Explain

@Ravenwolfcasey Okay....

1. the air travels all over the world with no restrictions or filters.

2. carries with it all the pollutants from all humans 'activities'.

3. Plants open up their stomate (think mouth) to taking in air. They need the CO2.

4. in doing so they take in our pollutants.

therefor, NOTHING is organic...it can be 'cleaner' than franken crops but it's not 'nasty shit' free.

Please let me know if you need more.

@MissaDixon I guess..but there are certainly better options than genetically modified organisms

@Ravenwolfcasey True! but don't buy the marketing hype. And growing your own is best, for you, your community, and the planet. Bullshit like 'Buy Organic' is just that, bullshit. Start a garden and feed the people.

Thank you for your wonderful contribution

@Ravenwolfcasey
You're welcome. I appreciate your kind, supportive comment. Thank you!

Not true Monsanto actually created gmo which stands for Genetically Modified Organism...which means most grown foods are not even natural..they are created in a lab and allowed to contaminate our natural earth...and kill us slowly while they amass wealth beyond what any government can control

@Ravenwolfcasey -- What that comment shows me is that you really don't understand GMOs.

Gmos only came on the market in 1999

Is this sarcasm?

@Ravenwolfcasey Yes, but we really do apply dihydrous oxide. The stuff isn’t approved but farmers around here use it anyway.

@CrazyQuilter

Yes, many toxic compounds are from nature, one of the worst is botulinum toxin, which is used in botox, and another is my dog's farts.

But eating organic food is not eating toxins, because toxins are not food. Food is an aggregation of nutrients and calories, and toxins do not have synonymy with food, okay?

I void artificial non-nutrient compounds because not only does it require extra reading I don't have time for on PubChem and stuff, but they have a horrible reputation with naturopathic doctors. I'm not about to assume the time cost of finding out why Pepsi and other insulting compounds may not be terrible for me. Junk food is bad for you, okay?

Belladonna is perfectly natural, that doesn't make it safe. "Natural" is a meaningless marketing term that the industry found was useful to deceive people into spending more money

@CrazyQuilter thanks for reminding me! I remember learning about the role of aflatoxin in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma back in med school biochem. I also remember coming across a couple of references to organic peanuts/PB having higher aflatoxin concentrations than the conventional stuff. I guess the FDA limits aflatoxin in PB to 15 ppb, and the last Consumer’s Union broad market sampling I could find referenced an average of 1.7 ppb - which is reassuring but I eat A LOT of PB (like 2-3 servings 15x/month for the last 4 years) And aflatoxin might be one of those more cumulative toxic compounds. (Then again, maybe those levels are within my body’s ability to tolerate) I don’t doubt it’s safe for anyone who isn’t so nutty for PB as me....

“Shoot! Maybe I ought to switch to almond butter?” Same issue, just less data on contamination rates- damn! How about Sunflower seed or pumpkin seed butter? Also aflatoxin, and even less available data. Other nut butters? I am not wild about the saturated fat and protein content.

Conclusion? I guess I can’t research my way out of this dilemma (at least not today) I probably need to moderate my nut butter consumption or else just start making my own. Thanks for the scare though, jerk!

No chemical is artificial. They are all real chemicals.

@CrazyQuilter

Yeah, that is probably my biggest problem with the concept of “organic food” is it takes a very complicated, nuanced discussion about pesticide safety, biodiversity, crop rotation, nutritional content, fertilizer use, land use, indiscriminate antibiotic use, irradiation, and lumping GMOs in for good measure and smooshes it into this one binary issue, sprinkles it with The Naturalistic Fallacy, and none of those things end up getting discussed. (let alone ever making it into the average consumer’s thought process)

I am not saying I don’t have serious concerns about how agriculture is practiced, but I don’t think the discussion can be distilled so simply, and doing so is dangerous.

Does anyone think we can or will shift from our current agricultural system to an “all organic” in a reasonable amount of time? Is that even safe? Will we be able to feed everyone? (For the sake of the argument let’s assume organic = all puppies and rainbows)

I guess having the necessary discussion about the relevant issues with conventional agriculture on a wide enough scale to seriously effect change in the current media climate is about as likely as the aforementioned hypothetical organic shift.

We will probably have to wait around until something really bad happens before societal focus adequately manifests. I iust hope when that does happen, it’s not too late and we don’t waste the opportunity pointing fingers and screaming at each other instead of doing something about it.

@CrazyQuilter

Yes of course!!

@CrazyQuilter

Why did you have to go and inject that “downer dose” of realism about Pruitt? It’s just depressing.

So if the pessimist in me is resigned to a lack of change on the national/global scale- what can I do for myself on the individual level? Eat this/not that, (dirty dozen/clean fifteen as referenced elsewhere on this thread) Wash all produce with soap? Homestead gardening? Boycott a specific company/product? Is there a reasonably concise/book resource I should look into? Do you have any general advice I should be following as an individual?

Thanks!

@CrazyQuilter

From the normative perspective, what is a superior option to all-natural foods, and such?

@CrazyQuilter "All natural" means it's pure food. There are no artificial preservatives, artificial sugars or other insulting compounds that the human body doesn't naturally break down and/or make good with. The problem with these insulting compounds is that they try to create mental illness, drain energy, digest slowly, drop your metabolism, cause fat gain, hurt hormone levels, etc. Have you seen what a McDonald's burger does to the body, versus a home made burger from scratch? It's a very difference. Basically any scientific book on nutrition will tell a person to avoid these compounds like the plague, and just do the right thing when choosing a meal.

@CrazyQuilter

aren't you sure that we need a better alternative? Cooking at home sucks but it's often the best choice, I say we should fix it for the deserving people out there.

@CrazyQuilter

GMO is a different story and there is no necessary link between organic and non-GMO. Organic is just another term for "purely food, no insults". The association with organic and non-GMO is a corruption of language that has been syndicated by idiot journalists.

GMO by itself is totally harmless and even beneficial but they tend to add harmful compounds to GMO foods.

Now if companies want to resort to expensive methods of producing these pure foods, then it's not the consumer's responsibility, that is an operations issue, aka we're so dumb in the US that we can't cheapen a production process for our life.

@CrazyQuilter

1. I am not necessarily opposed to them. I am opposed to additives that don't agree with the human body. 2. It's not up to me who pays for it, that will depend on the parties involved.