RE: What is Organic? (Was Question about Lard--Nanette)

[Guest guest]

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>>>>>>>>>>> Anything that's certified as organic has to be inspected and

meet all the

usual standards, but I don't know whether it's Mexican officials inspecting

Mexican stuff for the US certification. I expect there's at least US lab

testing going on. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

I buy organic not just because of the lack of pesticides. I buy organic

because I think that farmers who can get higher prices for the " organic "

sticker are probably more inclined to put a little extra effort into making

their produce nutritious. I think that organic growers understand they have

a discerning market.

I raised the issue of what " organic " means these days because " organic " has

become such a lucrative market and farms have sprung up all over the planet.

It's obviously changed since the days when a few trusted hippie farmers grew

small crops for consumption. With the arrival of Whole foods as well as

large organic sections in many supermarkets, that smiling hippie farmer may

just as well be a logo for some big operation. I was just wondering how

thoroughly the rules are enforced these days and just what the rules are

especially when it comes to stuff from Mexico and so on. Maybe Mexico has

especially rich soil (right...) but it's just hard to see how tons of

perfectly unblemished tomatoes can regularly compete with local stuff..

I thought the certification process was more a matter of watching that the

crops were not sprayed and less a matter of lab tests on the actual produce

before it goes to market. But I don't know.

~Robin

[Guest guest]

--- Robin Reese <robin.reese@...> wrote:

> I buy organic not just because of the lack of pesticides. I buy organic

> because I think that farmers who can get higher prices for the " organic "

> sticker are probably more inclined to put a little extra effort into making

> their produce nutritious. I think that organic growers understand they have

> a discerning market.

I get your point but, unfortunately, the visions of an organic " farmer " are

merely

romantic illusions.

Organics are big business now, and the large agri-business corporations that

control the

" organic " market are the very same guys who debased food and agriculture in the

first

place.

I see the absence of pesticides and chemical fertilizers the only reason to buy

organic,

unless at some point in the future there is a scale that can measure the

nutrient density

of each food item and list it on the label, rather than the useless %DV mandated

by the

FDA.

-Pratick

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