

The organic craze is just another way of parting people from their money. At our local HEB, a 16 oz carton of organic strawberries grown in Watsonville, CA is over $3. Just feet from it, they sell normal strawberries in 16 oz cartons for 79cents grown in the same place, Watsonville, California.

crazy!

[aquila48]

I bet most pesticides are organic - contain carbon.

[wally_bert]

Drives me crazy.

[GeronL]

lol

[Flick Lives]

In the real world, the word “Organic” is a marketing term and has virtually no meaning legally speaking.

Bingo. All food is organic (carbon based), unless one is munching on rocks.

[VRWCarea51]

I attended a family reunion a month ago. Some distant relative from Alabama was there hawking his “organic” Honey.

My Aunt asked me what that meant. I told her and then said no wonder he is asking so much for the Honey. It must be hard as hell to train those Bees to stay out of the Fields of crops using pesticide and herbicides.

The world is full of Idiots. Most are broke for a reason.

[odawg]

I had my first encounter with growing organic tomatoes this summer. All I can add to the discussion is that extraordinary taste of the tomatoes astonished everyone who ate them.

[huldah1776]

“And second, USDA requires that certifying agents test five percent of their certified operations each year. The certifying agents themselves determine which operations will be subjected to testing.”

I bet the same guy who wrote that agreement wrote the Iran treaty.