Organic Labeling: What does it really mean?

[sylvie]

It should be interesting to see how the controversies are discredited or put to rest.
As with anything it is better to have understanding of both sides of an issue to make informed choices.

It sounds like a college level class. Are you in advanced placement?

 

[Wifezilla]

Joel Salatin on "organic"

"We are beyond organic. Organic is a non-comprehensive term--it does not define many variables. Goodness, you can grow certified organic carrots using seed that you produced yourself, bought from a seed saver, or acquired from the other side of the planet. The soil can be fertilized with on-farm generated compost and manure or bags and jugs of concoctions created in industrial factories. You can prepare the soil by double digging, tractor tilling, or carpet mulching like permaculture. You can weed those carrots with plastic mulch, by hand, propane flamers. You can pick those tomatoes yourself, with family labor, or non-community labor. And this is nowhere near the variables just in raising carrots. And in livestock the allowable variables are even more than with plants. Most organic eggs in this country are raised in factory houses. Ditto meat birds. Cornucopia project and other watchdog groups have had to routinely sue the USDA to get enforcement of the National Organic Standards. I don't trust the government as far as I can throw a bull by the tail--and that's not very far. Why in the world would people who spent a lifetime castigating the USDA for its unabashed promotion of industrial food give it the authority to regulate honest food? This is called intellectual schizophrenia.

I first realized the fallacy of organic certification in around 1990 when I realized our pastured chickens could be certified organic if we purchased certified feed from 1,000 miles away but since we didn't have any local organic grain growers, buying my grain locally eliminated the certification chances. In my opinion, patronizing my neighbor so he doesn't get discouraged and sell to a strip mall is certainly as environmentally sensible as bathing my grains in transport diesel fuel and exporting my dollars outside the neighborhood just so I could claim organic purity."
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/08/joel-salatin-americas-most-influential-farmer.php?page=2

 

[Blackbird]

Preachin' to the choir 'Zilla.

No Sylvie, it is an elective class. I don't need it but I got thrown into it because I had registration issues getting into all my college courses on time.

 

[bibliophile birds]

i think it's very interesting that your class is examining the Zambian situation. that's impressive. obviously, the majority of your fellow students aren't going to be very educated about Zambian (or even African) history, so it's a bit of a lopsided argument.

i only spent about 6 months in Zambia, but i learned a lot of very informative things about the connectiveness of a LOT of things. an important thing to realize here is that Africa has been offered other "life saving" foreign aide that DID NOT actually help anyone. almost all of the big drug companies donate large amounts of drugs to African countries- in return they get HUGE tax breaks and the right to say that they are philanthropists. the problem, however, is that there are no regulations on what they can donate, so what actually gets donated is often useless, at best. they donate almost expired drugs, drugs that are destroyed by the heat, drugs that must be refrigerated sent to refugee camps with no refrigeration... you can see the problems. many people have gotten sick because of these drugs, or, at the least, not been helped at all.

and then there are the terrifying incidents where drugs are "tested" on Africans. pharma companies make a big show about "going to Africa to save lives" or "offering these drugs first to those who need them most" when they are in fact using poor Africans as test subjects. they don't need to sign consent waivers and they are rarely monitored correctly.

there is a LARGE movement across the continent of people publicly mistrusting foreign (especially American) aide. even as an aide worker, i can't say i blame them. they see it as just another form of colonialism- but this time the colonialism might poison them... it's a complicated issue.

i seriously applaud you for forging your own opinions on these issues, especially when your curriculum and classmates seem to be heading in the other direction. keep up the good work!

 

[houndit]

Watch the video food inc.

 

[sylvie]

Historically, war, famine and disease have kept populations in check. There have been increasing successes controlling these 3 factors, but the price has been population growth on land that cannot sustain the growth.

I can see the Zambia president with a dwindling population approaching sustainability on the land available definitely avoiding the GM corn.
Why submit the small remaining population to potential unknown consequences when if left to adjust to the land would find a balance of natural health.
While GM infertility could be a possibility, it isn't a given, so it could be a negative for the remaining dwindling population if true and a negative if not true because it can't be counted on as a population control, in this context of GM corn as food.

Corn requires a processing with lime/ash to make niacin available, to avoid pellagra. Perhaps this commodity or education is not offered in conjunction with the corn, making it only a quick fix short term and a death sentence long term.

Because of drought caused famine, planting corn which requires significant water, is a non issue. It wouldn't matter if they accepted ground or whole corn.

 

[Wifezilla]

Not sure we are on the same page with population, but great points on the lime processing and the amount of water required to grow corn. Another factor people do not consider is a diet high in grains often INCREASES the bodies need for vitamins and minerals, particularly b vitamins and vitamin c. If we really cared about these people we would be sending them meat.

 

[sylvie]

Zambia's native food is Millet and Sorghum which are suited to the native soil.

I only brought up population for sake of discussion from the possible viewpoint of the Zambia president.
It isn't included in the body of text that BB is required to draw from so not something he can include if strictly held to the perimeters of the text.

 

[1stepcloser]

ITA with Sylvie. Not to over-simplify the issue but in my world Monstanto is the devil. I hate them and frankly, find their practices, GMO's, & their army of attorneys flat out evil.

 

[Farmfresh]

I am signing on for your "class" Blackbird. Keep on teaching!