A question about organic farming

[Vic]

Originally posted by: JSt0rm01
I want everybody to go buy organic strawberries in the middle of the season and then but some factory strawberries and tell me what tastes better. I eat probably 30% organic and this test will make you really open your eyes. In fact when you can smell the strawberries from 20ft away you will understand.

Strawberries are my favorite fruit, and I've lived much of my life in the middle of strawberry country. I even spent a summer or 2 picking berries as a kid.
Berries have short seasons and even shorter shelf-lives. So the difference you're talking about here is not organic vs. factory, but fresh vs. not-fresh.
You really want an eye-opener in this regard, try tomatoes, my next favorite berry. There is a reason I always grow my own tomatoes. No store-bought, not even organic, can possibly compare.

 

[ayabe]

Originally posted by: Cogman

Originally posted by: ayabe
The awesome part about organic food is that the vast majority of it is produced by the same corporate farms who supply the "other" food. It's just an excuse to charge a 15-25% premium and make smug white people feel superior to other white people.

Also, if we all ate organic food there would be worldwide starvation.

Yes yes, because white people are the ONLY ones that have any money that they show off...

Could we stop with the racist comments?

Oh stop. Don't be ignorant to the fact that suburban white people are duped by the fear card into spending enormous amounts of money unnecessarily. You should read this, I find it hilarious.

Text

Edit - I'll just post the damn thing.
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"White people need organic food to survive, and where they purchase this food is as important as what they purchase. In modern white person culture, Whole Foods has replaces churches and cathedrals as the most important and relevant buildings in the community.

There are some regions that do not have Whole Foods, but do have an abundance of white people (college towns), in these situations Whole Foods can be substituted with a local co-op grocery store where you have to pay a membership to shop there.

All of these stores are pretty much the same - lots of vegetables, grain fed free range meat and eggs, and soy everything. They are also characterized by an outrageously large section of vitamins, supplements, and natural oils. There are natural, handmade soaps which give these stores a unique and uniform smell.

Many white people consider shopping at Whole Foods to be a religious experience, allowing them feel good about their consumption. The use of paper bags, biodegradable packaging, and the numerous pamphlets outlining the company?s police on hormones, genetically modified food and energy savings. This is in spite of the fact that Whole Foods is a profit driven-publicly traded corporation that has wisely discovered that making white people feel good about buying stuff is outrageously profitable.

As you walk through Whole Foods/Co-op you will see white people pushing carts buying things like Flaxseed Oil, wine, Tofu versions of meat, and organic kohlrabi. They also provide prepared foods, that single white people often purchase to avoid cooking.

This is important information, as this section of the store is loaded with single white people.

These stores are excellent for bringing children, as there is nothing that they actually want.

?Oh, mommy, look chocolate!?

?No Joshua, that?s carob.?

?I want it.?

?Ok.?

The child will then take a bite and realize that nothing in the store can be trusted."

 

[alchemize]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: JSt0rm01
I want everybody to go buy organic strawberries in the middle of the season and then but some factory strawberries and tell me what tastes better. I eat probably 30% organic and this test will make you really open your eyes. In fact when you can smell the strawberries from 20ft away you will understand.

Strawberries are my favorite fruit, and I've lived much of my life in the middle of strawberry country. I even spent a summer or 2 picking berries as a kid.
Berries have short seasons and even shorter shelf-lives. So the difference you're talking about here is not organic vs. factory, but fresh vs. not-fresh.
You really want an eye-opener in this regard, try tomatoes, my next favorite berry. There is a reason I always grow my own tomatoes. No store-bought, not even organic, can possibly compare.

Exactly. The flavour in a strawberry (most berries) from freshly picked to even a few hours later changes dramatically!

I'm working on my own garden (first year with acreage), but in the meantime we pick locally, gorge ourselves and vaccum seal and freeze the rest for the winter.

 

[XMan]

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
i eat organic

im broke, i can barely get by

i dont shop @ walmart

i guess im just a selfish piece of shit according to most of the people in this thread

i personally dont agree that non-contaminated foods are a negative thing, i see it as a starting point

give me a break with this worldwide starvation bullshit..

we have an incredible excess of food (currently) (yes, not ALL Food, but a lot of it)

Yes, and the drastic increases in the commodity prices of corn, soy, and related livestock who depend on those commodities for feed bear that out. Oh . . . wait, no they don't.

That's a biofuel issue though, and another thread entirely.

How's the crime rate, the psycho rate, and the misery rate among the Amish? Every miserable bastard I've ever met wouldn't change a thing because he fears it will be worse.

About like anywhere else, really.

 

[Rainsford]

I have no doubt that some people view "organic" as a fashion statement, but there is no denying that there are plenty of valid reasons to eat more naturally produced foods. XMan's post aside, modern farming practices AREN'T perfectly safe and have resulted in a lot of new problems that didn't exist before...and don't exist with things like beef that isn't pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics.

Does that mean we need to go back to pulling the plow with horses? I don't think so...but I do think that it's reasonable to try to find a good compromise. And honestly, I think opposition to "organic" is just as much as a fashion statement for folks as support for "organic" is for others.

 

[sapiens74]

I grew up on a farm and it was always organic. I find it funny we pretend we are inventing something new instead of going back to the way we did it 100 years ago

 

[feralkid]

Originally posted by: sapiens74
I grew up on a farm and it was always organic. I find it funny we pretend we are inventing something new instead of going back to the way we did it 100 years ago

Who's doing that?

I think most anyone who knows anything about agriculture has some sense of its history.

On second thought, maybe I'm giving the average person a bit more credit than is deserved.

 

[Moonbeam]

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: Moonbeam

Originally posted by: XMan

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
i eat organic

im broke, i can barely get by

i dont shop @ walmart

i guess im just a selfish piece of shit according to most of the people in this thread

i personally dont agree that non-contaminated foods are a negative thing, i see it as a starting point

give me a break with this worldwide starvation bullshit..

we have an incredible excess of food (currently) (yes, not ALL Food, but a lot of it)

Yes, and the drastic increases in the commodity prices of corn, soy, and related livestock who depend on those commodities for feed bear that out. Oh . . . wait, no they don't.

That's a biofuel issue though, and another thread entirely.

How's the crime rate, the psycho rate, and the misery rate among the Amish? Every miserable bastard I've ever met wouldn't change a thing because he fears it will be worse.

About like anywhere else, really.

You noted, of course, the destruction of their way of life as the reason for increasing crime, no?

 

[newmachineoverlord]

In summary, organic farming yields as much food as "modern" methods with less energy under normal conditions, but yields more food under drought conditions.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...07/07/070711134523.htm
Organic farming can yield up to three times as much food as conventional farming on the same amount of land?according to new findings which refute the long-standing assumption that organic farming methods cannot produce enough food to feed the global population.


http://www.sciencedaily.com/re...05/07/050714004407.htm
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2005) ? ITHACA, N.Y. -- Organic farming produces the same yields of corn and soybeans as does conventional farming, but uses 30 percent less energy, less water and no pesticides, a review of a 22-year farming trial study concludes.

 

[Genx87]

If Organic methods produce more then I would expect these large farmers and corp farms to start using those techniques.

 

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
i eat organic

im broke, i can barely get by

i dont shop @ walmart

i guess im just a selfish piece of shit according to most of the people in this thread

Nope, your free to shop/eat whatever you please. In global terms you are VERY far from broke. You get to actually choose what you eat.

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
i personally dont agree that non-contaminated foods are a negative thing, i see it as a starting point

It's not a bad thing at all if you view it as what it is, a luxury. Just like a nice steak or a good bottle of wine.

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
give me a break with this worldwide starvation bullshit..

A lot of people on the "organic" side think that everything should be grown organically and that genmod food should be outlawed. I recall reading about a group of activists that convinced some African leaders to outlaw "frankenfoods". So instead the people just starve.

Reducing the current yields of the worlds farms WILL cause more people to starve. We will be fine here in the US because we can afford it. As for the poorer countries, out of sight out of mind eh?

Originally posted by: LumbergTech
we have an incredible excess of food (currently) (yes, not ALL Food, but a lot of it)

But that excess is due to non-organic and genmod crops. Genmod crops, modern farming machinery/supplies and irrigation is the best possible thing we could do to help bring most of Africa out of poverty. As long as people are hungry there will always be conflict/poverty.