Organic food to possibly get even more expensive and/or scarce

[Uhm]

http://ecochildsplay.com/2009/03/10/...organic-farms/

As spring is in the air (when the north wind does not blow), I have begun longing for the good times my children and I have at the local farmers’ market and contemplating our participation as vendors this year. I can’t tell you how much we look forward to our weekly adventures at the farmers’ market, and how excited we are if we happen to visit a neighboring town on the day of their market; however, that could all change.
H.R. 875: Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 could end farmers’ markets as we know it by requiring growers to register, be subject to inspections of their gardens by federal agents, and maintain safety records related to food production or face large fines.

• » See also: McDonald’s Fries to Go Pesticide-Free?
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The Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 reminds of the Consumer Product Safety Information Act (CPSIA) in the sense that is responding to recalls (salmonella in peanut butter/lead in toys) that needs addressing; however, the people responsible for providing consumers with safe products are inadvertently targeted. I feel much safer knowing the people and gardens my food comes from rather than some multinational food corporation providing produce in the supermarket.
Under H.R. 875, all participants in farmers’ markets will be forced to register, otherwise the market will be shut down as an illegal operation. Failure to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would result in a fine of up to $1,000,000 per violation. Specifically, the law would apply to any food establishment, including farmers’ markets, defined as:

(A) IN GENERAL- The term ‘food establishment’ means a slaughterhouse (except those regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act or the Poultry Products Inspection Act), factory, warehouse, or facility owned or operated by a person located in any State that processes food or a facility that holds, stores, or transports food or food ingredients.

Just like small family handmade toy companies can’t afford the requirements under CPSIA, the extra requirements and inspections required of small family farms under the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 would be a burden. I believe this bill is well intentioned; however, some critics have gone so far as to say the bill criminalizes organic farming. Ironically, or not so ironically, the bill was introduced by Rosa DeLauro whose husband Stanley Greenburg works for Monsanto. OpEdNews explains why this is Monsanto’s dream bill:

The bill is monstrous on level after level - the power it would give to Monsanto, the criminalization of seed banking, the prison terms and confiscatory fines for farmers, the 24 hours GPS tracking of their animals, the easements on their property to allow for warrantless government entry, the stripping away of their property rights, the imposition by the filthy, greedy industrial side of anti-farming international “industrial” standards to independent farms - the only part of our food system that still works, the planned elimination of farmers through all these means.

The full text of the Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009 reveals its well intentions, like protecting us from food grown abroad, and its favoritism towards agribusiness. While Ron Paul is trying to give consumers choice by legalizing interstate raw milk sales, other members of Congress are trying to outlaw small organic farms. We need to stand up for our local family farms!

__________________________________________________ ____________

There's a video on the page to check out as well. There's good parts of this bill, but given its close ties to Monsanto I would have to say "HELL NO!!" to it.

If you eat organic food I would highly suggest writing your congressman/woman and speaking out against this bill.

[DataBass]

Organic food is for pussy assed hoes.

[Uhm]

We hit our peanut gallery post quota for this thread now. Thanks Databass

[jtoosweet]

fucking ridiculous.

[PETA]

I wonder if scientists can genetically engineer self generating bar codes in produce DNA?

[BrandonWhat]

Organic farming has the market potential to initialize more agribusiness competition and create jobs.

Fuck the FDA.

[PETA]

Originally Posted by BrandonWhat

Organic farming has the market potential to initialize more agribusiness competition and create jobs.

Fuck the FDA.

Its the best route left for mom and pop type ag operations. Don't worry it'll get mechanized and super-farmed out soon enough.

[2dj's1cup]

Buying organic food ‘can harm the planet'



Lewis Smith, Environment Reporter


div#related-article-links p a, div#related-article-links p a:visited {color:#06c;}Buying organic food grown locally may sometimes be more damaging to the environment than nipping down to the supermarket for produce that has been driven hundreds of miles across the country, a new study suggests.
Research looking at the environmental impact of food from farm to the plate and beyond suggests that locally-grown food may not be as environmentally friendly as it’s said to be.
Similarly, long-distance transportation may not deserve the demonisation it has received for the emissions of carbon dioxide it generates. However, scientists questioned the growing use of aircraft to carry foods around the world.
The findings, from a study commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to guide policy on which types of food production and consumption to encourage, prompted a furious response from the Soil Association, which promotes and certifies organic food.
The report concludes that so little is known about the overall environmental impact of any food produce that it is impossible to say which are the most environmentally friendly.
But while the merits of some organic products were recognised by the study, researchers pointed out that others cause more damage than non-organic items.
Academics from the Manchester Business School, at the University of Manchester, carried out an assessment of 150 of the best-selling foods for the survey, dubbed the Shopping Trolley Report. “There is no clear-cut answer as to whether purchasing an organic or a conventional trolley of goods has more or less impact environmentally,” they said.
“For many foods the environmental impacts of organic agriculture are lower than for conventionally-grown food.
“However, the evidence suggests that for some environmental themes organic agriculture has higher impacts than non-organic.”
They said that calculations of every aspect of a food product’s environmental impact — a life-cycle analysis — needs to be carried out to decide which forms of production are best.
Factors would include uses of land, water, fertiliser, transportation, packaging and refrigeration. The impact of organic milk was singled out for doubts about its environmental-friendliness because, while having higher levels of nutrients and needing less fertiliser, its production generates more carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, it takes up 80 per cent more land.
Neither, said the researchers, was buying locally produced food a guarantee of being environmentally-friendly when considering the transportation system, particularly bulk haulage. They suggested that the best thing consumers could do to reduce the carbon footprint of food production and consumption was to leave their cars at home and walk or get public transport to the supermarket.
“The available data suggests that, looking at UK food transportation as a whole, the environmental impacts of car-based shopping are greater than those of transport within the distribution system itself,” the report said.
“The environmental impact of aviation are important for air-freighted products but such products are a very small proportion of food consumed.”
Professor Ken Green, who led the study, said: “If you are concerned about the carbon footprint of foods, there can be a good case for importing some of them even if they can be grown in the UK. The evidence available so far shows that local is not always the best option for the environment.”
The Soil Association criticised the authors for ignoring many of the benefits of organic production, such as improving biodiversity, and accused them of relying on an inapproporaite study which looked at a type of organic farming that is not used in Britain. It said: “Organic farming is much better for the environment than industrial methods.”
Buying organic food grown locally may sometimes be more damaging to the environment than nipping down to the supermarket for produce that has been driven hundreds of miles across the country, a new study suggests.
Research looking at the environmental impact of food from farm to the plate and beyond suggests that locally grown food may not be as environmentally friendly as it is said to be.
Similarly, long-distance transportation may not deserve the demonisation it has received for the emissions of carbon dioxide it generates. However, scientists questioned the growing use of aircraft to carry foods around the world.
The findings, from a study commissioned by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to guide policy on which types of food production and consumption to encourage, prompted a furious response from the Soil Association, which promotes and certifies organic food.
The report concludes that so little is known about the overall environmental impact of any food produce that it is impossible to say which are the most environmentally friendly.
Although the merits of some organic products were recognised by the study, researchers pointed out that others caused more damage than nonorganic items.
Academics from the Manchester Business School, at the University of Manchester, carried out an assessment of 150 of the bestselling foods for the survey, called the Shopping Trolley Report. “There is no clear-cut answer as to whether purchasing an organic or a conventional trolley of goods has more or less impact environmentally,” they said.
“For many foods the environmental impacts of organic agriculture are lower than for conventionally grown food. However, the evidence suggests that for some environmental themes organic agriculture has higher impacts than nonorganic.”
They said that calculations of every aspect of a food product’s environmental impact — a life-cycle analysis — needed to be carried out to decide which forms of production were best.
Factors would include uses of land, water, fertiliser, transportation, packaging and refrigeration. The impact of organic milk was singled out for doubts about its environmental friendliness because, while having higher levels of nutrients and needing less fertiliser, its production generates more carbon dioxide emissions. Additionally, it takes up 80 per cent more land.
Neither, the researchers said, was buying locally produced food a guarantee of being environmentally friendly when considering the transportation system, particularly bulk haulage. They suggested that the best thing consumers could do to reduce the carbon footprint of food production and consumption was to leave their cars at home and walk or get public transport to the supermarket.
“The available data suggests that, looking at UK food transportation as a whole, the environmental impacts of car-based shopping are greater than those of transport within the distribution system itself,” the report said.
“The environmental impact of aviation are important for air-freighted products but such products are a very small proportion of food consumed.”
Professor Ken Green, who led the study, said: “If you are concerned about the carbon footprint of foods, there can be a good case for importing some of them even if they can be grown in the UK. The evidence available so far shows that local is not always the best option for the environment. The Soil Association criticised the authors for ignoring many of the benefits of organic production, such as improving biodiversity, and accused them of relying on an inappropriate study that looked at a type of organic farming that is not used in Britain. It said: “Organic farming is much better for the environment than industrial methods.”
Carbon costs
— CO2 emissions in chicken production (per kg) 4,570g nonorganic; 6,680g organic; 5,480g free-range, nonorganic
— Energy (megajoules) used in chicken production (per kg) 12mJ nonorganic; 16mJ organic; 15mJ free-range, nonorganic
— Energy used producing lamb and mutton(per kg) 23mJ nonorganic; 18mJ organic
Source: Shopping Trolley Report

[Uhm]

That last article is a good read, but it gives no credence to the fact that non-organic foods are so filled with processed crap, and hazardous chemicals, that you can barely call it food. It speaks to the health of the planet, a much larger organism, but pushes human health to the way-side.

I don't care about organic milk since I don't even drink it, and if people would do more research they probably wouldn't either. Almond and rice milk FTW!!

The article should focus more on people educating themselves and being more proactive in their food consumption through producing their own food. It is sad when I go to Whole Foods or Target and see all this organic food that doesn't even originate from our own country. I haven't come across a single organic farmer in all of North texas; at least one who sells food to the local markets. There's no denying the benefit of an organic diet, especially once you educate yourself on what all those things are on the side of a loaf of bread for instance.....or cereal.....or even a pack of gum. Once you get an understanding for how much utter crap is pushed off as food, and the additives in it, it becomes an easier decision to switch to an organic diet.

[Uhm]

Originally Posted by BrandonWhat

Fuck the FDA & Monsanto.

Fixed!!

[Coyotl]

Originally Posted by DJ Uhm

. Once you get an understanding for how much utter crap is pushed off as food, and the additives in it, it becomes an easier decision to switch to an organic diet.

seemed easy until i realise that I can't really afford an all organic diet.

welcome to america, where cheeseburgers are cheaper than healthy organic vegetables.

[2dj's1cup]

my fiance gives me alot of shit for eating the way i do. shes an organic food nut. everytime i put the pink sweetener in my tea i get a cancer speech.

[Uhm]

Originally Posted by PatMeetsPsy

seemed easy until i realise that I can't really afford an all organic diet.

welcome to america, where cheeseburgers are cheaper than healthy organic vegetables.

I feel ya Pat. Jess and I can't buy 100% organic, but most of our food is. We buy as much as we can and are incredibly picky with what we buy that isn't. It comes down to prioritizing though, and the simplification of life. The less you do, the more money you have for the things that are most important. My only suggestion is to start growing your own

Originally Posted by Mr. Awesomepants

my fiance gives me alot of shit for eating the way i do. shes an organic food nut. everytime i put the pink sweetener in my tea i get a cancer speech.

LoL. I was told over the weekend that aspartame is in just about every single pack of gum on the market. I forgot about that and bought some Orbitz gum yesterday. Look on the label today and wouldn't ya know it, its in there. I promptly gave the pack of gum away. Thank you Monsanto and Searle for fucking up something so small and enjoyable.

*crosses another product off the list of things I won't buy anymore.

[jtoosweet]

aspartame is the worst thing for me! When I use to drink diet dr. pepper I swear my legs would hurt soo bad. I quit drinking that shit and never had the problem again. I didn't know it was in gum! shit...

[johnny861]

Originally Posted by St. Stalin the Apathetic

I wonder if scientists can genetically engineer self generating bar codes in produce DNA?

I bet it wouldn't be unrealistic for a genetics team to pull that off...