When it comes to organic produce there has always been a disconnect between Edeye the consumer and Edeye the gardener. I came to age in the mid 70's. the back to the earth movement was big with the people I identified with. I remember and participated in the first earth day, I read "The Last Whole Earth Catalog" it was my bible. I read "Mother Earth News" and believed in the J. I. Rodale notion that organic gardening was part of an ecosystem that we were all a part of and that we need to live with-in that ecosystem. I have loved growing things since I was a young boy and I have used organic practices in my gardening fully believing that not only was I growing healthier food but I was also leaving behind the earth in better shape then when I started.
When I go to the grocery store as a consumer and I see the organic produce and meats, I often times wonder if the price is justifiable. Often times you will pay twice as much for organic as you would conventional grown food. A lot of times it just comes down to economics and what I can afford. Which is unfortunate because food has to be the number one source of good health.
It has come to my attention through articles I've read and through personal observation some interesting facts. First; since "High Fructose Corn Syrup" was added to our foods in the mid 60's the rise of Diabetes has become epidemic. Secondly; the first "Mad Cow" disease didn't show up until the early 1980's when huge feed lots became established as the way to raise cattle. Thirdly; I don't know the facts on this but it seems that I read more and more about the recalls of produce and meats because of salmonella and the listeria virus. From what I read in the news it seems almost epidemic. A few years ago I started trying to eliminate "High Fructose Corn Syrup" from my diet. Partly because of this I'm constantly reading and comparing food labels and HFCS is in everything! From highly processed foods to even foods you think are healthy like yogurt and even whole wheat bread. It takes a real effort to eliminate it completely. Then a year or so ago I saw a documentary named "Food Inc" this video will really open your eyes to how our food supply has been turned into a giant corporate run business that is fully manipulated and only cares about the bottom line. I started thinking that maybe organics was best. Even when not using organics in my commercial kitchen I have tried to look at ways of cooking that is more healthy for my guest. I use essential oils and use less fat and more fruits and vegetables. I buy as much as possible from local sources and Colorado grown and raised. Still the price of the organics is an issue for me, especially in a commercial setting. the ranch I've worked at the past several years has a fixed price and the price of meals has to conform, just as in any restaurant you can only charge so much for a salad whether its organic or not.
The real problem I see with organics though is not price but if it is really organic. Sure the USDA has standards set for growing organic foods, free range chickens and "naturally" raised beef and pork. Think about it though. What we put in the air and the ground that is not organic stays there. If it is in the ground it will eventually leach down into the water. The pollutants we put into the air come down in the rain and snow. This has been my thinking; if we don't treat the earth as a whole, as one huge ecosystem that we must live in and protect. Then we can grow things organically but the things we grow wont be truly organic because of the pollutants that we put in the water and air that nourishes our plants and animals. Now with GMO's and the further manipulations to our food supply by Big Corporations, I'm back to thinking that well maybe we should go organic.
Then along comes a book called The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan. Turns out he supports some of my questions about organics. He goes through the evolution of corn and how it has become such a large part of our diet and how it is really just another extension for our thirst for big oil. When he turns his eyes to organics he seems to support some of my misgivings with organics. First if you go to the grocery store you will see milk with cows grazing on idyllic farms, you will see frozen packaged foods with pictures of fresh beautiful veggies. this is far from the truth. Many of the same large farms grow fields of organically grown tomatoes in fields next to fields of "conventionally" grown tomatoes. I believe, and this is just conjecture on my part, that chemicals don't know boundaries and the chemicals will leach into other fields. Also how organic is something that is packaged in plastic and transported thousands of miles using fossil fuels? Same way is it really healthy to eat foods out of season, organic or not? How organic is something grown in Argentina and then shipped thousands of miles out of season here? If you look at free range chickens, which is all the rage, the guide lines set by the USDA says that the chickens must have access to grass areas. The chickens are raised by the thousands in long houses, at the end is a small door that they can go in and out of to a small grassy area that could never accommodate all the chickens at one time. The first few weeks of the chickens lives they are raised in a closed in building. Their food and water is in this building, the outside is totally foreign to them. They have no inkling of going outside but because the guidelines are met these chickens are classified as free range. Sure they, just like the cows, are not raised on antibiotics and growth hormones but the bulk of there diet is still organic corn and the cows are still raised in feed lots. Organic food is more nutritious, I just don't know if in large supermarkets like "Whole Foods" if what we are calling organic is truly organic when you consider the fossil fuels and the distance some of these foods travel. Read the labels on packaged organic foods, some of those things on the labels while maybe come from organic sources don't sound so organic to me. I think if you truly want to go organic then you have to either grow it your self or support your local farmers market or food co-op. Then you still have to consider our polluted water and skies.
It just seems like when I look at food, organic or not, all I see is a plate full of corn and oil.
I urge you to watch "Food Inc" and read "The Omnivore's Dilemma" and make up your own mind and take action where ever possible for your own sake and for generations to come.
Seventh generation, for everything we do, how will effect the next seven generations.
